Adrian Light (pictured) and son Ben are growing salad greens in 1000 sq m of glasshouses. Photo / Bevan Conley
Adrian Light (pictured) and son Ben are growing salad greens in 1000 sq m of glasshouses. Photo / Bevan Conley
A family recently arrived from California are starting a small-scale bio-intensive market garden on the outskirts of Whanganui.
Adrian Light and his son Ben, 19, have leased land from former market gardener Frank Bristol for their Earthlight Farm in Papaiti Rd. They have 0.6 of a hectare, with 1000 sqm in glasshouses and the rest in the open.
Their first crops are salad greens, microgreens, lettuce mixes and baby turnips, radishes, beets and carrots, and they had planned to sell at the Whanganui River Markets and Feilding Farmers Market.
Baby radishes, beets, carrots and turnips are some of the earliest crops. Photo / Bevan Conley
Selling has not been possible under Covid-19 level 4 restrictions so they gave vegetables to the foodbank last week, and intend to continue. They would also like to provide and deliver vege boxes on a small scale during lockdown.
Adrian Light was brought up in Motueka and spent the past 20 years in California, working in viticulture, botany and teaching, but wanted to return home.
"I had the vision of getting back to the land, getting my hands back in the soil."
The family wound up in Whanganui because his Californian wife, Kiersten, has a friend here. They met Bristol and the farm took off from there.
In March, April and May, Light spent time at Roebuck Farm near New Plymouth, "one of the leading lights" in the type of market gardening Light intends.
It's called bio-intensive gardening and is modelled on French and English city gardens in the 1800s and 1900s when space was limited. It uses modern tools, limited heavy machinery, and focuses on maximising production and minimising waste, using the principles of lean manufacturing.
"It means that we can maximise high-quality produce out of a small land area, with quick turnover of crops. It's quite a profitable model."
Light plans to get organic certification and aims to nurture the soil, "which is really important for plants, humans, food and the community".
In summer they will grow tomatoes, cucumbers, capsicums and herbs in the greenhouses, and move the salads outdoors. Later they will grow longer-season and lower-margin crops that stay in the ground longer.
The plan is to sell as locally as possible to shops, restaurants and perhaps supermarkets.
"We are trying to provide a local food source rather than having food shipped in from all over the place."
In the future, the farm could lease more land and raise organic chickens and beef for meat in a multi-layered approach. It could eventually provide more jobs.
"We are hoping to make a living from this. It's not a hobby. It's a commercial enterprise."
Former market gardener Frank Bristol (left) is leasing land and greenhouses to Ben and Adrian Light. Photo/ Bevan Conley
Light is pleased to continue a market gardening tradition for the land and for Whanganui.
"I understand there were market gardens here in the valley for many years before Frank and Joy [Bristol] bought the property in the early 1980s. They continued that for many years. I'm thrilled to take up the mantle," he said.
