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RNZ News
28-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Everything's coming up roses as Rural Women marks centenary
Rural Women New Zealand has commissioned a rose for its centenary created by Matthews Nurseries of Whanganui. Photo: supplied Stocks of a pinky lilac rose to mark the centenary of the national organisation Rural Women are two thirds sold already. The Mangamahu-Fordell branch of Rural Women New Zealand commissioned a nearby nursery to breed the new variety for its 100 years. The floribunda rose displays clusters of soft hued blooms above a bushy growing plant with mid-green foliage. Committee member Clare Adkins said it was special. "We came up with this idea of creating a rose in partnership with Matthews Nurseries who are just around the road from us," she said. Adkins farms near Whanganui with her husband, Grant. As well as farming sheep and beef, the couple grow pumpkins for their seeds . These are sold through their business Summer Hill Seeds at Okoia. The rural women's organisation is thrilled with the bloom and fragrance of the new rose. "They've created a beautiful rose for us. It's very scented because that was our criteria," Adkins said. "It's a lovely tribute for rural women all over New Zealand." According to the Whanganui nursery the rose will perform at its best planted in a garden, but can also be grown in a large pot of around 60 litres, so watering and liquid feeding can be done from below to strengthen the root system. Floribundas are ideal for group planting in borders and hedges. They're also suitable for floral arrangements and picking. Photo: Supplied Rural Women New Zealand was first known as the Women's Division of the Farmer's Union and was founded to connect rural women. Adkins said the strength of the organisation was not to be underestimated. It had stood the test of time by adapting to the evolving needs of rural women and their communities. "The rural women's movement started about 100 years ago when the ladies who accompanied their husbands down to the national conference of the Farmers' Union got together to form a new group," she said. The rose commissioned to celebrate the centenary. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life The 16 women shared their experiences of the often hard and lonely times on the farm and with each other. In its early years the organisation aimed at finding ways of improving living conditions on New Zealand farms. "They realised they needed to form a group to help support women and children living rurally and in isolation in the 1920s," Adkins said. Whanganui's Florence Polson from Mangamahu was the first Dominion president. The organisation received a boost of $250,000 in this month's Budget to expand its reach and continue its work. "Rural Women New Zealand has been a backbone of rural life for 100 years," Minister for Rural Communities Mark Patterson said. "This funding will support the important work they do every day - helping connect people to services, building strong local networks, and advocating for rural voices to be heard."
RNZ News
02-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- RNZ News
Country Life: Smashing pumpkins at Summer Hill Seeds
Whanganui sheep and beef farmers Clare and Grant Adkins also grow pumpkins for their seeds. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life Whanganui sheep and beef farmers Clare and Grant Adkins were looking for a "semi-retirement option" when they added pumpkins to the mix as part of efforts to diversify the farm operation near Okoia in Manawatū. "We're producing a plant protein alongside our animal proteins," Clare told Country Life . The couple don't grow the pumpkins for their orange flesh though. Instead, they grow an Austrian variety of pumpkin, known as the naked pumpkin, for their seeds, which they sell and turn into pumpkin seed flour and oils under the brand, Summer Hill Seeds. "They're called the naked pumpkin, because unlike the ones at the supermarket where the seeds are surrounded by the white husk, these ones are naked within the pumpkin. Instead of having the husk as the protection, these ones have just got a super hard skin," Clare explained. Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. They've planted about 10-hectares of their 500-ha effective sheep and beef farm in the "Halloween-looking" pumpkins which they farm alongside about 2000 ewes and beef cattle. Clare said the pumpkins were a bit "unusual", growing to about the size of a soccer ball. "They start out green like a courgette and then gradually go the lovely golden shades as they ripen." The football pumpkins start out green like courgettes, gradually turning gold. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life The seeds, too, are green, as is the flour and oil which is made from them. They have a lovely nutty flavour and provide a range of health benefits, including being high in protein - the Adkins' seeds contain about 52 percent. The pumpkin flesh, however, is quite watery and stringy. It's not grown for eating. "The pumpkin flesh and shell get discarded out the back of our harvesting machine so they go straight back into the soil and melt down really quickly." A halved pumpkin, containing slightly green seeds. These will deepen in colour as it ripens. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life The pumpkins can also be eaten by stock, though the Adkins prefer not to mix grazing animals with human grade crops. To grow the pumpkins the paddock is cultivated, with additional hoeing later on to remove the weeds. Though not organic, the pumpkins grow spray free. "The vine goes for miles," Clare said. "We only get to do the hand hoeing in December. We've literally only got a few weeks between germination and when they start tillering out and holding hands across the rows." She likened the leaves to "little solar panels" putting the goodness from the sun into the fruit. The couple have about 10-ha planted in pumpkins. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life It's a busy time on farm come harvest, once the leaves die down. They use a tractor with a backblade to row the pumpkins. A tractor with the harvest attachment then drives over these rows and the pumpkins get picked up by a "great big drum with spikes on it". The pumpkins are deposited into a chamber with knives that chop them into chunks and separate out the seeds. The fleshy chunks are deposited out the back of the harvester. The seeds get taken back to a shed on farm where they are sorted into different grades. The pumpkin seeds are processed as little as possible so that the seeds retain their natural goodness and nutritional value. The delicate sheaths that remain intact, around the seeds, are beneficial for gut health and are a source of fibre. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life They're soaked overnight and put through a washing machine outside before being put in the drier - a 7m by 1.2m frame with perforated sheet steel mesh. The seeds are laid about six inches deep and described as "slippery green little wetsuits" at this stage. Hot air is blown below the seeds while they're turned and it takes about 14 hours to dry them. Last year the couple produced about 12 tonnes of seeds though they expect this year will be about half of that due to the dry conditions. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life New technology, introduced by the Adkins this season, has helped speed up the drying and sorting process. The seeds then go into the "grand old lady", an antique seed cleaner, for sorting before the final grading process in a more modern colour sorter. Clare said this, especially, had been a "huge time saver". "It's done in less than three days what normally takes me and a helper a month to do." The products are packaged in a former woolshed on farm, with the bottles packed with sheep wool offcuts. Photo: Gianina Schwanecke / Country Life The best quality seeds are cleaned, dried and sold as is, so that they retain their natural goodness and nutritional value. Lesser quality seeds are crushed and turned into pumpkin seed flour or oil which they also sell. Grant said this year had been drier than most. "Last year we grew about 12 tonnes of seed. This year's not looking so good. I think we might only get about half of that. But that's the joys of farming. "It's a bit unpredictable." Learn more:
