March - April 2020

Organic NZ

New Zealand’s organics and sustainable living magazine

Organic NZ2 min read
Living Well
Published by the Soil & Health Association of NZ Inc. Planning is well underway for Organic Week 2020, with groups throughout the country working out how to showcase organic growing, local food and living well. What do we mean by living well? So ofte
Organic NZ2 min read
Listen To Nature
I was awestruck when I first discovered that Māori had a name for every single night of the moon. Every single night! They distinguish between tonight’s moon and tomorrow’s moon, the one after that, and so on through the whole cycle of the moon. Also
Organic NZ1 min read
Winning Letter
In the November/December 2019 issue of Organic NZ the editor described names of gardening movements in Pākehātanga. It would be awesome to balance those English words with descriptions about Māori gardening practices. Maramataka is living and gardeni
Organic NZ3 min read
Your Letters
You wanted to know our reaction to the cover of the Jan/Feb issue, so here’s one response. I’m a subscriber. However, I think that cover is totally appropriate to our time. I look at it and think – not only chemical poisoning – but constant ash in th
Organic NZ2 min read
Book Reviews
Strategies to regenerate our food production systems Nicole Masters (Printable Reality, 2019) This is a clarion call for a regenerative revolution, and has my vote for book of the year. Read it, give it, share it – not only with farmers, growers and
Organic NZ2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Competitions
Be in to win this amazing prize package of New Zealand’s only men’s and women’s certified organic skincare range by Rage Against Chemicals. The prize pack contains four women’s products (Women’s Face Neck Décolleté Cream, Beauty Oil, Cleansing Oil, T
Organic NZ2 min read
Glyphosate 2020 Just Ban It!
Soil & Health has put many hours into drafting documents to support our campaign against glyphosate. We recognise that it is a complex issue. We are driving for strategic change. Our documents, including a template to help demand action in local coun
Organic NZ2 min read
Farmers, Iwi, Scientists Call For Caution On GE In The Waikato
Organic dairy farmers, local iwi representatives, scientists and others presented strong submissions in a highly polarised hearing in Ngāruawāhia on 30 January. They asked the Waikato District Council for a ban on the release of genetically engineere
Organic NZ1 min read
Permaculture Hui
How can people, organisations, and society respond to the fundamental issues of our changing times? And where can we find help to navigate the shifts we need to make to sustain ourselves? This year’s Permaculture Hui, being held in Whanganui from 24–
Organic NZ6 min read
Getting Our Organic Act Together
The organic community have arrived at a moment in time in which we have consciously willed our very own Organic Act into being. Shortly, the Organic Bill (it becomes an Act when it’s passed into law) will be tabled by Government and the public consul
Organic NZ6 min read
Regenerative CATALYST
Young and articulate, Jono Frew has become the poster boy for regenerative farming in Canterbury. He’s come through the mill of conventional farming and emerged on the other side as a leader with clarity, wisdom, energy and vision. Jono started farmi
Organic NZ6 min readFashion
Dress up BREAK DOWN
I grew up in a family of makers and have always been encouraged to use my hands. As a child, I was constantly drawing figures in elaborate outfits and sewing awkward stiff dresses for my teddies out of upholstery fabric remnants. And I would stitch b
Organic NZ4 min read
Grape Expectations
Grapes (Vitis vinifera) are the world’s most important economic fruit crop with approximately 10,000 cultivars that are classified according to use, as wine, table grapes or raisins. They belong to the family Vitaceae, native to the Mediterranean and
Organic NZ4 min read
Keep Your Garden Safe From KILLER COMPOST
When my lifelong dream finally came true and we moved into our homestead in May 2019, I was convinced it was going to be the ‘year of abundance’. I could foresee harvest baskets overflowing with organic produce, and the pantry filled with preserved b
Organic NZ4 min read
Maramataka The Lunar Calendar
For thousands of years the lunar calendar formed the basis of cultural life in Oceania, indicating appropriate times to stop or start various activities. In Aotearoa however, the maramataka had to undergo considerable adaptation to a southern hemisph
Organic NZ3 min read
Aotearoa Food Resilience Charter
This draft introduction of a proposed Aotearoa Food Resilience Charter is an invitation to co-creation. It is presented with the support and collaboration of Food Resilience Network, Resilio Studio, Roimata Food Commons, Cultivate Christchurch, Pakar
Organic NZ1 min readRegional & Ethnic
Spicy Aubergine Pickle
Delicious with bread or crackers and cheese, or with a curry. This recipe makes a large quantity – make sure you use a very big pot. 1. Soak in brine: · 3 kg aubergines, cubed· 250 g green chilli peppers, finely chopped 2. Roast in pan, then grind: ·
Organic NZ3 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Grape Recipes
Grapes are useful additions to your pantry as they can be eaten fresh, cooked, dried, or made into jellies and pickles. Vine leaves are edible too: chop young tender leaves into salads, or stuff vine leaves with rice, vegetables and meat. The leaves
Organic NZ2 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Apples & pears
1.5 kg pears2 cups cider vinegar1.25 cups dark brown sugar1 large onion, chopped1 cup sultanas2 tsp ground cinnamon1 tsp allspice1 tsp ground cloves1 tsp chilli pepper 1. Peel, core and dice the pears into cubes of approximately 1–2 cm. 2. Place vine
Organic NZ6 min readCooking, Food & Wine
Co-ops for everyone (NOT JUST HIPPIES!)
The word co-op conjures up some interesting images. You’re either thinking of our largest dairy conglomerate, or a hippie community somewhere remote buying bulk beans and rice in the 70s and 80s. The kind of co-opping we’re talking about today is muc
Organic NZ4 min readEarth Sciences
Bringing in THE WORMS
Every property I have lived on, treating the soil right resulted in worms appearing. We moved onto our current property over eight years ago, and put in some sheet mulch. A few months after that when we revisited the site, it looked exactly as we had
Organic NZ3 min read
Organic matters: COVER CROPS
Organic matter in soil is really at the heart of organic growing. The benefits that soil organic matter bring are improvement in soil structure, soil biology and soil fertility in general. In recent years there is also focus coming on combatting clim
Organic NZ6 min read
Sans Souci – No Worries!
Driven by a lack of funds, a need for a home to bring up a family with a steady income, environmental concerns and a dose of philosophical optimism, we created our business plan on an A4 sheet of paper. The lack of funds had to be overcome by sheer h
Organic NZ6 min read
Beetle Mania
Shaun Forgie breeds unusual livestock whose business is to eat the business of herbivorous mammals. He and his business partner Andrew Barber raise dung beetles at one of the world’s largest mass insect-rearing facilities, on a 3.2-acre block in When
Organic NZ2 min read
Events And Contacts
The Soil & Health Association – publisher of Organic NZ – has groups that meet in different parts of the country. These meetings and field days are wonderful ways in which to meet fellow gardeners and growers, and other people interested in healthy s

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