This collection of fruit trees has evolved and grown from generation after generation of families and communities taking care of their favourites and passing them on down, human selection. It has also evolved from a 150 year process of natural selection in the warmest bioregions of New Zealand. This is a collection of the fruit trees that came mostly with our European ancestors from their homelands in Europe and also everywhere the boats stopped on the ay here. Those that did well, tasted good and nourished families have become old favourites and survived until today… this collection contains our history and our future…
….. if you’re thinking about planting fruit trees for a warmer future scenario then these are the trees to plant in this land…..
Kay has spent the last 30 odd years travelling around Northland and more recently the Eastern Bay of Plenty and the East Coast learning from the people who live there and collecting the stories of those families and their Taonga, their food plants.
In this section of our website Kay shares some of the stories gifted to her….. these stories have all previously been published in either Koanga Catalogues or in Kay’s book Design Your Own Orchard.
NZ Heritage Plant Material
Do you have or know about plant material you think should be saved? It is the kaupapa of the Koanga Institute to collect and save, and make available to the public as many of our old trees and seeds as possible. Click here to download the contact form, we would love to here from you.
