Choosing seed potatoes
Can you grow the potatoes sprouting in the pantry? How we choose our seed potatoes, buy the right amount, and prepare for planting season.
When to plant potatoes: a step-by-step guide
Potato planting begins for most of New Zealand in September. Learn when’s best for your garden, and tips to get the best out of your plants.
Caring for garlic
Avoiding rust, fertilising, mulching, and harvesting scapes. Everything you need to get your garlic through the season, to a good harvest.
Growing food from kitchen scraps
You don’t need to buy seeds to start growing food. Your weekly grocery shop is full of ways to get your garden pumping.
Māra kūmara
This year I’ve re-introduced kūmara into my garden.
Growing peanuts in New Zealand
What I’ve learned about growing peanuts over the last three seasons.
Planting comfrey under fruit trees
Organic farmers know comfrey as a ‘dynamic accumulator’ – bringing deeply buried nutrients to the surface to feed my fruit trees.
Make your own pruning sealer
Seal and protect fresh wounds on trees with this no-fuss pruning paste made from common household ingredients.
Vegetables that pay off
All things considered, what vegetables deliver the best returns on investment in the garden?
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?
Square foot gardening
Low rainfall in summer each year means my garden always suffers. This year, I’m planning to share our water with one bed that really pumps… and grows everything.
How to grow ginger (Zingibar officiale)
A surprisingly simple and satisfying little crop to grow. Find out how to take a small piece from the supermarket and turn it into a year’s supply of ginger!
Xeronema callistemon (Poor Knight’s Lily)
How I fell in love with and acquired a new native plant for my collection.
5 veges you can grow without screwing up
My top-5 most fool-proof vegetables that anyone can grow.
My favourite herbs
A look into how I grow, and cook with a selection of some of the herbs growing at The Outpost.
About Kat
Kat is a gardener and purrveyor of Kat's Nip. Most Sundays she writes about her life on her lifestyle block in Te Hiku (Far North), New Zealand.
