From techie to market gardener - 'Getting made redundant really pushed me'

Morgan Kane moved back home when she lost her job at a tech start up. It was the start of her move, with her husband, into market gardening. She and her parents welcome the advantages of multigenerational living and the chance to put a large lifestyle block of rich Taranaki soil into production.Being made redundant from her job in the tech industry was the nudge Morgan Kane needed to get into market gardening.She and husband Aydan Mitchell enjoyed plunging their hands in the soil during the first pandemic lockdown, when they decamped to her parents' 1.6-hectare block of land on the outskirts of New Plymouth.It was autumn, a busy time on the farmlet, and Morgan wasn't able to be in Wellington where her job with a tech start-up was based, so they just went to work."During Covid I fell in love with the garden," Morgan told Country Life.She was eventually made redundant from the tech job, but with a growing interest in horticulture, she had done a course to gain extra knowledge."Getting made redundant really pushed me to start the market garden."They moved into the converted garage adjacent to her parents' home in Brixton and she started her own food-growing venture on their land. "It's got beautiful soil. They call it the golden triangle."Listen to how Morgan Kane moved from tech to growing foodIt's a warm day on the cusp of autumn four years later when Country Life visits. We weave our way through beds of newly planted brassicas, avocado trees and banana fronds, taking a whiff of the compost as a friendly chicken clucks and pecks its way behind us.Aydan and Morgan brim with enthusiasm as they point out new areas to be put into crops. The area is between the coast and the mountain and has its own microclimate, which the banana trees and other crops seem to love.Aydan harvests the produce after work, and he plans to become more involved - although at the moment he agrees he is the cash cow for the fledgling business.Under the brand Clarty Produce, they are growing a diverse range of fruit and vegetables, some experimental like the luffa (or loofah) plant which can be used as a scrubbing tool.The brand name is a nod to Morgan's Scottish heritage. Clarty means "dirty", especially in the sense of getting muddy.They use organic principles, although are not certified, and make their own compost and vermicast fertiliser, aiming for a closed loop system."Having access to the land is the biggest thing... you put so much effort into the soil."…Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details