Caretaker Farm NZ

Caretaker Farm was named by Dorothy and Audrey Sharp in 1990. The name was chosen because we both believed that we are just caretaking the land while we are here and as caretakers we have responsibility to look after the land well. Maori would call this Kaitiakitanga, a type of guardianship. I was surprised to find that the same name used in the USA for a farm property doing similar things as us so to stop any confusion we need to refer to this farm as Caretaker Farm NZ. When I entered into a contract to buy the farm in December 1988 I was given 12 months to get the money together-I worked 6 jobs and by the end of the year had enough money by the end of 1989 to own the farm out-right.  The property was very run down and largely a grass desert common throughout most of New Zealand and particularly here as it had been a milking goat farm for 15 years-goats eat everything from trees, grass and weeds.  As it had been conventionally farmed since the 1880s the land was not really happy, th