January - February 2022

Organic NZ

New Zealand’s organics and sustainable living magazine

Organic NZ1 min read
Organic NZ
Chair of Soil & Health Marion Wood National Councillors Monique Bartosh, Jodie Bruning, Barbara Collis, Jenny Lux, Bernie Mabbs, Mike Palmers General manager Pete Huggins: pete.huggins@organicnz.org.nz Enquiries and membership support Meghan Read, in
Organic NZ2 min read
A Fond Farewell
How do you say goodbye? There must be 50 ways to leave a magazine, yet here I am puzzling over how to write my last editorial. After 13 years as editor, it’s time for me to have a change and explore some other opportunities. Quite what these will be
Organic NZ3 min read
Feedback
FOLLOW US Facebook @OrganicNZ | Instagram organic_nz In the arms race between biology and biotechnology, the weeds are winning while many growers cling to the unrealistic idea that chemical companies will invent a miraculous new herbicide. Even if su
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Join Our Community
Subscribe to Organic NZ, New Zealand's leading organics and sustainable living magazine! Each issue is packed with inspiration and information on healthy organic living. Subscribers receive 6 issues of Organic NZ delivered to their door each year. Ch
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WIN This Issue!
We have four skincare sets on offer from Weleda! Up for grabs are two Heritage Collection Sets and two sets of their Skin Food range. Weleda’s Heritage Collection Set includes their cult classic, the Skin Food moisturiser (30 ml), as well as a nouris
Organic NZ2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Latest Reads
How to shop, cook, swap, save and eat for a happy planet Alexx Stuart Murdoch Books, 2021, $39.99 Health issues prompted author Alexx Stuart to seek a gluten-free diet. Her label-watching led her to discover the harmful health effects of ultra-proces
Organic NZ2 min read
Things We Like
Dandelion coffee Are you looking to curb your coffee intake? Dandelion ‘coffee’, made from roasted organic dandelion roots, is lauded as a great substitute due to its dark colour and similarly bitter taste. Golden Fields offers several organic coffee
Organic NZ2 min readArchitecture
Welcome To Rachel Clare Organic NZ’s New Editor
A warm welcome to the new editor of Organic NZ, Rachel Clare, who brings 20 years of magazine and book publishing experience to the role. A passionate gardener, she is the former deputy editor of NZ Gardener magazine and former editor of its weekly d
Organic NZ1 min read
Radical Food Systems Change Needed
During the COP26 climate talks held in November, the Global People’s Summit (GPS) on Food Systems announced that over 560 groups from 78 countries endorsed its People’s Declaration. The declaration expresses the urgent need to radically transform foo
Organic NZ1 min read
Organic And Biodynamic Partnership
OrganicFarmNZ (OFNZ) and Demeter New Zealand recently celebrated the signing of an agreement between the two organisations. Demeter New Zealand, the biodynamic certifier, requires its licensees to have an organic certification, so the agreement will
Organic NZ1 min read
Growing Organics For People And Planet
A landmark organic sector strategy has been launched, aiming for growth while also supporting New Zealand’s climate and environment targets. The strategy, Taking Action for a Better New Zealand, was commissioned by umbrella group Organics Aotearoa Ne
Organic NZ1 min read
Fertiliser Companies To Blame For Cancer Deaths, Says Greenpeace
Greenpeace has renewed its call for the government to phase out synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, lower the legal limit of nitrate in drinking water, and support farmers to move to regenerative organic farming for the good of the climate, rivers and hum
Organic NZ7 min readDiet & Nutrition
Together We Grow
Three years on, the vibe at The ReMakery, Common Unity’s base, is familiar: busy, cheerful, lots of laughter and industry. Covid lockdowns however catalysed some far-reaching changes. And lots more is on the horizon, because a stunning documentary –
Organic NZ6 min readArchitecture
Blooming BEAUTIFUL
Craig and Mandy are originally from Scotland, and met in the UK. Craig was a forensic examiner with the police, and Mandy, who had earlier worked for a large bank, was a family liaison officer. Neither had any experience of horticulture, but Mandy wa
Organic NZ5 min read
Growing Global Organics Around The World
There is an ever-increasing number of people who are becoming more attuned to where their food comes from. The demand for products that meet the health, environmental and ethical demands of conscious consumers is on the rise. Nowhere is this better r
Organic NZ4 min read
Bounty And Busyness
Take this wisdom to heart as you nurture your summer garden through what is one of the most rewarding, but also challenging, periods of the growing year. And if you have a holiday trip planned, be sure you have a stand-in to continue the good mahi in
Organic NZ3 min read
Grandad’s POTTED GARDEN
The grandmother Nathan lived with while growing up in Fiji taught him the value of soil structure, ate only what she grew and attained the grand age of 103 years. He learned early that real science involves learning from the perfect blueprint of natu
Organic NZ2 min readRegional & Ethnic
Asian Veges To Try
Nathan grows all 10 of these veges in his potted garden. They will do best in warmer parts of New Zealand. Known by various names including bayam, yin choi and Chinese red spinach, this edible amaranth green is cooked with garlic and used in stir-fri
Organic NZ2 min read
Maramataka For Kohitātea And Huitanguru
Kua makuru te kai; ka kai te tangata i ngā kai hou o te tau. Food is abundant; we partake in the new foods of the season. Fruits of the new season are set and ready to ripen, as the karaka berries ripen. The kiekie is ready to gather. Unless you’re i
Organic NZ6 min read
Take the PLUNGE!
My grandfather first introduced me to the sea when I was a toddler. I remember him holding me steady as we braced against the surf’s edge on Hokitika Beach, foam-flecked water swirling around our feet. It was all good fun until the ebb of the Tasman
Organic NZ5 min read
Alive and thriving MATT’S JOURNEY TO HEALTH
Behind every successful man, there is a strong woman, the old saying goes. Matthew Ramsay couldn’t agree more. “If it wasn’t for my partner Mary, I would not be here,” he says, tears welling up in his eyes. The emotions are still very raw when he tal
Organic NZ2 min read
PLANT-BASED Recipes
400 g tin chick peas (drained and rinsed), or 1½ cups cooked chick peas5 large kale leaves2–3 stalks celery3 large tomatoes1 red onion1 red bell pepper1 avocadohandful of olives½ tsp saltOptional: large handful flaked or slivered almonds, toasted 1.
Organic NZ4 min readRegional & Ethnic
Super Summer Recipes
Serves 6–8 This recipe is a true keeper. It featured in one of our very first salad workshops when we held them in Mum and Dad’s kitchen. Four years later, it was the first to make it into our salad supermarket brand, Hello Raw by Two Raw Sisters. If
Organic NZ2 min read
Raw Blackcurrant & Vanilla Cheesecake
½ cup raw cashews½ cup activated almonds½ cup pitted dates2 T coconut oil1 tsp vanilla bean powder¼ tsp kosher salt 2 cups cashews, soaked in cold water for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight ½ cup coconut cream¼ cup coconut oil⅓ cup maple syru
Organic NZ5 min read
Vibrantly Organic!
ViBERi’s organic blackcurrant powder recently won the 2021 People’s Choice Organic Food of the Year Award. The Organic NZ Awards, sponsored by Organic NZ magazine, were announced in September during the nationwide Organic Week, which celebrates the c
Organic NZ3 min read
Climate-smart FARMING
The world faces unprecedented challenges to our way of life. Not the least of these is climate change. Resilient agroecosystems offer solutions to help reduce the impact of agriculture on the climate and to help a farm cope with the changes that have
Organic NZ6 min read
Outstanding In Their Field
Kelvin Hicks runs Willowmere Organics on 180 hectares at Hororata in mid-Canterbury. Willowmere is his parents’ farm; he now leases it from them along with another lease block, and owns some land of his own. Rolling country is complemented by flats a
Organic NZ6 min read
Craft The Power To Transform
In the heart of Ōtautahi Christchurch at the western end of Worcester Boulevard are the neo-Gothic buildings of the Arts Centre – Te Matatiki Toi Ora. These heritage grey stone buildings are an important link to times past, while close by modern glas
Organic NZ1 min read
Soil & Health 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
Organic NZ2 min read
What’s On
25–27 March 2022 Otaki Workshops and speakers on growing pine nuts; oaks for timber and food; biochar, rongoā Māori and more. Field trips to an organic jam and chutney maker, cider vinegar maker, a yuzu orchard and an organic market garden. Register
Organic NZ2 min read
Update
Great editors are extremely hard to come by and the Soil & Health Association is deeply grateful to departing editor Philippa Jamieson for being our touchstone over the past 13 years. We couldn’t have achieved so much without Philippa’s leadership an

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