Baylee and Lance with their “Orchard Manager” dog, Ruby
Paengaroa locals, Baylee Carmine & Lance Johnson, own 110 Hass Avocado trees on their main orchard and 1ha of Green Kiwifruit just up the road on the outskirts of the Paengaroa township.
After buying the 1ha property in 2016, the couple got to work planting avocado trees immediately and more trees again in 2017 and 2018 while the kiwifruit was planted in 2019. They finally achieved their first avocado harvest in 2019 and have been going strong since then.
“Planting avocados was a no-brainer,” says Lance. “They suit the land we have here and the easy-care aspect to growing avocados suited our busy lives. The only challenge we’ve really had was Thrip from a neighboring shelter.”
In addition to working and managing their property, both Baylee and Lance work full-time in equally successful careers. Baylee is Business Support manager at a local accounting firm while Lance works in his family irrigation business.
“We don’t really have much spare time,” agrees Baylee. “We love sharing our property with friends and family. It’s ideal for BBQs and entertaining so we make good use of it in our downtime.”
