Articles and interviews on growing and creatures in our gardens.
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Understanding Polycropping: Benefits and Techniques
I first interviewed Coral Remiro in 2024. At that time, she was the farm manager at Earth Stewards, an urban farm in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton. We had a fascinating chat about the successful polycropping method she’d implemented on the farm. What is polycropping? Polycropping is a technique that involves growing different crops together in a garden…
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Benefits of Crop Rotation: A Sustainable Gardening Practice
Crop rotation is simply organising plants into different plant families and rotating the plantings over time, or basically not planting the same annual crops in the same place each year. Crop rotation does require some planning. If detailed planning is your thing, you can create a long-term rotation design with a detailed plan (probably more…
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Veganic Growing at Shangri-la
This interview is from a visit to Shangri-la in Northland, where I spoke with gardener Magic about his experience growing food using a veganic system. The interview was inspiring and so I am now sharing it here. Shangri-La is the New Zealand arm of Gentle World, a charitable trust in operation for 40 years with a…
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Brassica Vegetables: Secrets to Thriving Plants
If you’ve been on any health kick, you’ve likely heard someone highlight the benefits of cruciferous vegetables. You’ve probably eaten some too. The most familiar in this group are brassica, e.g. broccoli, pak choi, cabbage and cauliflower. Others include the much-touted rock star vegetable kale. There is also the unusual-looking kohlrabi. My current favorite is…
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Creating a Balanced Ecosystem in Your Garden
It’s certainly a challenge managing those creatures that are in the wrong place in your garden. Knowing what to do and who to believe is difficult when you find an animal decimating your carefully tended crop. Having a baseline can help us make garden decisions. With this foundation, plans can be made in line with…
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Woodchip to build fertility
In this interview, I chat to Iain Tolhurst from the UK about using woodchip on his farm. I discovered Iain Tolhurst’s work when I Googled Veganic in 2016. Tolhurst grows certified organic food on leased land for a box scheme and farm shop in the UK. He has been growing without using animal inputs such…
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The Hidden World of Earthworms
Unseen below ground is a vast world, teeming with life. Well at least we hope so… but sadly so much of our soil is now depleted. However, we still have time to restore the richness of the soil by increasing the crucial levels of beneficial microorganisms, fungi, and bacteria. But what about the humble earthworm…
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Ngaro huruhuru
An abundance of bees is one of the most exciting things for a gardener. However, while we talk about and admire the introduced honeybee, we often neglect to notice or perhaps have no knowledge of, our native bees. The obsession with the honeybee perhaps feeds our lack of knowledge. However, as we develop our gardens…
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Cover crops to build fertility
Cover crops are plants that are grown specifically to cover the soil, rather than to provide food for humans. However, they do provide food for all the organisms that live below the soil surface. Why are cover crops useful? Cover crops are usually grown when the soil needs a break, to build fertility or to…
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Tips for growing chickpeas
Chickpeas are still a novelty plant in gardens in Aotearoa, but one I think should become a staple. While the space required for a large harvest is not feasible for a small garden, I would still recommend them. They are beautiful, graceful plants and extremely easy to grow in the right conditions. I have also…
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Mulching for soil health
The soil beneath our feet has more life than we humans can possibly imagine. It was something which l, like many gardeners, had never given much thought to except when I saw visible animals such as earthworms. However, as we’ve started to understand some of the science of the soil, many growers and gardeners have…
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The magic of compost
Along with green manures, crop rotation and mulching, making great compost is another useful skill to add to your garden toolkit. Unfortunately, it can be a challenge to buy in commercial compost that is free from factory farmed chicken manures and slaughterhouse by-products such as blood and bone. These ingredients do add nitrogen and nutrients…
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Growing strong seedlings
Growing plants from seeds can be a satisfying experience that allows you to explore a wide range of plant species and choose ones that are best suited to your local climate. It also means you can be in control of the medium your seeds are grown in. The first decision you’ll need to make when…
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The garden, a sensory experience
Back when we were in COVID lockdown I noticed amongst all the big changes and emotional upheavals, a more subtle change; the increase of smells from highly scented cleaning products and fragrances. I previously had not considered the potential effects of our highly scented environment on humans, and I had certainly not before considered how…
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