Grow
Growing food, flowers, and native trees on a lifestyle block in Tai Tokerau. Seven years of figuring out what works in the Far North of Aotearoa-New Zealand.
In the garden this winter
Your month-by-month guide to maintaining your own garden and fruiting plants. What to plant, harvest, and tend—and when to do it.
Winter—Hōtoke
The quietest season in the garden, but not as quiet as you’d think! Garlic gets planted, fruit trees get pruned, and the soil gets a rest.
How to make your own pruning paste
Pruning paste is helpful for keeping your fruit trees healthy after pruning.
It'shallot of shallots
Shallots are one of the easiest things I grow in my garden, with an excellent rate of return.
The dreaded garlic rust
One of the worst things that could happen to a garlic grower has struck us this year: rust. So, what will I do?
Everything I know about planting garlic
Everything I’ve learned about getting a successful garlic harvest in the ground.
Constant Coriander
If you love coriander, then having constant, fresh leaves in your garden can be a nirvana-state. Find out how to achieve it!
Growing strawberries
Practically everyone loves strawberries! Learn the important things to know when growing your own.
Understand
Deep dives into the bigger subjects, including common pests, soil improvement, and garden resiliency. Long-form, and highly researched.
Pruning fruit trees
Everything you need to know about pruning stone and pip fruit trees: equipment, technique, tree shapes, and the golden rules.
Companion planting
An introduction to the real scientific principles behind the idea of companion planting.
Paper wasps in New Zealand
Polistes paper wasps are introduced pests in New Zealand gardens. Or are they?
White Cabbage Butterfly
A deep dive into white butterfly—one of the most common and destructive pests in Kiwi gardens.
Improving soils organically
A deep dive into everything you need to know about your garden’s soils and improving them naturally.
Worm farming
All you need to know about worm farming. From sourcing worms to harvesting vermicast. Works at any scale, including under your kitchen sink!
Seed saving
How to collect, clean, store, and swap seeds from your garden. The skill that makes gardening significantly cheaper, and more resilient.
4 things to consider before buying fruit trees
You’ve finally got a place to plant fruit trees—but there’s dozens at the garden centre! Which one do you buy?
Foundation
Foundational, practical skills for all gardeners. Answering all your questions about getting plants off to the best start.
Things I wish I knew when I had a container garden
A decade ago, I started on my gardening journey in a collection of pots on an inner-city balcony. Here are the things I wish I knew then.
How to learn how to grow stuff
So you want to learn to grow stuff? Here are my favourite gardening resources to follow and learn from.
Controlling garden pests without visiting a garden centre
So you’ve planted a garden—and now the snails are attacking! Do you need all the fancy products?
Should I buy seeds, or seedlings?
When should you use seeds, and when are seedlings a better bet? Some crops have a preference.
Sowing seeds for transplant
Need to get some seeds growing indoors in trays? Here’s some tips from my garden.
Pricking out seedlings
Between sowing seeds in trays, and transplanting them outdoors, they need pricking out. Find out what that means and how to do it.
Tend
The practical side of keeping a garden going including tools, maintenance, and the unglamorous tasks that make everything else possible.
The dangers of weeding
Gardening isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. And even when it is, that isn’t always a good thing.
Garden planning with GardenBox 3D
Creating a map of my garden using GardenBox 3D, and how I’m using it to plan my upcoming gardening adventures.
Upgrading the garden paths
There’s a secret under your feet when you walk through my garden, and it’s quietly improving our soils.
5 tips for tidying up your bananas
Practical tips for maintaining a banana clump. Hard-learned lessons from someone who’s ruined a t-shirt.
Four reasons to dig up your compost bin
When was the last time you lifted up your compost bin to see what it’s been up to? What will you find if you do?
Five easy-care edible flowers for your garden
Some edible flowers you can get easily established in your garden. Ready and fresh for any special occasion.
Cleaning up my rusty tools
It’s pruning season but my tools are rusty and I can’t afford new ones. So I tried cleaning them up with vinegar.
Gardening equipment you won't regret
Some of my favourite pieces of equipment for taking your garden to the next level.
In-ground worm farming
Installing some new worm farms directly in the garden to continuously improve a poorly-performing garden bed.
Resetting the worm farm
The worm farm is full and ready for a re-set! This week I emptied our worm farm all out, then filled it back up again.
Inside the gardening bucket
A look at the most-useful gardening tools and equipment in my gardening bucket.
Cloche hoops
We use a few different cloche hoops are an invaluable tool in the garden. A look at what we use and how it holds up.
The lazy woman's garden
Spending less time in the garden, and still harvesting from it by letting nature do the gardening for me.
The giant compost pile
Finding myself with many piles of rotting organic matter, I build my first hot compost pile.
Go deeper...
Follow the stories of my garden from beginning to end and see how things have changed over time.
BANANAS
In 2019 we planted six banana stems and now we can barely keep up with them!
See how things have changed, and what we've learned.
GARLIC
I began with dreams of being a garlic supplier. They were dashed by rust.
I gave up on garlic, but garlic didn't give up on me.
BERRIES
A destroyed shade house becomes one of the best ideas we've ever had.
An epic annual-job with a worthwhile reward.
SQUARE FOOT GARDEN
The season I spent playing with Square Foot Gardening.
I grew a huge amount of food in a fraction of my total garden space.
CITRUS
A tiny stick received for Christmas became a gateway to citrus growing.
See the collection, and what we do with it
ORCHARD
Planted by the property's former-owners and extended by us.
We care for over 20 fruit trees, and plant more each year.












































