New Zealand's first heritage neighbourhood orchard. What a day! What a community!

Carla and Pleasance bed-in a heritage apple and express their delight at the day.

The ‘plant-out’ day for the country’s first-ever neighbourhood orchard at Riverton exceeded the expectations of the organisers, the neighbours and the descendants original settler families who turned out for the planting of the heritage fruit trees this weekend.

 The enthusiastic group that dug holes and planted fruit trees at the sheltered site overlooking the estuary at Riverton were united in their desire to establish an orchard that represented both the treasures of the past and the way of the future, with apple, pear and plum trees sourced from the oldest orchards in the district, grafted for a new lease in life and planted out for the latest generation of families from the area.

 Great-grandchildren from the earliest settler families helped their parents and grandparents plant the new trees, grafted from their Great-Great Grandparent’s orchards by the Open Orchard team who had secured the land for the orchard and done the grafting in preparation for the weekend’s plant-out. Neighbour Pleasance Hanson said of the event, 

“It’s remarkable! The coming together of the old families and the local community is so special and makes me feel proud to be involved in the planting of the orchard.”

 Representatives of the settler families planted the new versions of the trees that have been on their family farms for generations and thanked the organisers of the project, Robyn and Robert Guyton for their vision and perseverance in seeking out and collecting all of the fruit trees that were being planted on the day.

 Robyn Guyton in turn, thanked Ashley Beer of East Invercargill, for his work in nurturing the grafted pear trees that were sourced from New Zealand’s oldest orchard, that of early Riverton settler captain John Howell, the descendants of the settler-families themselves for their support for the project, and the many neighbours who had turned out to support the planting and do the spade-work on the day.

 “It’s a very special occasion that just shows how willing people are to help each other out with positive projects that benefit everyone.” 

The orchard will be managed by the neighbours and members of the old families who have trees planted there and it is expected that there will be significant interest in the heritage orchard from around New Zealand and overseas as well.