'We can grow anything here' - a Taranaki family's growing experiment
On their family whenua in north Taranaki, the McClutchie whānau explore growing different crops and aspire to grow Māori medicinal plants in the future.
The McClutchie whānau's roots run deep on their Pukearuhe whenua in north Taranaki.
"Our family has been farming in this area for quite a few generations, but obviously our people Ngāti Tama have been here for 800 to 1,000 years," youngest sister Anne-Maree McKay told Country Life.
On the family farm, Anne-Maree and her four siblings - Caroline, Rawiri, Richard and Davis - are experimenting with new land uses as part of Venture Taranaki's Branching Out Trial.
The family is involved in Venture Taranaki's Branching Out trial, growing a range of botanicals and medicinal plants including liquorice, angelica, and ashwagandha.
Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
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The nine-hectare farm has a long history of experimental land use, Rawiri explains.
Their parents started milking about 100 dairy cows there, with a small sheep unit.
"As that dairy unit got unproductive they tried a few other things," he said. "They were quite industrious trying to get the recipe right for this block of land."
This included experimenting with dairy, meat and Angora goats, even rabbits.
In more recent years, the land was leased as a dairy support block for a neighbour.
After they were approached by their mother's lawyer to take part in a trial to "diversify away from standard dairy", the McClutchie land found its new use - growing liquorice, angelica and ashwagandha.
The roots of the McClutchie family run deep on family whenua in Pukearuhe in North Taranaki.
Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
The whānau is now in their second year of a three-year growing trial, and all of the siblings have come on board in some way.
Like most of Taranaki, Richard says the soil at Pukearuhe is "exceptional for growing".
"It grows pretty much anything. [It gets] plenty of rain, good amount of sun, it's good."
He and his sister Anne-Maree also live on land, growing their own vegetables and root crops, like potatoes and kūmara.
Growing is made easier by the microclimate of the coastal farm, Anne-Maree says.
"We're trialling different strains of the same plant to find what works for us."
The family have learned a lot in the last year, not just about cropping but also about the plants themselves and how they grow, Rawiri says.
"We can grow anything here."
Each crop has a QR code display which helps them to log details about it's growing progress for further analysis.
Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Things are going even better this year, Rawiri says, adding that he and Anne-Maree have been better organised with spacing out the different crops and keeping on top of weeding across the half-acre plantings.
Until participating in the Branching Out Trial, he'd never heard of ashwagandha. About the same time they started growing it, he learned a neighbour used it in their smoothie and on cereal.
"It seems to have sprung onto the market at a good time, as we're starting to grow it," he said, adding it was often used to help people with anxiety and stress.
"It's quite a feathery type root... with half a dozen main roots. Ideally, we want those to be as big as your small finger and about as long. That gets sent away, dried and made into a powder."
Historically, ashwagandha has come from overseas, but there is interest from New Zealand herbal manufcaturers in a local supply.
Angelica and ashwagandha are an annual crop, while the liquorice will be harvested in autumn of 2027.
Now in their second year of the trial, there's been plenty of learnings along the way.
Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life
Rawiri is also hoping to capitalise on the growth of the Taranaki gin-distilling industry by growing angelica, which is predominantly used as a gin botanical.
Local ginmaker, Juno Gin, made a "very successful" batch of gin from botanicals grown by the McClutchie as part of the trial last year, Rawiri says.
"It tasted good."
Longer term, the whānau hopes to branch out into growing native botanicals and plants for Rongoā Māori - a traditional healing practice which utilises many native plants for medicinal purposes.
"We're all really really busy but [growing Rongoā Māori crops] is something we'd rather be doing," Anne-Maree says.
In the meantime, the family is happy with the opportunity to learn more about cropping and potential markets, while caring for their land.
"As everyone learns a bit more about the land and what's good for it, everyone seems to be making changes for the better, which is good."
