Tasty treats on a boysenberry farm

Jai and Ella Julian of Whakatane love boysenberries so much they eat them as other children might eat sweets.
Three-year-old Jai's love of the juicy berries and his somewhat messy way of consuming them has made him the poster boy for his Dad's work ute, now proudly sign-written to proclaim that Berry De Vine boysenberry farm supplies Heinz Wattie's.
"A friend of mine did the sign writing. We wanted to promote boysenberries more and we're proud to supply Heinz Wattie's," said Jai's father Craig.
"There are always fresh or frozen boysenberries in our fridge and Jai and Ella, 6, are allowed to eat as many of them as they like, which they do."
Craig and wife Lani lease a 4.5ha boysenberry farm at Whakatane from Craig's parents, Joan and David, and operate their business under the name of Berry De Vine.
Much like his children, Craig grew up eating copious quantities of boysenberries which he credits for his exceptionally good health. However, it was marine conservation, not berry farming, which he thought would be his career path.
He studied a resource management degree at Lincoln before travelling extensively, including skippering on yachts and working as a dive instructor on the Great Barrier Reef.
While overseas he met Lanie, who grew up on an organic vineyard in Kumeu and had experience in Maori tourism.
Back in New Zealand, the couple worked for a company operating boat tours to White Island but finally their attention returned to the land and the then somewhat neglected family boysenberry farm.
"The first season we bought a $100,000 harvesting machine from Nelson to replace pickers but it wasn't a success," said Craig.
Today the farm employs up to 100 pickers during the height of the season.
"Hand picking is more expensive but much more efficient and less damaging to the fruit and vines.
"We have three generations of the same families coming back to pick fruit year after year, including people I grew up with and that's part of the business I love.
"We're providing local employment for all ages and we have a core of very experienced pickers and packers which is invaluable."
Craig said harvest time is hard work but there's also a strong social aspect with pickers gathering for outdoor picnics among the vines on sunny days.
The Julian berry farm was among 50 growing boysenberries in the Whakatane district 30 years ago.
Today it's one of only two in the area and a handful throughout the country. The majority are in Nelson.
Falling returns, the high cost of labour and the advent of the kiwifruit industry were among the reasons growers moved away from boysenberries but David and Joan retained their vines while they also ventured into kiwifruit.
"Some of the vines on the farm are the original ones my parents planted 30 years ago and are still producing well," said Craig, who spends his time between the boysenberry farm and a kiwifruit management company he owns.
"We have key staff who work in kiwifruit and on the boysenberries, so we can give people almost year round work in a region which experiences high unemployment."
Growing fruit for the fresh market has traditionally been regarded as the way to maximise returns. The Julians sell fresh and chilled fruit, their contract with Wattie's for process fruit is lucrative.
"Wattie's is an awesome company to work with. I can't speak highly enough of how they treat their growers. They give us an advance payment well before harvest and when we are picking for Wattie's they take everything we can produce that meets their quality standards."
Craig said harvesting begins early in the morning and by lunchtime all the day's fruit is picked, quality checked and in the chiller ready for collection about 5am the next day. In less than 24 hours the berries are on the canning line at the Wattie's Hasting plant.
"You can't get much fresher than that," said Craig.
The Julians pick for Wattie's from about December 10 up until Christmas when the Hastings plant closes down. The focus then turns to local and export markets.
"It's much harder work once we stop supplying Wattie's because we have to grade, pack, chill and freeze the fruit in our packhouse."
Punnets of fresh boysenberries are sold to supermarkets and other retailers through the organisation Market Gardening New Zealand, which Craig said is also great to work with.
IQF fruit (independently quick frozen) is another product also stocked by supermarkets and the Julians operation also supplies bulk packs of frozen fruit for use in Tip Top ice-cream and in catering products.
"We harvest 80 per cent of our crop in three weeks and the entire harvest lasts about six weeks."
Production rises rapidly from about 200kg a day in late November to four to five tonne a day in December.
As the harvest draws to a close, Craig's attention turns to the kiwifruit harvest in autumn.
Like kiwifruit, boysenberry vines need winter pruning but once that's done, the vines are left pretty much to themselves with replacement vines allowed to grow across the once neatly-mowed bays until it is time to tie up about 20 canes on each plant, ready for flowering.
Bees love boysenberry flowers and Craig has a friend who uses the farm to produce honey and prepare his hives for kiwifruit pollination.
Five different varieties of boysenberry grow on the Julian farm and Craig has also added feijoa, which he hopes will produce big fruit and another income stream.
However, the purple, nutritious boysenberry will always remain top of his list both as his favourite fruit to eat and to grow.
Berry De Vine opens to the public only on December 2 and 24, 6-2pm for wholesale Christmas berries.