Post by nzbc on Jun 12, 2017 17:53:45 GMT 12
Market gardens story told in Sons of the Soil
LEE-ANNE EDWARDS
Garden city: Market gardens in Naenae circa 1938. By this time the gardens were coming under increasing pressure from housing.
Lower Hutt's market gardens were once so bountiful that they supplied more than half of Wellington's vegetables.
The story of New Zealand's market gardens, and the place the Chinese community had in it has been recounted in a new book, Sons of the Soil, by authors Lily Lee and Ruth Lam.
Mrs Lee and Mrs Lam will be in Wellington on November 9 to give a free talk on their work.
The 550 page book has a chapter dedicated to the Hutt Valley featuring prominent local families including the Hutt's first Chinese gardener in the 1800s, 23-year-old Ah Jong.
Mr Jong was soon joined by fellow countrymen until, by 1904, the valley boasted the largest Chinese market gardens in the country.
Other gardeners to rise to prominence included Harry Wong, whose son is celebrated artist Brent Wong.
Harry Chung, who had land in Birdwood Road and Taita, was one of the founders of Market Gardeners Ltd, a sales outlet formed by a group of Hutt growers after a dispute with the main auctioneers in Wellington.
Tse Wing Cho, who had a garden in Whites Line East, Waiwhetu, was also a founding member of the group.
His son, Tony Tse, has fond memories of the family's time in Waiwhetu and later, at their three acre plot at 43 Mill Street, off Connolly Street. "I was the third generation of our family to come out to New Zealand to market garden.
"My grandfather, Tse Yuk Shung arrived in 1905, then my dad came in 1920."
Tony Tse moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong in 1953, aged 16.
"I spent a short time at Hutt Intermediate to improve my English and then the principal insisted I carry on to Hutt Valley High School, even though I resisted. I used to stay up until late at night learning new words, how to spell them and what they meant."
The principal's instincts proved correct, and within two years Mr Tse had topped his class.
"I thought about university but the family needed my help, everything was very labour intensive.
"Planting, spraying, thinning out, harvesting - it was all done by hand."
The family grew mainly green leaf vegetables but had two glasshouses, one for grapes, the other for tomatoes.
"My dad also specialised in spring onions year round - he was known as the 'spring onion king' at the markets."
By 1960 the Tse family, like the remaining market gardeners in the city, were being squeezed out by the demand for housing.
"Urban sprawl was unstoppable, we could see that we wouldn't be able to survive here, so we went looking for a piece of land further afield."
Their search ended with a 10 acre block of the main highway south of Levin.
"Even with that I could see it wouldn't be enough so we kept adding bits until eventually we had 45 acres and we could start growing potatoes and big crops like that."
By the time they left, there were only two Chinese market gardens left - Young Kee in Waiwhetu Road and Joseph Cho's garden by Melling Bridge.
With its proximity to the river and road to Wellington, Waiwhetu was particularly favoured by gardeners.
So popular was the area that the main route through it became known as Chinaman's Lane, or more colloquially 'Chinkie's Lane'. It was later renamed Waterloo Road.
Sons of the Soil also recounts the racism the families suffered. It culminated in the formation of the Anti-Chinese League that tried to run them out of business by undercutting their prices.
The move failed to gain traction however, as housewives continued to buy from the Chinese.
Sons of the Soil authors talk, Friday, November 9, noon at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, Queens Wharf, Wellington, free entry.
- Hutt News
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/7879708/Market-gardens-story-told-in-Sons-of-the-SoilMarket gardens story told in Sons of the Soil
LEE-ANNE EDWARDS
LEE-ANNE EDWARDS
Garden city: Market gardens in Naenae circa 1938. By this time the gardens were coming under increasing pressure from housing.
Lower Hutt's market gardens were once so bountiful that they supplied more than half of Wellington's vegetables.
The story of New Zealand's market gardens, and the place the Chinese community had in it has been recounted in a new book, Sons of the Soil, by authors Lily Lee and Ruth Lam.
Mrs Lee and Mrs Lam will be in Wellington on November 9 to give a free talk on their work.
The 550 page book has a chapter dedicated to the Hutt Valley featuring prominent local families including the Hutt's first Chinese gardener in the 1800s, 23-year-old Ah Jong.
Mr Jong was soon joined by fellow countrymen until, by 1904, the valley boasted the largest Chinese market gardens in the country.
Other gardeners to rise to prominence included Harry Wong, whose son is celebrated artist Brent Wong.
Harry Chung, who had land in Birdwood Road and Taita, was one of the founders of Market Gardeners Ltd, a sales outlet formed by a group of Hutt growers after a dispute with the main auctioneers in Wellington.
Tse Wing Cho, who had a garden in Whites Line East, Waiwhetu, was also a founding member of the group.
His son, Tony Tse, has fond memories of the family's time in Waiwhetu and later, at their three acre plot at 43 Mill Street, off Connolly Street. "I was the third generation of our family to come out to New Zealand to market garden.
"My grandfather, Tse Yuk Shung arrived in 1905, then my dad came in 1920."
Tony Tse moved to New Zealand from Hong Kong in 1953, aged 16.
"I spent a short time at Hutt Intermediate to improve my English and then the principal insisted I carry on to Hutt Valley High School, even though I resisted. I used to stay up until late at night learning new words, how to spell them and what they meant."
The principal's instincts proved correct, and within two years Mr Tse had topped his class.
"I thought about university but the family needed my help, everything was very labour intensive.
"Planting, spraying, thinning out, harvesting - it was all done by hand."
The family grew mainly green leaf vegetables but had two glasshouses, one for grapes, the other for tomatoes.
"My dad also specialised in spring onions year round - he was known as the 'spring onion king' at the markets."
By 1960 the Tse family, like the remaining market gardeners in the city, were being squeezed out by the demand for housing.
"Urban sprawl was unstoppable, we could see that we wouldn't be able to survive here, so we went looking for a piece of land further afield."
Their search ended with a 10 acre block of the main highway south of Levin.
"Even with that I could see it wouldn't be enough so we kept adding bits until eventually we had 45 acres and we could start growing potatoes and big crops like that."
By the time they left, there were only two Chinese market gardens left - Young Kee in Waiwhetu Road and Joseph Cho's garden by Melling Bridge.
With its proximity to the river and road to Wellington, Waiwhetu was particularly favoured by gardeners.
So popular was the area that the main route through it became known as Chinaman's Lane, or more colloquially 'Chinkie's Lane'. It was later renamed Waterloo Road.
Sons of the Soil also recounts the racism the families suffered. It culminated in the formation of the Anti-Chinese League that tried to run them out of business by undercutting their prices.
The move failed to gain traction however, as housewives continued to buy from the Chinese.
Sons of the Soil authors talk, Friday, November 9, noon at the Museum of Wellington City and Sea, Queens Wharf, Wellington, free entry.
- Hutt News
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/local-papers/hutt-news/7879708/Market-gardens-story-told-in-Sons-of-the-SoilMarket gardens story told in Sons of the Soil
LEE-ANNE EDWARDS