Griff loves to grow vegetables in his “lovely bit of paradise”. Called Rebel Gardens, it’s hidden away between Martinborough and Greytown, his two main markets. By Sue McLeary. Photos by Lucia Zanmonti.

Officially Craig Griffiths, he prefers to be called Griff. Monthly from October to April you’ll find this tall, bearded man at the TK Market in Martinboroughand the Greytown Country Market. Year round you’ll see him in Martinborough’s Memorial Square on Saturday mornings.

His main summer crop is gourmet Jersey Benne potatoes, August to February. Grown in the open on a sunny gentle bank, they are dug up, packed in bio-degradable 1kg paper bags and sold within 24 hours.

“I’m not competing with supermarkets and 5kg plastic bags. Mostly my customers prefer 1-2kg at a time and more in a week or two. When the potatoes finish, the carrots and beetroots are ready.

“Courgettes are really popular but demand is hard to predict. Sometimes I had a big week of courgette sales so picked more the next week, only to find there was little interest. We often ate an awful lot of unsold courgettes! So nowadays I mostly pick the same amount each week and it seems to work.”

Griff likes growing the delicious Constanta Romanescovariety, with its beautifully tangled yellow flowers. “It’s a nuttier, creamier and firmer courgette. The flowers are a real attention-getter, which keen cooks love to stuff, and fry the whole thing gently. International chef Ottolenghi likes a light goat’s cheese, herbs and lavender honey stuffing.

Griff’s “lovely bit of paradise” found between Greytown and Martinborough

Griff says he “always chooses flavour over looks” in selecting his greenhouse and open field crops. Although if customers request something specific, he will try to grow it.

“So, while striped tomatoes have less flavour than red ones, they look great on a restaurant plate. If a chef wants that impact, I’m happy to supply striped tomatoes. At home Tina and I go for red tomatoes bursting with flavour. One plant produces around 5kg of great-tasting tomatoes”.

Griff met Tina in the UK, where he worked as a Council amenity horticulturist and groundsman. She works for an American global cloud company, and it amuses them that she works on a relatively remote vegetable farmlet while dealing with global HR issues in the virtual world.

Griff says he has always loved growing vegetables, as his father did. Always learning, he reads extensively because “everywhere is different”.

“I’m a grower not a farmer, and constantly thinking about what can I grow for my community? I’m lucky to have good topsoil: it’s quite silty and I dig in lots of compost.”

He believes small-scale, local gardens like his are the way forward. “I pay close attention to the soil and how plants grow. They respond to the right care and conditions by producing better food.”

Looking forward, Griff has a mental shopping list of “things I’d like to grow”.

“We’re suited here to small crops of lots of things, and my customers and I decide if we like them or not! I enjoy variety and am planning now for next spring. Potatoes and courgettes always be in the mix because I really enjoy growing them.”

Microgreens are very popular, year-round. With seven-day growing cycle, they’re ideal for weekly markets.

“Wairarapa has a great growing climate, despite six weeks of stinking hot and sticky weather most summers. I water twice a day to stop everything bolting or keeling over,” he says.

Griff is planning to add citrus, apples, apricots, figs and pear trees. Especially Taylors Gold pears, his absolute favourite. And maybe Pacific Blue and Grosso lavender for a north-facing sunny slope.

Whatever else, Griff will be growing things and loving it.