www.kapiticoast.govt.nz/media/33157/market-gardening-in-otaki.pdf?fbclid=IwAR16Crjo5kBnEDdORNcWMCI0eH0trRkzgIBexpoBCm0igexnrUquFCKgwCk HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?
Memory Session at Otaki Library
5 April 2018
Betty Young grew up on Rangiuru Road where her family had market gardens. Her father Dow
Chung had gardens in Ōtaki for about 60 years. Betty said her parents – like many other Chinese
market gardeners – moved to Ōtaki when land in the Hutt was taken up by state housing
developments.
In Ōtaki, Dow Chung grew mostly tomatoes but also other vegetables (cauliflower, leeks, spring
onions etc…). He was one of the first New Zealand growers of broccoli - the seed companies
approached him (in the 1980s) to do trial crops.
Dow Chung was one of the few market gardeners in Ōtaki who didn’t have a roadside stall – instead
almost all of his produce was sent to Wellington to auction. Betty remembered the auction system
being very effective with less waste than there is now – with all grades of fruit and vegetables being
bought and sold. With the growth of the supermarkets – and before the recent advent of local
farmers markets – it was difficult to sell anything that wasn’t 1st grade or “perfect”.
Betty worked in the family gardens most days after school while growing up. She also had uncles and
cousins with market gardens in Ōtaki – and remembers that the Chinese community in Ōtaki was
divided into 3 factions (depending on where in China they had originated from).
Dow Chung sold his Rangiuru Road land about 10 years ago – and it has now been subdivided.
Betty shared a story about going to Wellington to pick up a relation’s wife who was newly arrived
from China. She remembered her being absolutely beautiful and dressed in a long cheongsam.
Eight year old Betty was very worried that such a glamorous woman would be disappointed when
she arrived in Ōtaki to find the gardens and a house that was little more than a shack.
Heather Watson talked about her family’s home and garden in Kirk Street. It wasn’t a commercial
operation but her mother grew poppies for market – to “pay for her perm”. Her father grew
“nerines for flagons”. Either Edwards’ or Cooksley’s transport trucks picked the boxes of flowers up
from the front gate. Her brother Don Watson would pick mint to add to the boxes.
Heather also talked about the “bartering” culture of the time – with people swapping produce for
other goods and services – her family often exchanged things over the fence with Nana and Poppa
Kendrick. Nana Kendrick’s hot cross buns were fantastic.
Heather thinks a lot of family’s would not have “got by” were it not for home gardens and bartering
– “we were all poor”. She said wooden apple boxes served as tables and chairs for many newly
married couples.
Heather mentioned that the women at Tainui Marae were well-known for growing violets. And that
Chinese gardeners – particularly Jack Young – were known to donate vegetables when there was a
tangi.
Before Atmore Ave was developed the area was taken up by market gardens which were leased by
the Moy family – who later moved to the Main Highway.
As a young man, Heather’s brother Don Watson worked for Jim McCormack at Cherry Gardens
(now Watson’s Gardens) in Bell Street. Don married Pat Enoka in 1966 and took over the business
in the late 1960s. He is currently compiling a book about his life – and also working on a list of
growers that he supplied seed to.
Ian Carson grew up in Te Manuao Road. His parents (Bill and Mae) bought land there in 1952 -
when there were only a handful of houses. Some of the Te Manuao Road families and growers he
recalled from the 1950s-70s included: Whetren, Morgan, Mudge, Chittick, Stewart.
Ian emphasised how very involved the women were in operations – and how market gardening was
very much a family affair. He remembers “long hot summers…pruning, wiring, staking”. He thinks he
and his siblings didn’t have to send as much time in the gardens as their Chinese counterparts did –
but it was still a lot of hard work. Saturday mornings were always spent in the gardens.
Ian’s father worked their few acres on Te Manuao Road – but at times had different short-term
leases in Ōtaki and Te Horo. Their main crop was tomatoes. In the 1970 the Carsons grew zucchinis -
which were “a new thing”. Ian mentioned how weather-dependant crops were. The Carson’s grew
the majority of their vegetables under glass – but one particularly bad hailstorm left all the
glasshouses and crops badly damaged.
Most of the Carson produce was sent to either Palmerston North or Wellington – following the best
prices. Ōtaki growers always followed the prices closely – with auctioneers sending telegrams with
the most up-to-date prices offered.
Growers would also congregate at the Railway Station to load their produce and compare prices
before deciding where to send their goods. The TAB and pubs were further meeting points for the
local growers - with a lot of time spent discussing prices.
During meetings at the Ōtaki Maori Racecourse there would be a steady “stream of traffic” down Te
Manuao and Freemans Road – so the Carson’s roadside stall was ideally situated.
At one stage, Ian’s father had a garden on leased land on the corner of Mill and Anzac Road (where
the Rahui Rugby Club noticeboard is now). He remembers that this piece of land had no fences so
became something of “a community garden” with people often helping themselves.
Ian also mentioned the water tower at the Railway Station. It had a big canvas hose – and when the
circus came to town the elephants would drink from it.
When Ian left home in 1971 he moved to Wellington and worked for Turners and Growers.
Meagan Roach remembers spending a lot of time with her mother at the Bertlesen & Sons gardens
in Dunstan St from the time she was a toddler. Her uncle was a son-in-law of Vic Bertlesen. A
particularly strong memory is of big tomato fights. During the day workers would set aside rotten
tomatoes to throw at each other when work finished.
Kaye Carkeek (nee Warwick) married at 18 and moved with her husband Tana Carkeek to a new
house in Freemans Road. At that time there were no roads leading off Freemans Road – it was an
unbroken stretch between Te Manuao and Rahui Roads with paddocks and market gardens all
around.
Two Italian families the Barones and the Speranza’s had gardens on Freemans Road – in the area
which is now the Ludlum Way and Speranza Ave subdivisions . Kaye recalls that Ōtaki’s Italian
families would meet up on a Sunday to “play Italian bowls and drink grappa”.
Kaye worked for Alec Morgan packing tomatoes in his sheds Te Manuao Road. She also worked in
his gardens at Manakau.
Nan Heginbotham stayed with her grandparents during holidays – and her Wellington friends would
always ask her to bring some famous Ōtaki flowers home for them.
Nan’s grandparent’s villa (and “couple of acres”) was the first on the corner of Lemon and Kirk
Streets. After World War Two they sold off some the surrounding land. A man named Noel grew
violets there. And an Italian man named Peter grew pumpkins across the road. He had a secret
recipe for turning pumpkins into whiskey.
Nan recalled that there were Chinese market gardens all along Kirk Street when she was younger.
Peter Kim and his parent’s had large gardens (in the area of the present-day Patterson Court).
Nan also remembered a Mr Duncan who had gardens and poultry at Ōtaki Beach.
Jan Harris recalled that when she was growing up in Wellington flower-sellers were common on the
city streets. Their catch-cry was “Lovely Ōtaki violets…Lovely Ōtaki pinks”. Ōtaki violets were
renowned for their size and beautiful perfume.
Christabelle lives in the old Harvey house on Rangiuru Road across from the Telegraph Hotel. She
said the land is “22ft mud silt” and everything grows rampant – “The feijoa is a hazard to aircraft”.
She is always finding horseshoes in the garden – a reminder from the old days when the Ōtaki
Automotive Services garage across the road was the Telegraph Hotel stables.
Glennis Balloch recalled going with her mother to the Palmerston North markets in about 1955. Her
mother bid fiercely against the Chinese buyers to take home boxes of vegetables to make her
chutneys and sauces.
Joey Te Wiata spent years working in Ōtaki’s market gardens – which taught him a lot about selfsufficiency. He said he was very grateful to the Chinese market gardeners who hired so many locals
when times were tough.
Joey recalled that lots of kids worked for Daisy Kwan on Mill Road to earn some money for sweets
or to go to the movies. She was very old but “she’d kill those kids with work. They couldn’t keep
up…she was dynamite”.
Joey attended the convent school (St Peter Chanel) until Form 2 - then went to work for Jimmy
Gow.
Joey and his father also worked (with Booboo Raika) for Vic Bertlesen. Work included pruning,
picking and loading the trucks. On occasion, he recalls them loading trucks for Wellington where the
produce would be transferred to “flying boats” bound for the Chatham Islands.
At Bertlesen’s, Joey leant the best way to remove the greenish powder you get over your hands and
arms when you pick tomatoes. The trick is to squash a green tomato and use it to clean off the
powder.
Other growers Joey and his whanau worked for included Brian Meyer, the Ferretti family, Harry
Branch and the Dal Din family. A lot of this work was in and around Bennetts Road.
He also worked for the Wang Young in Rangiuru Road. And recalled a time when truckloads of
workers from Ōtaki would head out to gardens around the district. Joey worked for Wang Young
with Hongi Edwards (who was the “head man”), Francie Nicholls and Sawa (?). They’d travel by
truck to work in his gardens at Rangiuru, Ōhau and even Levin.
Noel McBeth worked for Coastal Freighters for many years. During the 1970s, he’d pick up fruit and
produce from growers 3-4 a week. He can remember gardens on “every street”. Some of those he
recalled from Rangiuru Road area included Les Young (who had huge gardens), You Yee Chung and
Dow Chung, Mr Tilbury who grew daffodils, the Manz family and Bernie Housiaux (who lived
opposite Hema Hakaraia). He also named the Duncan family who grew radishes and tomatoes on
Ngaio Street (now Duncan Way), Mr Bellina who lived and had packing sheds on Bell Street (but had
gardens next to Ōtaki College), Jim Gow on Convent Road, Tse Lun and his wife who grew (the best)
spring onions on the corner of Dunstan Street and Waerenga Road, the Branch gardens on
Waerenga Road and the Dal Dins who had gardens alongside the Morgans on Waerenga Road.
While tomatoes were the mainstay of Otāki’s market gardens – flower growing was also big. In
particular Noel mentioned Chrysanthemums.
Noel’s mother Dorie McBeth was a member of the Morgan family who were heavily involved in
market gardening. A further “claim to fame” was that the Morgan men had helped to build Rahui
Road.
The original Morgan family homestead (Noel’s grandparents) was the house on Waerenga Road
which has lately been bought and used by New World as a car park for staff.
Noel remembered that some of the Chinese market gardeners would use “delay tactics” with him
when he went to get their produce to take to the Wellington markets. This was because the last
items on the truck were the first off, which meant they were auctioned first and so got the better
prices. Noel recited the Ōtaki-famous adage: Last on, First off, Best price.
Linda Ludlow (nee Morgan) is the daughter of Elsie and Lloyd Morgan (and a cousin of Noel).
When Linda was born her parents were working for Stanley Grant at Kaingaraki – he grew tomatoes
and flowers. Elsie and Lloyd Morgan later moved to a place above Harold Taylor’s shop on Ar