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The humble Port Albert cucumber has a new champion.
After a lifetime farming on a property, west of Wellsford that has been in his family for 150 years, Gordon Levet has turned his attention to two heirloom vegetables – the Dalmatian climbing bean and the Port Albert cucumber.
For the uninitiated, the tasty Port Albert cucumber is about three times the size of an apple cucumber, has a long shelf life, is a prolific bearer and is never bitter. It came to New Zealand with the Albertland settlers and is famous around the Kaipara Harbour.
“I’ve wondered for a long time why this superior cucumber was not commercially available, so decided to do something about it,” Gordon said.
Last year, he produced about 60 cucumbers a week, which were sold at the Peach Patch on the Mangawhai Road, and at markets in Matakana and Whangarei. He says plants will soon be available from Hammer Hardware in Wellsford, but his goal is to have them available in nursery and seed outlets throughout Auckland.
In his farming career, Gordon, now in his nineties, was involved mainly in breeding stud Romney sheep and farm forestry. He did a lot of experimental work in breeding sheep to be worm resistant and in 2020, his 400 ram lambs overcame a worm challenge, without ever having been drenched.
Explaining why, at his age, he has decided to launch into cucumber production, Gordon says that it helps to keep the mind and body active.
“No matter how old you are, you need to have a mission to aim for and achieving success is always gratifying.”
