Enterprising Ruapehu mum makes wonderful wool products for the garden

Rita Hammond's sustainably sourced wool-based products provide income and employment to local communities. Photo / Bevan Conley

One might think Ruapehu farmer Rita Hammond had enough on her plate without taking on a new business; however, those who know her were probably not surprised.

Hammond came up with the idea for her Sustaina Grow business while taking time out from a teaching career to care for her three pre-schoolers at home.

“I really wanted to give them that time at home with me then the idea for the business came to me while we were gardening,” she said.

“Most people who farm sheep and grow gardens know the advantages of using the waste wool and dags in your garden.”

Hammond was using wool to help maintain soil temperature, keep predators away from tender seedlings and attract worms to her vegetable garden.

“I thought about making it available for people who don’t have the kind of access that I do,” she said.

“I knew I would need to make it presentable and think about who could help me.”

One year on and Hammond, 32, is employing two part-time workers to help with the home-based business and everyone in the chain is local apart from a Christchurch business that manufactures soil pellets.

“I say my products are 100 per cent wool and 100 per cent NZ made so I need to keep those promises,” Hammond said.

“I started out using our own wool from the small herd we keep on the home farm and, as the business has expanded, I’ve been buying from local farmers in Ruapehu and Whanganui.

“The wool is sent to a factory where it is scoured and felted by machine then collected as a roll ready to be made into the range of products we produce.”

Those products are mulch mats and blankets, grow bags, soil enhancers, corporate gifts or promotion packs containing a grow bag, soil pellets and a seed packet.

Presented in a box printed by Strange Dog Print & Design in Ohakune, the packs can include a printed wrap with a company logo or bespoke design.

Visit Ruapehu recently purchased some of the packs and presented them as gifts to visitors attending the launch of Tahia Ko Punanga - the 2023 destination management plan at Raetihi Marae.

And digital technology company One NZ purchased 2655 of the packs as gifts for employees who transitioned from working for the company under the Vodafone banner when it officially rebranded last week.

Hammond had also been in recent discussions with Horizons Regional Council staff interested in using her mulch matting.

“I do my own marketing and, although I’m not super pushy, I don’t take no for an answer,” she said.

“If a company representative turns me down I just say ‘Thank you and please be aware that I’ll be in touch again next month’.”

It seems, however, that Hammond’s biodegradable, environmentally-friendly products are beginning to sell themselves.

Wool mulch mats help protect seedlings and regulate the soil temperature. Photo / Supplied

Asked if she was ready to move to the next level, Hammond said she was.

“I have people ready and willing to work for me when we need to step things up and I know suppliers will be happy if we increase production.”

When Hammond is not doing Sustaina Grow work she is caring for Maddox, 4, Lincoln, 3, and Maisie, 18 months, and helping her husband Dave with his fencing and firewood businesses which he runs from their 2 hectarefarm property on the Raetihi Ohakune Rd.

“We also have 163 acres at Rangitautau where we farm cows and I work the occasional day at Nancy Winter Early Childhood Centre, Raetihi.

“It keeps my hand in teaching and gives me flexibility. You need that when you have young children and I extend that to my workers because they are mothers as well.”

Hammond also helps her husband with milling firewood and he in turn helps her with assembling boxes and packing the Sustaina Grow products.

“We are both really busy but all the things we do fit in with each other and our vehicles are multi-use. The truck Dave uses for firewood deliveries is also used to collect the rolls of wool from the factory.”

The Hammonds also have an extensive vegetable garden and a sizeable blueberry patch.

“I always grow more than we need because we have plenty of family and friends to share it.

“There are so many petrochemical and synthetic products used in gardening products, I really wanted to promote these sustainable alternatives.

“Even if people just throw the gift packs away, they will break down and the seeds will probably grow.”

Hammond was harvesting seeds from the sunflowers in her garden to include in packs she was planning for spring 2023.