Russian Red, Turbo. Virosa, Roma, Rams Horn, Purple Cherokee, Black Krim, Azoychka Russian, Garden Peach, Wonder, Uberich, Sun Cherry, White Cherry. Sungold. Fourteen types of tomatoes were laid out on the Hunter dining table. Lynley told us these weren’t all the varieties she grows and sells!
The Hunter family have been proving their green thumbs for generations. Lynley Eason grew up in Waikouaiti. When she married Mark Hunter she fit right into his family in many ways, especially as a skilled grower and keen market garden businesswoman. She got into market gardening to allow her to stay at home with the kids. Lynley, Mark and their children, Lauren & Shawn, have their home and fully organically certified (with Otago Farmers New Zealand – OFNZ) vegetable and seedling market garden on Inverary St behind the racecourse in Waikouaiti.
The Hunters maintain large glass and tunnel houses. Stepping inside the largest complex is like entering another world. One area houses over 700 tomato plants, neatly growing to about 8 feet in height, trained to miles of string and interplanted with companion plants of marigolds and cascading nasturtiums. Cucumbers grow along the ground. Tomatoes ripen along the long rows. The tomatoes got planted a little later than usual this year as the Hunters moved back home. The largest glass house has smaller tunnel houses set inside it in order to maintain speciailised climate conditions. One of the smaller tunnel houses is where seedlings get their start, in small germination punnets on an electric heat bed. A heater with a thermostat keeps that tunnel house above 3 degrees C for this critical part of the operation. Once established, the seedlings are replanted and can go outside to grow before being ready to sell. It takes 4-12 weeks of tending from seed to sale.
Organic seed, sourced from Koanga Gardens in the North Island, is first grown out and tested for our colder South Island conditions. The best types are then used for production and used as the seed source for future crops. Some of the surplus seed is donated back to Koanga as part of a heritage seed bank. Lynley says it is good to know they are keeping the varieties our ancestors grew alive – and is convinced that those types were grown because they are tasty than present day varieties.
It looks like a huge amount of work. Lynley credits Mark with preparing the extensive beds every year to get ready for the next crops. She has prime responsibility for most of the other work. Every month, every season brings different responsibilities. She says she never really stays ahead of it!
Lynley and Lauren sell vegetable seedlings, herbs, perennials dahlias, geraniums, gazanias, begonias, tomatoes, and other produce (spinach, rainbow chard, cucumbers, French and runner beans, courgettes, potatoes and lettuce) at the Farmers Market in Dunedin every Saturday. You will also see her plants for sale on tables outside the Karitane General Store, Waikouaiti Hammer Hardware, the Waikouaiti Food Centre and the Palmerston Four Square (bottom shop). Many of us depend on these sources to replenish our flower and veggie gardens. Their specialist organic plants, including a large variety of tomato heirlooms, are also sold at Taste Nature on Moray Place in Dunedin.
During this season you can stop at the Hunter place on Inverary Street from Sunday through Thursday to purchase veggies and plants. Look for the big red tomato sign at the end of the drive. Lynley also takes orders for folks wanting to make sauces/relishes – and she appreciates any plastic shopping bags.
