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Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Heritage fruit trees returned to Tuatapere community



Ten years after cuttings were taken from fruit trees in Tuatapere, 34 heritage fruit trees were returned to the community.

The Open Orchard project, which is run by Robyn and Robert Guyton, gifted 34 heritage apple trees to the Tuatapere community which were planted at the Tuatapere Domain on Tuesday.

Tuatapere Community Board deputy chair Anne Horrell said the heritage trees were grown from cuttings taken from Tuatapere orchards.

Robyn Guyton approached the community board 18 months ago offering to give them the heritage fruit trees which had been grown from the cuttings taken from the area, Horrell said.

"All we needed to do is provide the ground, workers and labour."

The trees they have been growing for the past eight years was in anticipation of this moment when they would be returned, she said.

Representatives from the community board and students and teachers from the Waiau Area School helped with the planting.

"It was really, really great."

Now Tuatapere residents would be able to go to the park and pick fruit to eat, Horrell said.

Descendants of the Erskine family, who were the first to settle in the area were at the ceremony.

Several of the cuttings came from the Erskine family orchard, Horrell said

Robyn Guyton said the cuttings were taken from orchards in the Tuatapere ten years ago as part of the Open Orchard project.

Most of the trees will have blossom within the next two weeks and there would be fruit later this season, she said.

All of the trees planted were different varieties of apple and next year they would return to plant another 15 trees, she said.

On Wednesday the Monowai Village community will be doing the same as they were gifted 40 trees as part of the Southland-wide Orchard Parks network.

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