Whangārei's Selwyn Park retirement village is going back to its roots with a comprehensive strawberry-picking programme for its residents.
The village, which houses 88 people, has 10 rows of strawberry plants from which about a dozen residents pick from regularly.
The fruits of their labour is then turned into jam, which is sold at an onsite cafe, alongside blueberry jam, pottles of strawberries and lavender-based products.
When the facility began in 1967, it included a large market garden that supplied the village and local community. Through expansion, the garden was disestablished until September last year when the strawberry plants were introduced.
![Basil Brooks, 86, picks out the ripe ones. Photo / Tania Whyte](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/LYRCO23UMHVXXNTDAKMWJRFWSI.jpg?auth=3d1e18de8d06fc5845dd762c745389a92c9692d8581eb3018e4fca2b89376c85&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)