East Taieri resident Harry Lagocki’s 2ha property just south of Allanton looks as though the North Island has come south — tamarillos, bananas, persimmons, feijoas, various citrus trees and kiwifruit have all had success when planted on his property.
Through hard graft, he has even managed to get Zespri International, the patent holders of the popular "SunGold Kiwifruit" to run a growing trial from his home.
"To my delight, they acceded to it, and this is the third year."
He has multiple kiwifruit plants fruiting at the moment, and it is all possible because of a microclimate that encompasses his property.
The temperature difference between the bottom of his driveway and the top is anywhere between three and four degrees on any given day.
The trial has been very successful — but the catch is not a single fruit can leave his property.
"I can’t let you taste one, I can’t give them away and I can’t sell them," Mr Lagocki said.
So, Mr Lagocki and his wife eat kiwifruit for nine months of the year.
All significant kiwifruit growing stops at Nelson and the benefit of growing the fruit on his property was none of the diseases in the north were present in the soil, Mr Lagocki said.
"The only real difference is that everything is a month later."
One of the goals of the trial was seeing if the climate was warm enough to get the sugar levels of the fruit to export level.
They needed to be at least 6.2 Brix — Mr Lagocki’s hit 18 Brix.
"I’m feeding them seaweed ... boy do they like it."
Mr Lagocki and his wife, Annie, moved to the property about six years ago after leaving Dunedin for Whakatāne in the 1980s.
While working here, he was a soil scientist with the University of Otago.
"My background is in salt and water, particularly drainage, and land rehabilitation.
"So, soil limitations here ... I can handle that, and water limitations, I can handle that, too."
