Toby Dixon, 30, and Ryan Gut, 32, never imagined they’d become small-scale vege producers, but after meeting at a market gardening course in 2015, the pair gave up their respective careers in land surveying and cabinetmaking to launch head-first into growing a business together.
From a few small rows of vegetables, Kaitake Farm, in the foothills of the Kaitake Range, has grown into a Taranaki institution, supplying local residents, stores and cafes with fresh organic produce such as microgreens, spinach, cucumber, carrots, tomatoes, courgettes and eggplants. “We specialise in greens,” says Toby. “But we basically grow everything apart from potatoes, kūmara, corn and pumpkins.”
On their 2000-square-metre section, in the coastal settlement of Oakura, the pair have created a tightly packed oasis full of short-term crops. The farm is situated…
