Sheryn Dean (ex-Clothier)

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​I grew up on an isolated 250 hectares on the East Coast.  My parents were sustainable out of necessity and organic before it was trendy.

In my 30s and with my husband Steven, I finally obtained a small block (3.5h) in the lush and temperate Waikato.   Transferring my knowledge from a rugged sheep and beef farm to a condensed lifestyle block took some adjusting.  When one cow is a 25%  of your herd, stock numbers make a huge difference.  The economics of grazing a bull year round is no longer justifiable and producing silage and hay on a small scale is a completely different ball game.

Not only that, my tastes have expanded from that of my childhood.  I now like feta cheese, ricotta and dukha  and  eat vegetables like rocket, yacon and pak choy.

Working as the editor for the NZ Tree Crops Assn journal, TreeCropper, for eleven years put me in touch with some of the best and experienced and experimental horticulturists in New Zealand.   I enjoyed gleaning information from them and applying it to my own piece of paradise - which contains over 250 different fruits, nuts and berries and provided us with much more food than we could eat.
I continue to write columns for the NZ Lifestyle Block, Get Growing and NZ Gardener magazines.

Over the last twelve years I trialled a lot of crops, stock, growing and preserving/cooking techniques.  A lot has been learning by experiment as information available is often biased, aimed at larger farmers, urban gardens or other climates. 

My methods are constantly changing, with the seasons, rotation or our needs and I make no claim that my way is only way.  But it is tried and true and practical and logical and with stated reasons.  I can show you what I do, how I do it and tell you why I do it this way, so you can apply what suits you to your own block.

My block
We purchased 3.5h bare land in the Waikato in 2006.  
The land was part of a road reconstruction in the '70s and was an old dairy farm that had been heavily cropped.  The soil was poor with sour boggy patches, (which is why the farmer agreed to sell it to us), but location, location, location.  It was north-facing, the size we wanted, in the place we wanted.
Within three years, organic methods had turned the soil around and the orchard was keeping us in fruit.   For twelve years it produced more food than I knew what to do with.  

In 2018 we purchased the neighbour's 22h dairy run off.  When fertiliser bills are close to $16K your decisions get serious (and I don't mean conventional fertiliser).  We set to converting this to the organic raising of high-quality nutrient-dense beef, pork and lamb .

The benign climate of the Waikato meant I could grow a huge range of food.  Not all of it was successful but with sugar maples (they need cold)  and bananas (which need heat)  growing I reckoned I was future-proofed for climate change - whichever way she goes.  One thing I have learnt is that the variety of food we can grow  far exceeds the  range available in the supermarket.  Ever tried an asimoya? A medlar? Rangpur lime?

We established diverse vegetable gardens, food forests, dairy and beef cattle, sheep, pigs, various poultry, beehives, hundreds of fruit and nut trees, berry plants and supporting understorey plants in an integrated holistic system that I managed organically with some homeopathic and bio-dynamic methodology.  Over years I watched my land and environment improve considerably.  I also learnt the best plans are flexible as things change and evolve.   Don't believe anyone when they tell you there is only one way to achieve the good life.  That is the fun of it all; it is continually changing, continually challenging and always interesting!
​Click here to see the Country Calendar program about us.

 Click here to read  about us in North & South magazine's 'Travel in Tirau' story or here for an article in Bayleys Country magazine

​Click here to join my facebook group and get messages about upcoming courses and events.