The Paul Hunter Centre love visiting the sunflowers, and Charlotte (centre) has been teaching them about how the crop grows. Photo: RNZ/ Alexa Cook
A dairy farm field filled with sunflowers in Central Hawke's Bay is bringing joy and happiness to the local community.
The two hectare paddock on Ashcott Road is owned by local dairy farming business BEL Group, and this is the second year they've been planting the flowers as a community project.
It's a flash of colour on the rural road, with the flowers' cheery bright yellow faces basking in the sunshine as bees buzz busily around them, feasting on their pollen.
Walking tracks wind through the crop, and visitors can choose how far they want to wander in to the flowers.
It's completely free for visitors, who can also take a bunch of sunflowers home with them. Project creator Charlotte Pedersen is BEL Group's Environmental Lead and told RNZ the tagline 'spreading the joy' captures the essence of what they're doing.
"It's just a really nice way to have something that is free, nothing feels like it's free anymore, so people are quite blown away to be able to come out, take some flowers home, and just enjoy a nice day out.
"People come and have picnics here, it's such a nice beautiful feel-good thing to do," she said.
Two hectares of sunflowers were planted this year for the BEL Group project 'spreading the joy'. Photo: RNZ/ Alexa Cook
One group to visit was the Paul Hunter Centre, a disability service centre for adults, who took a van full out to the sunflower patch this week. Tutor Tracey Boyd said it was a day trip they'd been looking forward to.
"It's wonderful, they love getting out and about. This is the first time I've been out here and it's breathtaking" Boyd said.
"They've learnt today about how the sunflowers grow, so it's lovely [to] have some educational information too."
Delysse Richardson was part of the Paul Hunter Centre group, and beamed as she held a handful of sunflowers: "It's so good. I love it. I love coming out in the van," she said.
Her friend Devika Marsh agreed: "The flowers are so lovely and yellow, my favourite thing is how they grow ... and then we walked through them," she said
Being able to pick the large sunflowers herself and take them home, was something Victoria Strickland particularly enjoyed: "I like picking the sunflowers, they're beautiful," she said.
Local businesses donate time and skills to help grow the sunflower crop. Photo: Supplied
The project relied on local businesses donating seeds and skills, and the cause was supported by Middle Hills Contracting, Ballance Agri-Nutrients, Pedersen Spreaders, Fogarty Spraying and Farmlands.
"It's great for highlighting biodiversity and getting schools and other groups involved," Charlotte Pedersen said.
In fact, they plant the crop later in the season, so it's ready when school goes back and teachers are looking for fun educational activities. And although the flower crop is shorter than usual this year, it's not a bad thing.
"I'm not sure what's caused it, but it's nice for the children as they can get more up close and personal. Whereas last year [they] were so tall we had a lots of kids on shoulders!" she said.
So, what happens once the sunflower crop finishes?
"We let them dry so the seeds are able to mature. Once they're all dried out we come along and harvest them, then they're mulched up and fed to the dairy cows," Pederson said.
"The seeds are high in oils that are good for them, so it's a nice treat, and it goes full circle back to the cows as this paddock will be re-grassed and grazed again afterwards."
The sunflowers are open to the public through the weekend of 22 and 23 February, from 10am to 2pm, at 978 Ashcott Road (west of Waipukurau).
Photo: RNZ/Alexa Cook
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