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Your Sustainable Home - Grow Food Now

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Published on 24 April 2020

Your Sustainable Home - Grow food now.

Did you miss our ‘Make your bed and grow in it’ webinar? No worries, here’s an overview of it, including a recording of the webinar + helpful links and supporting information for you to check out at your own leisure.

Session 2: Grow Food Now

Hopefully, after session 1 you’re on track to make your garden bed - now it’s time to grow in it! In this webinar, we answer your questions on what you can plant now, in Wellington in April, so that you can eat veggies fresh from your garden throughout winter and into spring. Let’s get planting!

Panellists & Chair

  • Caroline Arrowsmith, our very own urban garden extraordinaire

  • Sheldon Levet, a Farm Manager at Kaicycle 

  • Grant Corbishley of  Houghton Bay Farms

  • Susie Robertson, Community Manager (Chair)

Still, want to know more? See the further resources below the video.

In this webinar we cover off everything, you need to know about what to plant in Wellington during April and May!

To keep up to date with gardening projects around Wellington - Join our gardening mailing list

There’s A LOT of information out there and it’s difficult to know where to begin. To make it easier for you we’ve narrowed it down to some useful resources to get you started. 

Planting according to the season is vital for food growing success.

  • This online calendar guides you month by month on what to plant in New Zealand. 

  • Want a handy hard copy that is Wellington specific? Check out our planting calendar, created in collaboration with Commonsense Organics. 

  • For monthly guides on what jobs to do in the veggie patch, we recommend Edible Backyard.

What can you plant now to get the quickest harvest?

Some of the quickest growing veggies that you can plant right now and eat in under 2 months are: 

🌱 Radish 🌱 Rocket 🌱 Silverbeet 🌱 Kale 🌱 Lettuce 🌱 Spinach 🌱

You can sprinkle seeds over your garden bed, cover lightly with soil, water in, and voila - food you can eat in a manner of weeks! We’ll share this Goodlife Permaculture guide to growing fresh food fast again here because it really is that good. 

The quickest harvests of all don’t even require a garden...

  • Want to start growing nutritious greens on your kitchen bench that you can eat in 1-2 weeks? Try microgreens!

  • Need fresh food even quicker!? Grow delicious sprouts in a few days using a jar, some water, and things you perhaps already have in your cupboard, such as dried lentils and chickpeas. 

  • If you want to pick and eat free food now without any wait at all, you can’t go past weeds! There’s all manner of tasty and nutritious morsels growing in your lawn, your overgrown garden beds, and along the sides of your favourite walking tracks. Here’s an excellent guide to help you on your way to becoming an expert weed eater.  

Keen to help pollinators and bees and attract them to your garden? Check out our post for advice on how you can bee aware.

Still, feeling confused about starting your veggie garden? Here are some good tips for total beginners.

Need supplies during level 4 lockdown?

  • Awapuni Nurseries are delivering veggie seedlings, you can order on Thursdays. 

  • Kings seeds and Koanga are delivering seeds. 

  • You can buy seedlings from Commonsense Organics stores which are open for your weekly shop.

  • Remember there are lots of free garden supplies out there! Leaves, seaweed, lawn clippings are all great for your garden. 

At level 3, lots of places will be open for click and collect and be able to deliver online purchases. Call up and check for up to date information and try to shop local and support small businesses if you can.

Can’t get your hands on the things you need or don’t have the space for a garden? Try foraging! There are so many wild edibles out there on your lawn and in your neighbourhood. Here is a good guide to get you started.

You don’t need much to get started, but over time it can be useful to invest in some quality tools. Check out our Ecoshop’s garden collection:

  • Bokashi Bin - the Bokashi Bin system is by far the easiest way to get composting at home

  • Bokashi pet poo composter - Got pets? Dispose of their presents the safe way with a Bokashi pet poo composter

  • Worm farm - Worm is the word, not bird. Get a worm farm and let them turn your food waste into black gold

  • Gardening calendar - Never miss a seasonal vege with this awesome easy-to-follow, what to plant and when gardening calendar - specific to the Wellington region

  • Ecowool mulch mats - protect your plants with a 100% biodegradable wool mulch mat. Help retain moisture and boost root grown all while maintaining warmer soil (especially good in winter) 

  • Hemp twine -  fairly self-explanatory, twine made out of hemp. Perfect for tying things up in the garden, but is also great for kids crafts!

  • Bio grow fertili pots -  start your seed in a pot and then plant it directly into your garden. It’s that simple

  • Garden ecoseeds -  you can’t grow a garden without seeds.. and lucky for you we’ve got lots of them

Need tools? Check out our awesome range of Niwashi garden tools made from the highest quality Japanese steel and craftsmanship. 

Got more questions? Get in touch at advice@sustaintrust.org.nz