Martina and Donald Murray have turned their once-bare paddocks into a slice of permaculture paradise. Photo / Taryn Utiger
When Martina Murray retired from her high-pressured engineering career, she felt the gentle pull of permaculture and the whispering of an undiscovered passion.
A far cry from her former life, she now spends her days planting and nurturing, harvesting and sowing, and creating a treasure trove of delicious elixirs and herbal tonics.
For more than 20 years, Martina and husband Donald have been transforming the once-bare paddocks of their Taranaki farmlet into a diverse and thriving ecosystem, developing a sanctuary for birds and issuing eviction notices to rabbits and possums.
Backed by towering views of Taranaki Maunga and nestled a few kilometres from Te Papakura o Taranaki, the farmlet has gone from strength to strength and is now home to Martina’s business, Blue Petal.
To get there, you leave the hustle and bustle of State Highway 3 and head to Korito, enjoying a meandering drive that delivers some of the region’s most idyllic scenery and has you arriving at their gate relaxed.
As you walk up the driveway, the crisp, clean air is peppered with the sound of tūī singing and other birds chirping. Bees are flitting from comfrey to lavender, buzzing happily about their day, while a thick border of fruit trees and flowers almost calls to you, tempting you to disappear into a permaculture paradise.
That is until Martina’s warm face pops out. She radiates an inviting smile and looks like she’s filled with charming stories and wisdom passed down for centuries.
Hailing from Croatia, Martina moved to New Zealand towards the end of the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s to work for a geothermal consultancy. She later moved to Fletcher Challenge, where she met her husband Donald, a geoscientist.
Her passion for permaculture wasn’t unearthed until she retired and began growing plants as food. She soon found herself intrigued by the health benefits and immersed herself in the horticultural knowledge of Taranaki gardeners such as Dee Turner. Inspired, the couple converted a sloping paddock into an orchard, filling it with countless varieties of apples, peaches, avocados, pears and a sprawling underplanting of comfrey.
Over time, food forests were added, along with shrubs, a legion of native trees, greenhouses, a terraced herb field and a nook of Douglas firs for homegrown firewood.
“Initially we were counting on one hand how many fruits we had, then we got bees and they started giving us so much fruit. Soon it was more than enough for the neighbourhood and for the cows,” Martina says.
“Donald had the idea to try distilling our excess fruit, just for us. So we started looking into that and found Valmai Becker at Phytofarm in the South Island. She used to be the head of Canterbury College of Natural Medicine, and so I did an apprenticeship with her. I went from Dee Turner, then to Valmai Becker, and those parallel experiences are where the love of herbs and the knowledge of herbs came from.”
In 2020 Martina turned her extensive herbal knowledge, flourishing farmlet and talent for creating medicinal treats into a business, launching Blue Petal. Using natural processes, sustainable harvesting practices and old Eastern European recipes, she developed a range of delicious elixirs, nourishing tonics, connoisseur honey and speciality seasoning blends.
While the garden is where it starts, the final magic of Blue Petal happens in what was once the farm’s milking shed. The old herringbone has been converted into a hive of activity where herbs and flowers are dried, plant matter is distilled, tonics are brewed, spice mixes are blended, honey is extracted and produce is preserved and fermented.
It’s also where Martina holds speciality workshops and passes on the knowledge she has collected, teaching people how to use herbs and botanicals for all kinds of things. Those workshops cover topics like cocktail making, natural beauty products, herbal infusions, culinary masterpieces, restorative remedies, and often include a healthy taste test of Blue Petal’s delicious range.
That delicious range has been chosen to feature at Womad this March, in the Taste of Taranaki Pop-up led by Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki. The pop-up showcases scrumptious creations from 12 of the best food and beverage producers in the region and includes gourmet crackers handcrafted in Hāwera, organic feijoa and apple juice from Bell Block, award-winning drinks conceived in Ōakura and superfood cereals made in New Plymouth.
Brylee Flutey, general manager of destination at Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki, says festival-goers will be able to interact with producers like Martina, sample creations and snap up some of the region’s finest food and beverages to take home with them.
“Taranaki is fast becoming known for its vibrant food scene and the pop-up offers festival-goers the chance to indulge in the unique flavours and diverse array of food and beverage products crafted around the maunga.”
With a lineup of artists including Ziggy Marley, Morcheeba and Gilberto Gil, thousands of out-of-towners will be flocking to Taranaki for the award-winning three-day festival.
“Womad is the perfect place to share our unique food story and strategically to connect our producers with new audiences,” Flutey said. “Food tourism is on the rise and food provenance has never been more important, so by harnessing Womad’s magnetic pull on visitors we have the potential to bring significant impact to our food and beverage industry.”
What: Womad NZ 2024
When: Friday, March 15, to Sunday, March 17
Where: Brooklands Park and the Bowl of Brooklands in Ngāmotu / New Plymouth
Tickets: www.womad.co.nz