Annie Perkins has bought into Newstead Orchard and is moving it deep into the regenerative agriculture space. Photo / Catherine Fry
A century-old Waikato family orchard business is finding fresh energy to sustain a local treasure.
The McMiken family have been orcharding in the Waikato since 1914, initially establishing Sunnyside Orchard at Silverdale Rd, Hamilton, on land given to William Jeffrey McMiken (Jeff) by his father John McMiken, who believed it had potential for pip and stone fruit.
As Hamilton and the University of Waikato grew around them, the family established Newstead Orchard, and Sunnyside Orchard became the University of Waikato campus.
The family’s third generation of orchardists downscaled production and focused on supply for their local seasonal gate sales.
At the end of the 2023-24 fruit season, Jeff McMiken’s granddaughter Jean decided to retire from managing the orchard shop.
Her brother and head orchardist, John Woolford, was also keen for more time away from the orchard work.
The future looked uncertain for Newstead Orchard, the last remaining small commercial orchard in the area.
Annie Perkins was brought up on a dairy farm in West Virginia, US.
With both agricultural and environmental management degrees, her career has supported sustainable agriculture and conservation, including roles in soil conservation, catchment management, and agricultural and environmental research.
She came to New Zealand in 1992 to work on agricultural extension programmes at AgResearch in Hamilton, communicating the latest research to farmers.
Since 2002, her focus has been on working as a professional facilitator, supporting many sustainable land management projects and developing a specialty in supporting farmers to learn directly from each other.
“I’ve been a food grower my whole life, first on the family farm and then I have dug up the backyard everywhere I have lived ever since,” Perkins said.
“My husband, Dave Campbell, and I incorporated food gardens into the landscaping of all three urban properties that we have eco-renovated together.”
Perkins became friends with John Woolford nearly two decades ago. They are now testing the parameters of growing stone and pip fruit organically and sustainably at Newstead Orchard.
“Apples are one of the most heavily sprayed crops around.
“Insect pests such as leaf roller caterpillars and codling moths or fungal diseases such as black spot attach to the fruit, making some unsellable.”
Perkins said she had developed a healthy respect for how difficult organic gardening and farming were.
“It’s all about the soil and keeping it healthy, and farmers may consult with experts on their journey, but first-hand experience and talking to other growers are often the best sources of learning.
“John has been using integrated pest management for many years, dropping the heavy insecticides decades ago.
“As beneficial insect numbers increased, we now only monitor and target spray for the two fruit pests that damage the fruit and have no natural predator in NZ.
“Keeping bees safe is a priority.”
Growing rows of different species in different areas of the 5ha in production reduces the spread if a particular species is hit by disease or pests.
Any diseased trees are burned, and the ash is used in compost.
Having fruit succession during a long period of time also reduces risk.
John has been reducing inputs for many years, finding the fine line where profit is affected.
“We mow around the trees and make our own compost from waste streams already available on the orchard.
“We’re trialling organic growing methods in the area where I have a market garden.
“We use diverse cover crops on the vegetable gardens to grow soil and bring good diversity to the orchard.”
When Annie learned that Jean was retiring but John was open to the orchard continuing, they came up with an agreement where Jean and John remained in their homes on the orchard, retaining land ownership and the rural lifestyle.
Annie has bought into the orchard business and is progressively taking over orchard operations, learning alongside John and taking full responsibility for fruit sales and establishing the market garden.
“We hope we’ve found a model that allows elite soils close to a city to stay in production, keeping community access to local fruit, and allowing family growers to retire while retaining family land.
“We based the concept on what both parties were comfortable with commitment- and risk-wise.
“We reviewed after the first season and increased my commitment for the second season.”
Annie said it was a great privilege to learn alongside those who had cared for that land for decades, and she respected that things were the way they were for good reason.
For now, she is tapping into new markets, diversifying the range of local produce available from the orchard farm shop and moving deep into the regenerative agriculture space.
She would like to see a clear way for New Zealand’s horticultural farmers to enter the industry without needing to own the land.