sails ashore garden
Post on 01-Mar-2016
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These Pages.. Stewart Island Tourism oper-
ators Peter (Pictured) and Iris Tait don't
just pack their life jackets when they take
guests on charter yacht trips. They also take
trays of mesclun salad and fresh produce
from their expansive vege plot
Peter and Iris Tait don't mind if their
guests turn a little green as they sail
around Stewart Island's secluded
bays, because they're invariably turn-
ing green with envy - and not a quea-
sy stomach. Every year the Taits host
hundreds of international visitors who
come to this tranquil spot for a spot
of R&R and a hearty dose of Kiwi
hospitality. The Taits met and mar-
ried on Stewart Island 33 years ago.
Peter was working as a conservation
ranger and fisherman when Iris, hen
a student nurse from Auckland
turned up with a group of girlfriends.
She only ever intended to stay for a
holiday but love - and a job as the
Island's district nurse- lured her back
for good. For the past 9 years the
Tait's have run chartered yacht tours
on their 57ft ketch Talisker, and host-
ed guests at their luxury B&B, Sails
Ashore. (their daughter Anne also
has a B&B on the Island called Kow-
hai Lane. Three quarters of their
guests hail from the UK, which Iris
credits to comedian Billy Connolly's
televised tour of New Zealand. "His
programme has done wonderful
things for us. Everyone wants to do
Billy's tour when they're down
here" (As well as a meal at the local
chippie, the tour Includes a trip to the
sculpture at the entrance to the Is-
land's national park. One of the lo-
cals, disgruntled by the lack of con-
sultation before the park was official-
ly opened, famously fired a shotgun
at It to vent their frustration. Some
International visitors come to the
Left : Iris harvests new potatoes
with help from Emma the "elderly"
border terrier. Iris says root crops
grow best in the free draining soil.
Above : When the Tait's bought
their property 20 years ago they
put up their glasshouse before
they'd even unpacked their furni-
ture.
Below: Guests at Sails Ashore en-
joy tasty meals made from garden
produce. Photographer Steve
Wooster turned up just in time to
feast on potatoes, fresh salad and
salmon - the Tait's had just fin-
ished smoking it from the local
fish farm.
bird sanctuary at nearby Ulva Island,
others prefer quiet contemplation. From
the front deck at sails Ashore there are
uninterrupted views over the sheltered
settlement at Half Moon Bay- But it's the
sunny, sloping vegetable garden out the
back that really gets the guests talking.
Iris grows almost everything that's eaten
here from fleshy parsnips and huge car-
rots to plump red tomatoes, trays of
mesclun solid greens and tangy spring
onions. Silverbeet, spuds, cabbages,
cauliflowers and courgettes are staples
too. In fact the only things she buys In
are onions and garlic. "And I actually
grow those too, but I Just can't grow
enough to keep us going."
Most of the crops are raised from seed,
which Iris orders each season from the
nearest garden centre, Diacks Nurseries
in Invercargill. "1 just ring them and
they post it over" she explains. Ordering
over the phone rules out impulse shop-
ping but Iris isn't fussed. "I find now that
after 30 years of gardening I can't be
bothered experimenting anyway. I just
stick to things that I know will grow well
here.
She says root crops like potatoes and
carrots do best in the free draining
soils. We are very lucky because the pre-
vious owners were good gardeners so
we Inherited excellent soil, plus we are
always putting a lot back into it
We have got two large compost bins...
each is as big as a single bed... and all
our lawn clippings and pruning's and
vegetable peelings go in there.
In July the mature compost is hauled out
and spread on the vegetable garden "I
just throw it on top and let the worms do
their thing to take it down into the
soil".
In August each year. Iris also orders 10
bales of pea straw to mulch the soil
"It's trucked down to Bluff and ferried
across, so its a big effort and a drama
but it stops all the weeds" she says.
From the front deck there are uninterrupted views over Halfmoon Bay but it's
the vegetable garden out the back that really gets the guests talking
To extend the season a glass house
was a must have. “The first thing we
did when we moved was to put up a
hothouse, even before we moved in
the furniture. Last summer we were
eating our first tomatoes in Novem-
ber. It’s not a heated glasshouse, but
I put the seeds in back in July and
just keep everything closed up and
my fingers crossed. Although most
of the seedlings are planted out in
the garden, Iris harvests baby mes-
clun salad leaves straight from their
seed raising trays. She's only been
growing this popular salad mix for 4
years (she bought her first packet of
mesclun seed as part of a fundrais-
ing project to help sick penguins !)
but now wouldn't be without it. "I sow
it in recycled mushroom trays from
our local shop and always have one
tray ready for eating and another
coming on, right through summer.
It's easy to grow and keeps very
fresh at sea". Iris doesn't use Insecti-
cides, preferring to outwit the slugs
and other bugs. In spring when she
plants out her seedlings, she sur-
rounds each one with a 15cm length
of plastic down pipe to protect them
until they're growing well.. "That why
I like growing things from seed - be-
cause you can plant 3 or 4 dozen at
a time" she explains. The interna-
tional guests aren't the only visitors
who admire the garden. Native weka
and Kaka parrots are partial to
Iris'tiny seedlings and would happily
scoff the lot if given half a chance. "I
have to cover all of my seedlings
with bird netting - I learnt that lesson
fairly early, so now I grow enough for
the birds, for the slugs, and for our
selves. We get a third each" she
jokes. So what are the other chal-
lenges of gardening on Stewart Is-
land ? "Definitely the weather", Iris
says emphatically. "You never know
what you're going to get down here.
If we have a warm winter, then we
get all the bugs in summer. If we
have a wet summer the moss in the
cobblestones grows faster than the
grass in the lawn. And when it's
windy everything gets completely
battered but all ft takes is a fine day
and a bit of a tidy up to get the gar-
den back into shape
Visiting
For more details about Iris & Peter Tait's
B&B and tours ph 03 219 1151 or visit
www.satlsashore.co.nz. The website also
includes Iris' favourite recipes for seasonal
produce - she says she was endlessly
photocopying them for guests so decided
tp publish them online instead.
"I cover all my seedlings with bird netting and I
always grow enough for the slugs, for the birds, and for our-
selves. We get a third each"
Stewart Island Gardeners are
encouraged to plant native
plants like these bronze carex
grasses. As for the bright or-
ange calendulas Iris says she
never planted them. “They
were here when we came and
the self-seeded every year.”
Hothouse Crops
Black Hamburgh Grapes fruit prolifical-
ly in Iris & Peter Tait's glasshouse. Their
single vine has 4 huge branches "as thick
as your arm" and produces huge bunches
of sweet fruit in January
Growing Grapes so far south s a real
talking point - in fact the Taits could be
proud owners of the world's southernmost
fruiting grape vine. A few years ago a jour-
nalist from an American wine magazine got
wind of it and phoned up for an interview,
thinking they were running a vineyard on
the Island
MoneyMaker Tomatoes are Iris' favour-
ite hothouse variety. "I've gone through
most varieties here but they're the best. I
grow them in 12 old salvaged fish tubs filled
with 50% soil and 50% compost.
Automatic Vent openers and an
irrigation system are essential for keeping
growing conditions under control in the
glasshouse.
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