Enjoying the fruits of her labour

Bridget Wilton, agronomist and grape grower, enjoys the fruits of her labour in the form of some great wines. Photo: Ash Mertens

Bridget Wilton wanted to become a winemaker when she was at college. Instead, today she grows grapes for vintners throughout the country.

Elaine Fisher

It was Upper Hutt College horticultural teacher, Keith Deverill, who helped inspire Bridget’s career choice, as did her love of the outdoors and growing plants. After graduating from Massey, Bridget worked on a Wairarapa vineyard before joining Montana Wines in Gisborne.

“Working for Montana was one of my early goals and after a couple of years I transferred with the company to Hawke’s Bay,” says Bridget, who is also a member of Women in Horticulture. her first child, but when baby number two arrived, she decided to work part-time running a landscape design business. Later she took a grower liaison role with wine company Constellation Brands and from there was shoulder tapped to join the team at Skeltons (later to become Farmlands) then onto Horticentre as a technical advisor.

“That role was easier to manage around a young family and I loved working with customers, troubleshooting especially, to help them get the best out of their properties,” she says. Bridget worked with growers of a diverse range of crops including grapes, table grapes, citrus, avocados and berry fruits. By this time, Bridget realised her interest didn’t lie in becoming a vintner – she much preferred to grow plants,

including top quality grapes, and enjoy the wines they produced – made by someone else. With this in mind, she leased a vineyard. “Leasing one vineyard quickly grew into leasing lots of vineyards, and in January this year it reached a tipping point where I could no longer work full-time for someone else and run my own business.” Today, Bridget and Miles lease and manage a number of vineyards, growing a variety of grapes for winemakers all around the country. “We have great relationships with a lot of boutique wineries and funky natural winemakers in the Hawke’s Bay,” she says. For two days a week, Bridget keeps her hand in with other crops by providing agronomy services through The Fresh Berry Co to New Zealand Berry Farms’ growers of raspberries, strawberries, blackberries and blueberries – all of which are grown under cover in the Hawke’s Bay. This, combined with family, makes for a demanding and full-on lifestyle which despite the challenges of adverse weather and lack of staff, Bridget still enjoys. “I’m always learning and problem solving,” she says. “Horticulture can be stressful but there is certainly never a dull moment.

“While you do basically the same things every season, each season is different. People and the weather are our biggest challenges. Anyone working in horticulture needs to be flexible and willing to change and tweak their plans on the spot; make timely decisions and back themselves. “Once you make a decision, stick with it. You also need drive, motivation and a willingness to get your hands dirty.” Which is exactly what Bridget does. “Some people think Miles and I are nuts because we are often out in the paddock working at night with headlamps on. Due to labour shortages it’s just what we have had to do to keep on top of things. Our four teenage boys are awesome, either helping in the vineyard or keeping things running at home. “Covid-19 has made it hard to get staff and many of our casual seasonal staff have now found full-time employment.” Work, family and caring for their lifestyle block currently absorbs most of Bridget’s time, but she is looking forward to being able to once again enjoy hiking and travel. Despite the hard work and challenges, she says she would recommend horticulture as a career for young women planning their future – “if you have a passion for it and don’t mind hard work.”

“It’s passion which gets you over the line at the end of the season,” she says. “You’ve got to be cut out for it and have the drive to carry on when things are tough. “However, you also get to enjoy the fruits of what you have grown, either as a good bottle of wine or great tasting fruits, especially berries.”

To keep up to date with Women in Horticulture, its news and activities, and join the membership database, email info@women-in-hort.nz Everyone is welcome.

As we all know, in the fruit growing industry ultimately everything stems from a twig. We have alliances with some of the world’s best new fruit variety developers and rootstock breeding programmes. These relationships and our continual search for the best cultivars puts us at the forefront of global variety and rootstock development in New Zealand. Our unique capability across a wide variety of crops and our focus on matching varieties and rootstocks to conditions allows us to offer real, informed advice. Call: Kate Marshall, 0274 201 033, kate@waimeanurseries.co.nz Jeff Sandford, 0274 201 003, jeff@waimeanurseries.co.nz

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