Woodhaven Gardens has been named 2020 Regional Supreme Winner at the Horizons Ballance Farm Environment Awards, run by the New Zealand Farm Environment Trust.

The awards champion sustainable farming and growing through a programme which sees one Regional Supreme Winner selected from each of the 11 regions involved. All Regional Supreme Winners are in the running for the Gordon Stephenson Trophy, with the winner of this national award to be announced at a later date.

Woodhaven Gardens is a family business established in 1978 by Eric and John Clarke, with the lifestyle choice soon becoming a passion for producing the best produce available.

The Levin property is unique for its size and crop diversity – 23 different vegetables, plus maize and ryegrass to improve soil health and reduce nutrient losses. Annually, they sell 27 million individual vegetable units which is about 10% of the national supply, and contribute between $30–35mil to New Zealand’s GDP.

In recent years, Woodhaven has significantly invested in reducing its environmental impact, adopting a science-led approach that balances conservation with commercial success.

The judges said major changes to farming practices have resulted in a significantly reduced environmental footprint, with further improvements ongoing.

“Woodhaven is a leader in research for the vegetable industry – contributing time, money and land in order to measure and provide evidence. This large-scale fresh vegetable growing operation is driving change in environmental sustainability.”

They commended the Clarkes for shifting production areas in order to reduce nitrogen loss and minimise the impact on water quality.

Woodhaven’s owners and directors view the farm holistically – growing for themselves while also enriching the lives of their staff, community, local iwi and environment. Their approach has been shared with Horticulture New Zealand and is being rolled out to other growers in the region.

As well as receiving this year’s Regional Supreme Award, they also received the:

• Hill Laboratories Agri-Science Award
• Norwood Agri-Business Management Award
• Synlait Climate Stewardship Award
• WaterForce Wise with Water Award

Iareta was the lucky recipient of the lovely warm Katmandu jacket that MG’s Market purchased at the recent Tararua Growers dinner and generously donated to us to gift to one of our staff – Thank you MG’s

Oh my goodness Woodhaven Gardens.Awaiting me on returning home today was a box of the most wonderful produce from you ( and all I did was say how much I loved your spinach!) Thankyou SO very much.

Truly appreciated- and produce shared whilst crisp and fresh with a couple of neighbours where I know the budget is tight. One friend is going to make her delicious sauerkraut with the cabbage- to share with me!

When I see the variety of produce someone with Woodhaven may be interested in the following…

*Chelsea Winters recipe for Mean Green Soup- vegan version. An absolute winner and definitely Woodhaven.

* I’ve also embarked on a new eating pattern from the book “The Plant Paradox”,  Dr Steven Gundry MD who is

a renowned cardiologist and surgeon. He advocates eating only from such as Woodhaven’s menu to heal the gut, reduce inflammation and eliminate serious health conditions. Ive had amazing results. Would strongly recommend some knowledge from this work for your marketing.

Enough.

And thank you again so much. I’ll need to meet the challenge of using the fennel bulbs- a new one for me!

Warm regards

Marguerite

Horowhenua is abundant with a variety of producers and growers and we were proud to be part of the inaugural ‘Horowhenua Taste Trail’. The Taste Trail was established to showcase produce, speciality food and beverage products of the region by connecting consumers with their local producers, and growing the region’s reputation for food excellence. The trail offered a series of innovative experiences for people to connect with producers and uncover more about the food that’s produced in this bountiful region.

We hosted thousands on the farm throughout the day and cultural performances by our workers were one of the highlights.  Visitors sampled fresh vegetables or dishes and children enjoyed tractor and trailer rides around the gardens.

The event was a big success despite the suspect weather and co-ordinator and organiser Catherine Lewis said they were “blown away” by the enthusiasm and numbers of visitors.

“We have had the most amazing feedback. Visitors have been amazed by local producers’ effort and commitment to producing such high-quality food. We are glad to have instilled pride in the community of the amazing place we live, the incredible people that live here, and the beautiful food and wine we produce,” she said.

There are plans to grow the Horowhenua Taste Trail into an annual event and we can’t wait to be involved again in 2017!

“This is just the beginning of recognising Horowhenua as a district of food excellence”.

Local MP Nathan Guy enjoyed the festivities.

Keep up-to-date with news about the next Taste Trail here  www.tastetrail.co.nz

Congratulations to Woodhaven Gardens for winning the ‘Hill Laboratories Harvest Award’ at the ‘Ballance Farm Environment Awards’ ceremony on March 17th 2016.

This award recognises the farmer who is predominantly involved in growing crops, (e.g. Grain, Seed, Viticulture, Horticulture) but also encompasses livestock farmers who demonstrate excellent pasture and soil management.

Judges were impressed with Woodhaven’s:

• Commitment to controlled traffic farming to minimise soil compaction and maintain soil health

• Dedicated team of agronomists who intensively monitor crops for pest and disease ensuring quality and justifying spray applications

• Investment in development of Hortrac software recording field, harvest, sales activities allowing full traceability of each crop

• Crop rotation to reduce soil-borne disease; retiring fields to pasture/maize for reincorporation to improve organic matter status.

You can read more about the award here

We’ve proudly been nominated as a finalist for the Horizons region ‘2016 Ballance Farm Environment Awards’. The awards recognise and celebrate good farm practices which promotes sustainable land management. The key objectives of the Awards are to display to farmers that profitability need not compromise and, in the best examples, can restore and enhance environmental values. “Can what is being done now, still be working successfully in 100 years?”

Woodhaven understands its environmental footprint and work hard to minimise this environmental impact as much as possible. Our work creating sustainable farming practices and investigating ways to reduce nutrient leaching resulted in a finals nomination.

Wish the team luck in the awards ceremony later this year!

Woodhaven Gardens was the big Horowhenua-based winner at the awardson Friday night in Levin, picking up the New Thinking Achievement award. The business was recognised for its website-based logistics and production programme ’Hortrac’.

The business had improved its efficiency significantly by applying the exhaustive tracking information the programme allowed.

“It’s traceability of the product; we can record everything from sowing to plate, so it allows us to track cases in freight, compute all products and cases going out the gate, and ensure we’re being paid for each, who it was packed by, and what’s been done to it. It saves massive amounts.”

The judges said Woodhaven had a strong track record and reputation, and praised their new programme.
“This is a very well run business that has developed some clever online systems that will not only help themselves significantly but could also become a potentially successful business in its own right,” the judges said.

More than 400 people attended the formal awards dinner at the Horowhenua Events Centre, which marked the 20th year the awards had been held.

Radio New Zealand interviewed John and Emma about life on the farm and the challenges involved in running a market garden.

You can read more about it and listen to the whole interview here: Radio NZ