Cherry trees are blossoming at a cyclone-damaged orchard in Hawke’s Bay, sparking hopes for a good harvest for Christmas.
In February, Cyclone Gabrielle caused the Ngaruroro River to burst its banks and smash through Riverside Cherries’ 10-hectare apple orchard and seven hectares of cherry trees.
The Twyford business lost all the apple trees and half a hectare of cherries.
After eight months of hard mahi, the replanted and repaired cherry orchard is blossoming, but owner Jerf van Beek said there was still lots of work to do.
“We were completely smashed. What we lost, we replanted in young trees, then we had to start the big job of repairing our cages.
“They were completely washed away and broken, so that’s seven hectares of netting, so it was quite a job.
“Today, we’re still busy doing the final closure of those cages, because once you get a bit of colour on cherries, the birds just go absolutely nuts. No nets, no crops.”
The crop would probably be half the size of last year’s harvest, but cherries should be available by early December, van Beek said.
“Fortunately we have got a nice crop hanging there,” he said.
“It’s not as big, the cyclone has had an effect... but we’ve got a crop.
Riverside Cherries owner Jerf van Beek. Photo / RNZ / Jimmy Ellingham
“We’ve got our own packhouse which was completely washed out, so we’re now in the process of rebuilding that packhouse, and the machinery.
“The coolstore was completely written off, we had to rebuild that.”
The orchard should be able to fill most of its usual orders for summer, van Beek said.
“It’s all got to be done in the nick of time, but it will happen, so we will be able to supply our loyal customers around Auckland, Wellington and across New Zealand with a lovely cherry crop.”
The apple orchard has been replanted in squash to help revive the silt-damaged soil and bring it back into production.
The Riverside team and wider community had helped the orchard survive the cyclone damage, van Beek said.
“The volunteers on days two and three have made it possible that we could arrive at this point here now. They helped us right through. As individuals, we would never have been able to get to this point.
