Watermelon grower hits the sweet spot

Written by Kristine Walsh

First published in the March 2022 issue of the NZGrower.

“The ability to listen to a plant – and respond – can take a long time to develop but once that knowledge is there, you have it forever,” says Gisborne grower Isikeli Maka. Photo; Kristine Walsh

Great timing and a swag of generational knowledge have helped a Gisborne grower produce a sweet and unique New Zealand crop. KRISTINE WALSH reports.

If there is one thing Isikeli Maka has learned in his 50-plus years of working the land, it is that timing is everything.

Back in his home country of Tonga, the cyclone season has growers calculating the best times to plant and harvest.

“If you don't get it right, you will lose everything,” Isikeli says. “There is no protection against a cyclone.”

That is among the many pearls of wisdom Isikeli brings to the watermelon-growing operation he has established in the East Coast region of Gisborne.

There, a number of major rain events have had a big impact on growers but, against those odds, Isikeli managed to shoehorn his season into a favourable window.

Having prepared the one-hectare block he leases at Manutuke, 15 kilometres from Gisborne city, his seedlings were ready to plant in October with the aim of starting the harvest in early January.

“Then the rain came,” Isikeli says, referring to the state-of-emergency-level weather bomb that hit the region towards the end of October.

“That set us back a week but as all the paddocks around us were flooded, it turned out to be lucky. We would have lost the lot.”

Despite a turbulent start, Isikeli’s half-century of experience produced a fast and furious season – 10,000 plants were in the ground by the end of October; the harvest started on 24 January and in the second week of February they were done.

Most of Isikeli's crop is sold direct to consumers, with fanau (family) coming from around the country to help with the three weeks of harvest and sales.

And for the first year they operated under the newly-formed Isikeli Maka and Fanau Trust (IMFT) which was established to formalise the operation.

In the years Isikeli has been in Gisborne, much of the produce he has grown has been gifted to church, fanau and the community.

“That is why we set up the trust,” says daughter-in-law, Katerina Maka (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki/Te Whānau-a-Kai), who developed a fresh social media programme for the 2022 season.

“We wanted to make sure Isikeli and his fanau got some return for all the work he puts in and to be able to share his passion. Through his generational knowledge, my own children are learning how to live off the land and that's what we all want for them.”

Born in 1958, Isikeli Maka is originally from the Tongan island of Tungua, his father working three-hectares of land which, to this day, is traditionally allocated to males over the age of 16.

From a young age Isikeli, his brother and five sisters lived and worked on the main island of Tongatapu to where the fanau had moved to in the mid-1960s.

“Even back then my father was growing Candy Red watermelons to export to New Zealand and was able to lease enough land to expand a bit, to buy us a truck, to make life a bit easier,” Isikeli says.

“All us kids helped from a young age and as I had always wanted to be a grower, that suited me well. I'd see my dad out there nurturing a plant like it was a baby, listening to what it needs and giving it that care and attention.”

The knowledge of being able to listen to a plant – and respond – can take a long time to develop but once it's there, you have it forever, Isikeli says.

“That's part of what made my desire to grow so strong … I'm addicted to it.”

Having sent one of their daughters to New Zealand to be educated, Isikeli's parents joined her in the early 1980s, bringing with them all of Isikeli's siblings. He, however, decided to stay in Tonga and continue to grow produce.

On the island of 'Eua, the fourth King of Tonga – the late Tāufa'āhau Tupou IV – awarded him the title of best kumara grower and on the main island of Tongatapu, Princess Salote Mafile'o Pilolevu Tuita named him best tomato grower.

“It wasn't a big operation but it was enough to support my family,” Isikeli says. “Then in 2006, I came over to join the rest of my fanau.”

Having gained permanent residency in just a couple of years, his wife Mele and the couple’s six children, joined Isikeli in New Zealand in 2008.

After just a month in Auckland, they moved to Gisborne.

“My brother Sione was here and, with its population, farmland and access to the sea, it reminded me a lot of Tonga. Plus it was a chance to get my kids away from big-city life.”

Once settled, Isikeli soon started work at a wood plant, but even before that he had secured a space to grow kumara to be shared among fanau, the community and his Seventh-day Adventist church.

That's a tradition he has continued on different plots over the years. He also grows produce like kumara and kamokamo just down the road from his city-centre home, on land owned by his church. In fact, his taro leaf garden is one of the biggest in the country.

“I do try to meet costs but it is important to have that produce available to the community,” he says. “In non-Covid times we can have 1000 people come for a funeral and taro leaf is one of the staple foods we can offer them.”

It is the watermelons, though, that are his primary seasonal crop and after years of experimentation he has settled on two varieties – one large, one small – that grow well in Gisborne, produce sweet, juicy melons and are even resistant to pests and disease.

Isikeli says the melons love the hot, dry climate of Gisborne with the main task being to keep them clear of weeds to help protect the plants from damage.

“The soil here is very fertile and that's a good place to start. Then if you have the right knowledge you can increase production many times over,” he says.

After timing things just right for the 2022 season, Isikeli hopes to double the size of his leased land and plans to set up a company to further formalise his endeavours.

“I can't go a year without growing things and I love seeing how happy it makes people.

“It is a big part of who I am.”