Erin Simpson and Clare Buckner have looked after Te Koha orchard for nine years and the summer of 2010 is its 12th year of organic certification. In 2003 after three years of following the bio-dynamic practices of Rudolf Steiner we were granted Demeter certification. Erin and Clare both have had many years of horticultural and agricultural experience and fell in to organics at a time that gave them the opportunity to use all their skills in a combined effort to manage Te Koha in a continually improving, holistic way. They share the day-to-day running of the orchard with Dave Huggins who is able to fix allot of the things they break and also Jen Speedy who is their own BD guru and manages the veg and soft fruit production as well as the small farm shop on site at Te Koha.

The orchard recruits casual staff during the summer months to help with thinning and picking and at times have up to 16 people living and working on the orchard. This offers a great way of meeting and learning for everyone involved as most people are travellers from all over the world, either embarking on their big OE or just having completed a year or two away living and working in NZ.

We use the bio-dynamic calendar and preparations and our approach to the land is guided by sound horticultural knowledge in combination with organic/bio-dynamic principles that enable us to do the best we can for the soil and the people who live on it. We are very concerned about the management of plants that grow under the trees and have strategies in place to ensure the welfare of predatory insects. We avoid using heavy equipment on the soil when wet and use up to the minute weather forecasting to help us with decision making when we need to fight disease or plant seasonal fruit and veg.

The orchards get applications of bio-dynamic preparations and we also apply seaweeds and composts to the soil. There are many trees and shrubs native to New Zealand planted to provide shade and shelter for the animals and staff, and a habitat for insects and birds. The orchard understories are full of plants that have grown naturally and also that have been planted for beneficial reasons: for example  chicory and comfrey have been used to aid drainage in certain parts of the orchards.