The health network and many others helped with funding, and Mrs Duff said so far 12,000 of the trees had been given to individuals and organisations.
Mr Christensen and his Heritage Food Crops Research Trust then investigated the health-giving properties of other fruits and vegetables - especially tomatoes and more recently climbing beans. Plant material from them was also given away.
Mrs Duff said the community had taken ownership of the project, and requests for more and different plant types kept coming in. The plants had been grown in the gardens of individuals, schools and early childhood centres, and also planted in public places.
Schools have taken to the idea, and added more trees and plants.
"At first it was groundsmen that collected the trees. Now principals are starting to come in. Everybody in the school is starting to own this. I have phone calls all the time," Mrs Duff said.
Every school in the region now had its own food forest and vegetable garden, she told her audience.
Groups as far away as Taihape were requesting propagation material for vegetables such as branching broccoli. Maori potatoes were usually sourced from the Massey Maori Potato Co-operative and given away.
"Now we can give away vegetables that are harder to grow, because people are getting better at growing."
Charitable groups such as Tawhero's Te Ora Hou were given hundreds of plants a year.
Business spin-offs were possible too, with groups looking at ways to market the health-giving compounds.
The long-term project would continue to get $18,000 funding annually from the health network. It was likely to evolve in unexpected directions: "Community development is like that."
The high-health orange Moonglow tomato is the project's focus this year, with 6000 plants to be given out at the River Traders' Market on November 8.