Field day: Kaimai Range, 16 August

Come and meet NZ Avocado CEO Jen Scoular at her “orchard” in the Kaimais.

Five years ago, Jen recognised she needed to know more about growing avocados than she learnt from behind her desk. At the time, trees were in very short supply, so she started her “orchard” with 50 trees Ashby Whitehead had grafted himself, and was about to mow over on his own kiwifruit orchard, having recently sprayed them with Hi-Cane. Trees were transported, bare-rooted, three to a bucket and planted with little preparation.

Jen’s land is actually too cold, too wet, too windy and too high for avocados in New Zealand, but she continued on regardless. The 0.2 ha piece of their garden had been bare for 20 years, is sort of north facing (if you turn a bit to the right) and up in the Kaimais, at 150m, where frosts can be pretty tough.

She and husband Bob have since added another 40 clonals, this time following the avocado planting guide, and are expecting their first harvest this season. She is very very excited at the prospect of having her own avocados on tap (as is her team!).

Jen and Bob would love you to join them for a wander around their small patch of avocados and enjoy a beer chatting about the challenges of this exciting industry.

When completing the registration for the event below, please feel free to suggest questions and the team will endeavour to answer as many as possible on the day. Drinks and snacks will be provided towards the end of the field day to provide an opportunity to talk with other growers and continue discussions with the NZ Avocado team.

Please register your attendance using the form below