Growing up, Ian Kerr wasn't much of a gardener but, after 20 years of growing lettuce, it's fair to say he's now an expert. Kerr fell into gardening in the early 2000s and, like clockwork, you'll find him at the Farmers' Market.
"My parents had a quarter of an acre veggie garden when I was growing up, and my mother was a horticultural florist, but it was never what I thought I'd do. It was all trial and error in the early days. I heard about the Farmers' Market in Hamilton and I was growing watercress then and playing with growing different things. I didn't even know where to get the seeds from to start with. But I turned up with my watercress and sold out."
Kerr now frequents Cambridge and Hamilton Farmers' Markets every weekend, where he sells his veggie packs for $6. He gets up at 4.30am on market days to harvest all of his produce and ensure freshness.
He believed hydroponics was the "way of the future" and an increasingly popular gardening method, especially with plants only taking the amount of water they need so it's energy efficient. To supplement his power, he has some solar panels and water turbines in a waterfall on the property.
Read more at The Waikato Post
