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.

Self-seeded pak choi growing in the garden with the text "June in the garden".
Braids of shallots with the text "July in the garden".
A range of daffodils in flower in the garden with the text "August in the garden".

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.

A jar of pruning paste and a pair of secateurs.

How to make your own pruning paste

Pruning paste is helpful for keeping your fruit trees healthy after pruning.

Shallots from the 2021 harvest

It'shallot of shallots

Shallots are one of the easiest things I grow in my garden, with an excellent rate of return.

Garlic rust

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?

Mulched garlic on a frosty morning

Everything I know about looking after garlic

Setting the garlic up for good bulb growth.

Takahue garlic

Everything I know about planting garlic

Everything I’ve learned about getting a successful garlic harvest in the ground.

Agria patch, October 2020

5 veges you can grow without screwing up

My top-5 most fool-proof vegetables that anyone can grow.

Coriander in flower

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!

large homegrown strawberries in a hand

Growing strawberries

Practically everyone loves strawberries! Learn the important things to know when growing your own.

Alderman peas growing on a support

Planting peas

Ever wanted super-fresh peas? They take a bit of work, but nothing compares. Here’s everything you need to know!

Understand

Deep dives into the bigger subjects, including common pests, soil improvement, and garden resiliency. Long-form, and highly researched.

Kat pruning an apple tree with a pair of loppers.

Pruning fruit trees

Everything you need to know about pruning stone and pip fruit trees: equipment, technique, tree shapes, and the golden rules.

Sage flowering between calendula and rosemary.

Companion planting

An introduction to the real scientific principles behind the idea of companion planting.

A potted Meyer lemon tree with ripe lemons hanging from it.

Citrus care guide

A guide to citrus care and common citrus problems in Aotearoa-New Zealand.

A paper wasp nest on a crassula plant

Paper wasps in New Zealand

Polistes paper wasps are introduced pests in New Zealand gardens. Or are they?

Caterpillar of the White Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris rapae)

White Cabbage Butterfly

A deep dive into white butterfly—one of the most common and destructive pests in Kiwi gardens.

Sunflowers growing as a cover crop.

Improving soils organically

A deep dive into everything you need to know about your garden’s soils and improving them naturally.

Tiger worms used in worm farming

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!

Dill seeds in a seed tray with a heart drawn into them.

Seed saving

How to collect, clean, store, and swap seeds from your garden. The skill that makes gardening significantly cheaper, and more resilient.

Apples growing on a tree

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?

Soil test results for my garden soils in 2020

Interpreting my soil test

I’ve spent some time interpreting my soil test result, and thinking about how I can meaningfully improve it.

Foundation

Foundational, practical skills for all gardeners. Answering all your questions about getting plants off to the best start.

balcony garden, december 2012

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.

Urban townhouse balcony garden - 2010

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.

caterpillar damage to a brassica seedling

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?

Healthy seedlings

Should I buy seeds, or seedlings?

When should you use seeds, and when are seedlings a better bet? Some crops have a preference.

NZ Spinach seed - plant deeply

Sowing seeds for transplant

Need to get some seeds growing indoors in trays? Here’s some tips from my garden.

Pricking out pak choi

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.

Watering the seed patch

Direct-sowing guide

Direct sowing is spreading seed in the place you want to grow it. This is the best way of getting good results for some crops. Find out which ones!

Tend

The practical side of keeping a garden going including tools, maintenance, and the unglamorous tasks that make everything else possible.

Swan plant against a blue sky.

The dangers of weeding

Gardening isn’t all butterflies and rainbows. And even when it is, that isn’t always a good thing.

Actual garden, November 2025

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.

Reinvigorated garden paths covered in bark mulch.

Upgrading the garden paths

There’s a secret under your feet when you walk through my garden, and it’s quietly improving our soils.

Banana patch after tidying it up this week.

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.

Fresh compost spread on a garden bed.

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?

Edible flowers in my birthday cheesecake.

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.

A collection of pruning tools that need cleaning.

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 in the garden

Gardening equipment you won't regret

Some of my favourite pieces of equipment for taking your garden to the next level.

A tidy and organised garden shed.

Tidying my garden shed

My garden shed is (once again) a mess! Time to tidy it up.

In-ground worm farms installed in a garden bed.

In-ground worm farming

Installing some new worm farms directly in the garden to continuously improve a poorly-performing garden bed.

A bathtub growing potatoes and full of rubbish - AKA our worm farm

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.

Layout of the items in my gardening bucket

Inside the gardening bucket

A look at the most-useful gardening tools and equipment in my gardening bucket.

Redpath cloche hoops on my strawberries and square foot gardens

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.

A bed that has self-sown with lettuces

The lazy woman's garden

Spending less time in the garden, and still harvesting from it by letting nature do the gardening for me.

Kat and her giant compost pile

The giant compost pile

Finding myself with many piles of rotting organic matter, I build my first hot compost pile.

Taking a soil sample

Taking soil samples

Taking soil samples and sending them away to the lab for a soil test.

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.