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Wednesday December 5, 2018
The Sun
one on one with the Sun
Sweet and sustainable Living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle is Awatere couple Linton and Petra Spence. Their philosophy of ‘farm to table’ has seen them produce raw honey packaged in biodegradable pots, as Celeste Alexander finds out. Linton and Petra love nature. They strive to live off their land, near Lake Grassmere, in the most sustainable way possible. They have a milking goat, a vegetable garden, make their own bread and farm their own meat. On top of that they run a small sheep and beef farm and as of recently, are now producing packaged raw honey. “We were looking for something that we could both be involved in,” Petra says. “I was working in the wine industry and after finishing maternity leave we decided then to do something together.” When Linton was younger he and his father had a couple of beehives so it was already something that interested him. “We love being able to produce things ourselves and all that we considered pointed towards bees,” Linton says. The couple started out with three hives then enlisted the help of consultant and experienced beekeeper Trevor Bryant. “He was a fantastic mentor throughout and invaluable, as he had been beekeeping all of his life,” Linton says. That was five years ago and slowly over time their business ‘Flaxbourne Bees’ has evolved, and they now have 230 hives on their property. Linton and Petra have opted to keep their honey as natural as possible, but when it came to packaging their raw Meadow hon-
Awatere couple Petra and Linton Spence have recently produced their own honey in biodegradable packaging.
right fit for us. ey, it took considerable It’s sturdy, strong and research to find the right biodegradable.” materials. Production has Linton adds; “What’s “We tried a few differonly just been great about it is that so ent packaging options inmany different products cluding glass and plastic completed can go into biodegradable but they didn’t fit in with packaging. how we live and what we It’s a great solution!” believe in,” Petra says. After six months they “It was important that this was a natural, healthy product that was were ready to have their honey packed also good for the environment, so we found into the posts. Flaxbourne Bees’ first production has this wax cardboard pot and went through a trial process with it and decided it was the only been completed recently and is yet
to be made available for purchase, but the couple are excited to have their product in local stores soon. “The honey pot is food safe and can be exported, but for now we are happy to start small and local with that farm to table concept in mind,” Petra says “This is how it was in the good old days,” Linton says. “Honey used to be packaged into cardboard pots, so we feel we are just winding back the clock.” Petra and Linton can be contacted at lpspence1@gmail.com
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42 Scott Street
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03 577 2240
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www.houstons.co.nz