APPLE TREE PRUNING

Taking up a large part of the cooler winter months, pruning is important to maintain the health and form of the tree.  Duties involved are  opening up the tree by removing laterals or new wood growing up vertically, removing obvious old branches that are shading new wood, identifying canker for removal. This enables the tree can put all its energy into producing blossoms and fruit for us, and will let in optimum light for colouring up our fruit. Kiwifruit pruning is all overhead work, cutting out old vines, and tying a designated number of vines per bay for the next season. Both jobs, use secateurs & loppers. Pruning is usually paid on a per tree or Row basis, with kiwifruit paid by a per bay basis.

FRUIT THINNING

In late spring and early summer after the blossom has fallen, thinners move through the orchards selectively removing fruit and “thinning” bunches of baby apples so the trees will grow the ideal number of perfectly sized juicy apples.

FRUIT PICKING

The excitement and anticipation builds in late summer as the fruit reaches maturity and is finally ready for picking. Our apple crop is 100% intensive plantings in dwarf style trees with high colour varieties, so this means you don’t have to travel to far to fill your bag & bin. We start our picking programme in Early February through until Mid May, using both modern mobile platforms, where you pick onto a conveyor belt that feeds into picking bins as well as the traditional ladder and bag style picking.

FRUIT PACKING (Packhouse work)

Our packhouse operates from late summer to early winter. The fruit is gently washed, sorted and graded by machinery, then the apples are carefully placed into trays, packers turn fruit to best side up and place the trays into cartons by hand, where it then goes by conveyor belt to be stack and labelled by machinery.