Coastal block ideal for vegetables
18 November 2024
Ben Scott grew up working on his father’s market garden in Marshland, Christchurch and reckons that was enough to convince him growing vegetables was the last thing he wanted to do for a living, but as it turned out, he’s still in the family business.
“Dad grew a range of different crops in Marshland, but he did everything he could to try to put me off following in his footsteps and he gave me all the toughest jobs possible,” recalls Ben, who headed for a different life in Auckland after graduation.
He was back in Christchurch a couple years later when his father’s manager suddenly left, and he offered to help out for a few days. Twenty years later he still hasn’t left, though the business has evolved and relocated since then.
Marshland was a summer-only operation – it was just too wet in winter – so when Ben heard of a block of coastal land where lettuce was being grown in winter a couple of hours north of Christchurch at Conway Flat, he saw an opportunity to expand the business.
“Tom McFarlane had started growing lettuces up here 20 years ago and proved it could be done, so we came up and took over the lease, starting on 2ha.”
That was in 2006, and a year later they bought the whole 5ha block. “We’d drive up and spend a couple of days up here and the rest of the time in Marshland.”