Grow Wanaka

03/10/2026

Stunning day for planting!

Today we turned in the green manure crops, prepped the beds and planted robust cool weather seedlings just busting to get out of the propagation house, plus watered, hooped & cloched. Prepared additional beds, planted more potatoes, managed the worm farms, buried bokashi, did a harvest of greens for the team and enjoyed a decadent morning tea thanks to Toni Foxton, Rachel and Hong, with a perfectly refreshing Sidekick Soda!

Thanks to our incredible team! Andrea, Jenna, Rachel, Libby, Hong, Helen, Alice, Sarah, Yonathan, Philippa, Danin, Sarah, Alex, Toni, and Em.
Wishing Yonathan safe travels on his next adventures! Thanks for spending the autumn and winter with us in the garden. ☺️

Special mention to Lois Hong for the incredible photos! https://www.loishongvision.com/grow-wanaka and to Scott from Grassroots Greens for the epic trailer load of microgreens soil.

Next up:
Oct 7th Wednesday Evening Bee & Brew Session 4-6pm (Kicking off our first wed evening session of the season).

Oct 10th Sat Bee & Tea 9:30am to 12pm (New earlier start time).

Oct 17th Herbal Culture - Medicinal Plant Workshop & Fundraiser for Grow. 1-3pm Grab your tickets here https://events.humanitix.com/herbal-culture-medicinal-plant-workshop

26/09/2026

Two Brilliant Workshops with Evita Shen!

We spent Friday evening at the garden with Evita for fermentation and gut health magic. We kicked off the evening with lacto-fermented veggies. A simple and delicious preservation technique that turns a wide variety of veggies into probiotic rich delights. And we finished the evening with a kombucha workshop with tasting, how to look after your scoby, and first and second ferments. Everyone left with a bit of Evita's 5 year old mother to start them off on their fermented beverage journey.

Fantastic and engaging hands-on workshops. Thanks to everyone who came along to join in the fun.

Evita will be back up in December so keep your eyes peeled for our next delicious workshops.

26/09/2026

Celebrating the Spring Equinox and Our Incredible Team with a Shared Kai Meal - Wrap Style!

Today we had a short bee to manage the worm farms, and plant, water and cloche some seedlings, but then it was tools down to enjoy each others company over a build your wrap style shared kai meal. Huge thanks for everyone's contributions to the table, and to Sidekick Soda for the refreshing cold beverages to complement!

Love this Team! Thanks Murray, Ronja, Hong, Stevie, Libby, Mary, David, Yumi, Joe, Philippa, Colin, Jason, Toni, Em and 2 more. And special thanks to Hong for capturing the beauty and vibe of the garden and team so perfectly. https://www.loishongvision.com/grow-wanaka

Next up:
Oct 3rd Sat Bee & Tea - Shifting to earlier hours for spring & summer 9:30am to 12pm

Our Wednesday evening sessions will begin Oct 7th, time TBA.

19/09/2026

A wind kissed session. 🌬️

Today we planted seedlings and more spuds, managed the worm farms, buried bokashi, shifted wicking beds, did a tidy up around the garden, watered the propagation house, did a harvest for the team and enjoyed morning baking from the amazing Toni Foxton, Andrea Richey, Ronja Landeck, Grace Stephens and quenched our thirst with yum Sidekick Soda!

Huge Thanks to our Amazing team: Murray, Andrea, Tom, Ronja, Hong, Stevie, Yonathan, Rachel, Jenna and Em. Special Thanks to Hong for the fantastic photography. Hong also has a youtube channel where she cooks a seasonal recipe using ingredients from the garden each week. 😍 Check out her channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCU5mRcz6-E

Coming Up:
Next Friday Sept 25th Lacto-fermented veggies workshop with Evita Shen. 3-4:30pm More info and tix here:
https://events.humanitix.com/lacto-fermented-vegetables-workshop-with-evita-shen

Right after on the same night...

Sept 25th Kombucha workshop with Evita Shen. 5-6pm More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/kombucha-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sat Sept 26th Spring Equinox Shared Kai Celebration - wrap style. 9:30am to 12:30pm Free and All welcome. Short bee to start and then tools down to hang out over yum kai. Bring a filling to share for an epic build your own spread. Hope you can join us. 😋

12/09/2026

A beautiful calm morning in the māra kai.

Today we watered the greenhouses, installed irrigation to our corn & sunflower bed, managed the worm farms, planted our early spuds, direct sowed crops, prepared a bed, nipped out poplar shoots, set up wasp traps, received an amazing donation of compost (thanks Karen Tippett 🙏), made up our seed packets ready to give away, did a harvest for the team with surplus delivered to a produce pantry and enjoyed morning tea complements of Andrea Richey, Yumi and a BIG Cheers from the team to Sidekick Soda! You're the Best! 🤩

Thanks to our Amazing team: Andrea, Tom, Yohann, Hong, Kev, Colin, Philippa, Zoe, Brooky, Ivy, Kaiella, Yumi, Hayley, Lyn, Stevie, Vojtech, and Em
Special mention to Hong for her fantastic photos! Check out her website for more amazing pics! https://www.loishongvision.com

Up next:
Sept 19th Sat Morning Bee & Tea 10am to 12pm. Morning tea provided. Contributions to morning tea welcome.

Sept 25th Lacto-fermented veggies workshop with Evita Shen. 3-4:30pm More info and tix here:
https://events.humanitix.com/lacto-fermented-vegetables-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sept 25th Kombucha workshop with Evita Shen. 5-6pm More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/kombucha-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sept 26th Spring Equinox Shared Kai Celebration - wrap style. See fb event for more info. 9:30am to 12:30pm Free and All welcome.

Oct 17th Herbal Culture Medicinal Plant Workshop & Fundraiser for Grow. 1-3pm More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/herbal-culture-medicinal-plant-workshop

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

Epic session with an incredible team! 💪

Today we prepped more beds, sowed cover crops, direct sowed our first crops of the season, transplanted crops, watered all the greenhouses, managed the worm farms, buried bokashi, made up a concoction with our garden teas and watered the whole garden, checked and rebaited traps, finished off the irrigation upgrade in the propagation house and fixed a couple of irrigation leaks, made up origami packets for seed to give away, did a harvest for the team and gathered together for morning tea with beautiful home baking thanks to Toni Foxton, Ronja Landeck, Andrea Richey, Grace Stephens, Libby plus Sidekick Soda 🫶

Huge thanks to our team: Murray, Kev, Andrea, Stevie, Ronja, Yohann, Hong, Paz, Nico, Yonathan, Philippa, Clark, Libby, Nat, Ido, Joaguin, Encel, Wellwood, Nali, and Em.

Special thanks to Lois Hong for her artistic eye and capturing our garden sessions so beautifully. To check out more of her work visit https://www.loishongvision.com/grow-wanaka

Next up:
Sept 12th Sat Morning Bee & Tea 10am to 12pm. Morning tea provided. Contributions to morning tea welcome.

Sept 25th Lacto-fermented veggies workshop with Evita Shen. 3-4:30pm More info and tix here:
https://events.humanitix.com/lacto-fermented-vegetables-workshop-with-evita-shen
Sept 25th Kombucha workshop with Evita Shen. 5-6pm More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/kombucha-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sept 26th Spring Equinox Shared Kai Celebration - wrap style. See fb event for more info. 9:30am to 12:30pm Free and All welcome.

Oct 17th Herbal Culture Medicinal Plant Workshop & Fundraiser for Grow. 1-3pm More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/herbal-culture-medicinal-plant-workshop

29/08/2026

The garden through a new lens 📸 💗

Today we harvested crops to clear and prep beds and then sowed cover crops ahead of the planting to come. We managed the worm farms, reset our raised bed with a fresh sowing of mixed greens, created origami pockets for the bean and pumpkin seeds we saved last season, which we'll soon deliver to the library's seed library, we did a harvest for the team with surplus delivered the the Hub Produce Pantry, and enjoyed beautiful morning tea baking thanks to Toni Foxton, Ronja Landeck and Andrea Richey plus Sidekick Soda!

Huge thanks to our incredible team! Murray, Kev, Andrea, Ronja, Yonathan, Zoe, Liam, Hong, Eliot, Ido, Josquin, Fiona, Toni and Em
Special thanks to Lois Hong for capturing the action and vibe of today's session. It's fun to see the garden through a new lens! To check out more of her creative work visit https://www.loishongvision.com/

Next up:
Sept 5th Sat Bee & Tea. 10am to 12pm.

Upcoming Events:
Sept 25 Lacto-Fermented Veggies Workshop with Evita Shen. 3-4:30pm $20 More info and tix here:
https://events.humanitix.com/lacto-fermented-vegetables-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sept 25 Kombucha Workshop with Evita Shen. 5-6pm. $15 More info and tix here: https://events.humanitix.com/kombucha-workshop-with-evita-shen

Sept 26th Spring Equinox Shared Kai Celebration - wrap style! 9:30am to 12:30pm. Short bee followed by create your own wrap meal. Bring a filling for the table for a shared garden feast. Free & All Welcome.

22/08/2026

Spring is in the air with a warm norwester.

Today we managed the worm farms, buried bokashi, consolidated our hot compost piles to free up a bay, continued tidying up the veggie beds, checked and rebaited the traps, installed black bins filled with water in our greenhouses, watered the greenhouses and seedlings, did a harvest for the team with surplus delivered to the Luggate Produce Pantry, and enjoyed morning tea complements on Toni Foxton, Sidekick Soda, and Stevie. 😍

Huge thanks to our amazing team: Murray, Tom, Andrea, Paz, Lesley, Zoe, Shirley, Colin, Fiona, Pip, Mark, Yonathan, Jo, Liam, Stevie, Toni and Em.

Special mention to Sidekick Soda for the incredible support of our bees and team! Everyone raves about it, so a big cheers from our team to yours. If you haven't tried Sidekick Soda, you're in for a treat and will be supporting local too! https://sidekicksoda.co.nz

Next up:
Aug 29th Sat Morning Bee & Tea. 10am to 12pm. Morning tea and shared harvest provided.

Save the Dates:
Fri Sept 25th Evita Shen will be back with 2 fantastic workshops on Lacto fermented Vegetables and Kombucha. More info to come soon!

Sat Sept 26th Spring Equinox Shared Kai Celebration! We're welcoming in spring with a build your own wrap/burrito style feast! Bring a sweet or savoury filling or condiment and we'll provide the wraps. Hope you can join us for this delicious celebration. 🥳