Growing Opportunites for Local Nursery

In January 2003 Esme Alpe and her family purchased a four hectare block of land near Rangiora, which they planned to gradually develop into a nursery and farmlet. But those plans were put into hyper drive thanks to an opportunity too good to pass up, and that was when Esme called Waste Exchange to the rescue. 

In the latter part of 2003 Esme was presented with the opportunity to purchase a large and varied plant stock form two growers who were retiring. The purchase of the stock exhausted the financial resource the Alpes’ had available at the time, and unfortunately the farmlet also lacked the necessary facilities to operate the nursery. 

	Esme used Waste Exchange to help establish temporary facilities such as shade houses or store rooms, until more permanent ones could be constructed. Long lengths of plastic sheeting provided ideal weed matting in a temporary shade house, and large polystyrene bins were ideal for outside storage. The sealable bins ensured contents remained clean, waterproof, and protected, and had the added advantage of being lightweight enough for easy movement around the property. In summer the bins were also used for water storage, and now they are used as cupboards in the garage.
	When the plants originally arrived most were in pots, and these were put out in an open field on top of long strips of woven wrapping material. The plants have now been transplanted into bulb beds or shade house areas, and the wrapping material has been reused in a new shade house.
	By early 2005 the garage and workshop had been finished but the inner divider walls still needed to be lined. Sheets of board from a door manufacturing company were ideal. “My teenage son and friends spent many happy weekends sawing and hammering to piece together four walls” says Esme. “The big pieces of wood made the job really easy. We also used some of the wood to make a bench and a worktable, and will use some to make shelving. Many thanks to Jim (Waste Exchange facilitator) for sourcing all of these supplies. I feel we have made good use of the resources.”
	TerraNova’s SuperShed reuse warehouse also helped Esme with her project. Purchases for the nursery project have included school desks for use as easily movable potting tables, an office desk for use as a large work station, assorted lengths of garden hose to make up a tree watering system, and Venetian blinds for pot labels.