Medicinal herb project gets underway in Taranaki
Updated: Oct 16, 2021
Herb enthusiast Shonagh Hopkirk, Lepperton, is leading a project to investigate commercial medicinal herb production in Taranaki.
Catherine Groenestein 05:00, Oct 16 2021
Growers and gardeners around Taranaki are taking part in a project that could spawn a new industry – medicinal herb production.
Shonagh Hopkirk, who is president of the Stratford Herb Society and North Island vice president of the New Zealand Herb Federation, is collecting information on medicinal herbs that could be grown commercially.
“The majority of organic herbs used in quantity in New Zealand are imported, and there is a need for high quality, organic New Zealand-grown herbs,” she said.
“I think it would be fantastic if we could develop our own medicinal herb industry in Taranaki.”
She has circulated a list of medicinal herbs around the region’s gardening enthusiasts, asking which ones they grow and how and where they grow them, so she can plot on a map places in the region where certain plants are most successful.
VANESSA LAURIE/STUFF Shonagh Hopkirk grows an extensive collection of culinary and medicinal herbs in her Lepperton garden.
