North Canterbury’s Claverley Farm: Salads grow throughout winter at scenic coastal site

Harvesting broccoli at Claverley Farm.

By Cosmo Kentish-Barnes of RNZ

Ocean views makes harvesting of iceberg lettuce and broccoli a lot more pleasant for Ben Scott and his staff at Claverley Farm in North Canterbury.

“People have seen whales out there and a lot of dolphins. It’s absolutely fantastic,” Scott said.

His Scott Fresh brand supplies vegetables year-round to supermarkets and My Food Bag.

Scott purchased the 100ha block of coastal land which used to run deer and cattle in 2022, as its micro-climate makes for ideal growing conditions in winter.

He also runs a farm at Spotswood, just north of Cheviot, that is used for spring, autumn and summer production.

“We’ve got 200 hectares of production across both farms,” he said.

“We work on somewhere between 42,000 and 55,000 lettuces per hectare and a third of the farm’s in icebergs.”

Large amounts of broccoli, baby leaf spinach and baby leaf mesclun are also grown.

The farmland, which rolls down to a beach-side lagoon, only has a thin layer of fertile topsoil.

“So you scratch down about 15cm and it’s just pea shingle for metres and metres.

The farm is nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the Kaikōura Mountains.

“It’s fantastic for winter vegetables but terrible for summer growing, as it’s hard to keep the water up.”

Daily harvesting goes from late May through to early November.

The coastal land goes into crops over the summer months.

Ben Scott checks a lettuce on a wet winter's day Photo / RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

“We put it through oats or barley and then we incorporate that back into the soil.”

Scott said the best revenue per hectare comes from lettuce.

Up to 15 iceberg varieties need to be grown across the two farms, to provide a continual year-round supply.

An aerial view of Claverley Farm.

“If we grew the winter variety in summer, it would end up being huge and puffy.

“Likewise, if we grew a summer variety in winter, it would be the size of a golf ball.

“They’ve all [got] different levels of vigour.”

Once harvested and bagged in the paddock, the lettuce goes straight into a vacuum chiller to await distribution.

“Supermarkets’ preference has gone from a loose unbagged lettuce to a bagged lettuce which works well for us because that’s our main focus.”

While lettuce is Scott’s “bread and butter”, there’s an increasing demand for baby leaf spinach and mesclun.

Vegetables are grown near the sea. Photo / RNZ / Cosmo Kentish-Barnes

He said prices had been poor though, especially for broccoli.

“It’s just pure supply and demand and there’s no given price.

“So one week it could be $2 [a head], the next week it could be 50 cents.

“That’s a big variation.”

Currently, Scott Fresh employs a fulltime equivalent of 30 to 35 people - a mix of locals, backpackers and 10 RSE workers from Vanuatu who live in the original farmhouse that overlooks the property.

“I think it’s probably the best view of any house on the coast,” Scott said.

- RNZ