Download the full newsletter hereOverview / what’s happening this month It’s been gratifying this month to be able to supply fresh organic greens to friends and family, such is the amount coming out of the glasshouse (I can’t keep up with eating it all). I’ve planted pineapple, been dealing with slugs and snails, trained the recently planted tomatoes and been propagating lot’s of plants from cuttings. I’ve also removed half the shelving (as a...

Download full newsletter hereWe are very excited to bring you this blog/newsletter series by award-winning landscape architect and organic grower, Carl Pickens. With over 20 years experience, Carl has designed and built sustainable gardens across New Zealand. He's worked in landscape construction, managed an organic market garden and won gold at the Ellerslie international flower show. In 2019 Carl undertook a Winston Churchill Fellowship to s...

Algae will grow just about anywhere there is light, air and moisture, so inside the polycarbonate flutes is possible. Our rubber seal system does minimise the algae spores getting in but over time it can grow, especially if there are any gaps in the beading at the corners.  As a side note, make sure not to stretch the rubber beading as you are putting it in, it shrinks back to its original size and this can create little gaps in the c...

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Indoor Pineapple Growing Advice From Geoff Mansell at Kotare SubtropicalsSoil The best soils for pineapple production are non-compacted, well-aerated and free-draining loams, sandy loams and clay loams with no heavy clay or rock within one metre of the surface. Good drainage is essential because poor drainage leads to a weak root system, which makes the plant more susceptible to root and heart rot diseases. A soil pH in the range of 4.5-5.6 is...

Download full newsletter hereOverview / what’s happening this month Last month in my Winter Gardenz greenhouse, I planted a range of leafy green seedlings and it took only 2-3 weeks to start harvesting these daily. Growth rates have picked up even more the last fortnight (it’s been very mild here) and I am enjoying a daily salad or two of lettuce, parsley, coriander, celery, kale, silverbeet and corn salad. I slashed the autumn green...

Tomatoes are generally a pretty easy food-producing plant to grow. They also have endless varieties in cooking and can be easily preserved by canning into diced tomatoes, sauces, salsas, and more. Learning to grow tomatoes is worth the effort, especially when they can reach prices of up to $15/kilo in the off season in New Zealand!The chart above gives you a quick reference as to monthly temperatures, approximate greenhouse temperatures and t...

Planting marigolds with tomatoes in your greenhouse can help repel whitefly from your tomatoes. They produce a chemical called limonene, which helps repel whitefly naturally. This was verified in a controlled greenhouse study published in 2019 that can be found here.  Keeping your tomato plants free of disease is key, so the more you can do preventatively the better. Companion planting with marigolds is a great natural way t...

Those pesky little slimy creepers can be quite annoying to the greenhouse grower.  And yes, they do eat your plants and you do want to get rid of them. They'll eat tomato plants at night and can quickly destroy a small plant. Slugs live in the organic matter on top of your soil then the hide away during the day, so you may not even know what's eating your plants unless you know what to look for.   They generally come out...

Download the full newsletter here What’s happening this month There’s been little activity in the glasshouse this past month mainly because I’ve been away in the far north planting out large forest gardens. Apart from some sporadic watering the plants have been allowed to go wild (a look I quite like). However after 3 days away during a particularly sunny patch I almost lost all my cassia cuttings due to lack of watering.....hence my atten...

The last 2 months = neglect and complete replanting  The last few months I’ve been dealing with a severe calf strain which has affected my ability to get to the glasshouse (it’s located down a flight of stairs and a small bank). I made unfortunate but necessary decision to abandon it and needless to say it became an almighty overgrown mess.  Overgrown mess after 2 months of neglect  This did however pr...

Have you been to the grocery store lately? Isn’t it starting to feel a bit like you’re getting robbed when you walk in and see those prices? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just grow your own food all year round? Wait, you can!  Growing in a greenhouse is not only fun and rewarding, it also has the benefit of providing you with amazing food year-round. Of course you can grow outside too, and when the weather permits, that’s...