Pick-your-own sunflowers create 'paddock full of happiness', shared in sister's memory

Monday, 20 December 2021

Sunflowers are now planted through almost two hectares of Phillip and Deanne Crowder’s Waikato property.

Towering sunflowers have created a “paddock full of happiness” where Waikato people can pick their own, and help the woman behind the venture remember her late sister.

Deanne Crowder, 41, and her husband Phillip, 58, have planted just under two hectares of sunflowers on their Gordonton Road property near Taupiri, north of Hamilton.

And the bright yellow towering flower heads have attracted many willing pickers after what, for many people, has been a difficult 2021.

“[They] just really enjoyed being out in the fresh air, it’s just like a paddock full of happiness really,” Deanne Crowder said.

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The sunflowers are so tall you can temporarily lose a child in the field, Crowder said.

The bright blooms also have personal meaning for Crowder, as a link to her sister Leisha Steiner, who died at 18 in a car accident in 2001.

“It has been a bit of a knock for our family. Christmas doesn’t really feel like Christmas any more, to be honest. When you have something like that happen in your family it just leaves a hole forever.”

A cousin painted a big, beautiful sunflower on Steiner’s casket, which started the association.

Sunflowers remind Deanne Crowder of her sister Leisha Steiner, who died in a car accident in 2001. Crowder has a sunflower tattoo in her memory.

“From there onwards the sunflower has meant so, so much to us. It’s sort of brought her back, this year it has brought her back to us.”

The sunflower farming idea bloomed in 2020, when Crowder decided to surprise her parents at Christmas by planting sunflowers along the road frontage beside maize.

“But they actually didn't come off that well, and they got stuck in the contractor planter, and they ended up all through the maize.

The growing conditions in 2021 were perfect, Crowder said, and she hopes the flowering will continue through February.

“We ended up picking them and selling single stems on the road, because we had about 2000 of them.”

This year, the Crowders thought why not plant the whole paddock in sunflowers, and turn it into a side business, with people able to come and pick as many as they like for $3 a stem.

They hadn’t initially anticipated bring in a pick-your-own option, but a Google search showed it was “quite big” in the United States and Australia, and they decided to give it a go.

The response has blown Crowder away.

“The locals who have backed us, our families. I have spoken to a guy that has come from as far as Otago. We’ve had a lot of families come through, it’s just been such a cool response.”

Sally Vainikolo and Sharyn Macpherson enjoyed the sunflowers over the weekend.

The crop of sunny-petalled plants allows Crowder to feel her sister is watching, and has also helped other people's spirits.

“It’s nice. Everyone who has come through has said they just needed a lift. It’s been such a hard year, wherever they lived, with the lock-downs and the anxiousness and the worry. People have enjoyed their experience.”

The Crowders have planted the sunflowers in three stages to extend them for as long as possible, and hope they will continue to flower through February.

The weather will have an influence on how long they last, especially if it’s windy.

The upkeep hasn’t been too bad, and the Crowders got contractors to plant the flowers.

“The growing conditions were just A1.”

So much so, you could temporarily lose your children in the field – the flowers are so tall.

“We have cut tracks in there, so people can get around.

“But we had one guy come and say, so I’ve found my daughter, but I can’t find my wife.

“They do come out sooner or later – the family’s normally standing at the gate waiting for them, and they’ve got an armful of flowers.”

Picking costs $5 for entry and $3 a stem, and there are no limits on how many you pick. The Crowders provide tools to cut the stems.

The Crowders hope to continue with sunflower farming, which they fit around raising 600 to 700 calves on their property in spring and autumn.

“That’s pretty labour-intensive and this is normally our downtime of year, but it’s not going to be like that for this year.”

But, no matter what happens, Crowder has her sister’s memory with her at all times, through a sunflower tattoo.

The Taupiri Sunflower Farm is at 2049 Gordonton Road, Taupiri.