Dave Swney and Alice Trevelyan Photo: supplied
A Waikato farming couple will be hanging up their tennis racquets this year after transforming the farm's tennis court into a native plant nursery.
Dave Swney and Alice Trevelyan started The Native Dairy Farmer and spent the latest Waikato lockdown potting up 22,000 plants now neatly lined up on the court.
Alice estimates they moved about 16 cubic metres of compost.
"Heaps of shovelling," says Dave. "Some of us farmers have fatter fingers and probably aren't as good on some of the more delicate jobs but we can get on the end of a shovel and shove a bit of compost."
Alice says friends with a native nursery in Taupō gave them some tips.
"They taught us their magic tricks of how to be efficient and I think that without them we would probably still be here potting up because I was pretty slow and super, super delicate but it turns out they (the plants) are a a little bit tougher than they look."
Where it has been possible, the couple has used recycled and used materials for the nursery.
Carry trays and an irrigation system were picked up from a nursery that was closing down.
The compost bunker was made from things lying around the farm and an old cart was found in a shed and is being used to moved the plants.
"She's had to have a little bit of a birthday already and a couple of new tyres and she's a bit wobbly but it's been perfect for getting us started. You feel like you're pulling a chariot," Alice says.
The pots used for the native plants are made from recycled plastic and Alice is keen to have them returned by customers so they can be re- used.
Dave says they are combining their love of dairy farming and of native trees.
Farmers are being encouraged to plant beside waterways because the plants soak up nutrients running off paddocks.
Alice says she and Dave have planted more than 1000 natives on Dave's family farm.
"It doesn't always have to be a massive area that you retire and plant to make a big difference.
"Just over the hill here we've got a little seep ... it's probably a third of a hectare or even less but the area it filters is massive so just protecting that area and enhancing it with some planting is doing a massive job but you haven't lost a massive area to do it."
The couple has been documenting their journey to set up the nursery and how they farm on social media.
instagram @thenativedairyfarmer
facebook @TheNativeDairyFarmer
Photo: supplied
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles
