Early into the new century Carole and Dean Allerby bought a paddock with a cow shed on it. Then Dean got a knock on the head and turned the paddock into Willowbrook Farm to specialise in hydroponics and fertigation.
At least, that's how he describes it now and with a sardonic smile but there's no denying the hard work. Today the Allerbys of Willowbrook Farm supply an extensive range of water fed veggies to cafes in Paihia and Kerikeri and sell through Farmers' Markets there and the Whangarei Growers' Market.
They were dairy and beef farmers from Kaeo who 'grew a few capsicums on the farm' before decided to go market gardening full time. They bought some tunnel houses out of town, dismantled them, transported them north and reconstructed them on the paddock off SH10. It took 120 foundations to hold up the posts that carry the racks that Dean built himself before they finally started actually growing things.
Most of the seeds are imported from The Netherlands. Lettuce is placed in what looks like sponge but is, in fact, granite that's been spun to produce a soft and porous growing bed. Irrigation is controlled by a timer controlled by light fluctuation and over the next couple of months the seedling are transferred to bigger 'punnets' according to growth rates before they're ripe enough for picking. At Willowbrook they hydroponically grow 11 different varieties of lettuce.
All the other vegetables are grown by fertigation - a portmanteau word that says what it is - the application of fertilizers and other watersoluble products through irrigation. Willowbrook Farm currently produces seven varieties of capsicum, six of tomato and two eggplant types as well as courgettes, scallopini and cucumbers. And all this is covered by around 2,500 metres of plastic to protect it from above.
