Ocean Organics NZ

Ocean Organics NZ Family owned and operated, creating the rolls royce of liquid seaweed concentrates for soil and pla
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Years ago, husband and wife, Jill Bradley and Keith Atwood went on a woofers holiday around organic farms of New Zealand. They discovered the true, rich tastes of organic fruit and veges and committed to growing organically for their family. Jill and Keith were educated on the inherent dangers of chemical cocktails applied to soil and plants. An organic farm in the Hawkes Bay impressed them with t

he health, abundance and lack of disease in the organics. The major inputs were seaweed and comfrey... So began a number of years of research. Keith experimented with brewing and Jill experimented with organic growing. Gardening friends soon began asking Jill and Keith to supply them. Ocean Organics was formed to provide organic alternatives for urban gardens. Our Philosophy -

-To produce 100% earth friendly products for the health of soil, plants & people
- To be engaged in the educative process of learning & teaching others about organic growing
- Ensure that organic products are available in a form that is convenient & easy to use
- To keep organic growing solutions cost effective compared with chemicals
- To encourage recycling of packaging
- We believe in the bio-dynamic principle of, NZ seaweed for NZ soil.

11/09/2024

The awesome team Bulbs Direct have recently celebrated their 10th anniversary! 🎉
They supply NZ with a fantastic range of gorgeous bulbs including 240+ varieties of Dahlias.
They’ve also recently started stocking both liquid and solid granules of Ocean Organics products to give your garden the NZ Premium Seaweed Boost for vibrant and abundant flowering that brings joy to the garden 🪴

https://bulbsdirect.co.nz/collections/garden-essentials

Bulbs Direct - Bloomin' good Bulbs delivered direct from the grower!
Welcome to the Family.

Adding a weak solution of Ocean Organics will provide your seeds a boost and guarantee a healthy start for any crop/plan...
02/09/2024

Adding a weak solution of Ocean Organics will provide your seeds a boost and guarantee a healthy start for any crop/plant.

Order yours direct through Kings Seeds when you’re getting your stocks. 🌱

NICKI'S GUIDE TO SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN I am just home after a fleeting visit to Ōtautahi, Christchurch, where it was a...
01/09/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE TO SEPTEMBER IN THE GARDEN

I am just home after a fleeting visit to Ōtautahi, Christchurch, where it was a beautiful blue sky 21 degree day, Spring is most definitely here. Glimpses of green and daffs are everywhere, this time of the year is such a delight after the dormancy of Winter.

The days are getting longer and our soil are warming up, perfect planting time (although I'd still keep the frost cloths and cloches handy just in case). This month is great for peas, lettuce, bok choy, celery, kohlrabi, spring onions, beetroot, radish, coriander, mizuna, rocket, fennel, parsley and spinach and it's the optimal month to get your Summer carrots in. If you are planting brassica's (broccoli, cauli, kale and cabbage) they will need to be netted with a fine mesh to protect them from the cabbage butterfly that will be here before we know it.

Wind is one of the biggest unseen stressors in our gardens. Fences and taller trees are good for around the boundary, but smaller shrubs and perennials planted closer to the garden or in pots, are excellent for filtering and redirecting wind flow and protecting tender seedlings. Young trees may need shade cloth frames if they are still settling in. Ensure you have sturdy infrastructure in place for climbing beans, sweet peas and tomatoes. I find off-cuts of reinforcing mesh strung between a couple of posts strong and versatile.

If your gardens are overgrown lay old carpet or cardboard down to kill off the weeds and spent crops. Once they have died back, it is then easy to cut everything off at ground level, leaving the roots, valuable organic material, in the soil to break down.

Sow dwarf beans, capsicum, chillies, tomatoes, cucumber, pumpkin, watermelon, aubergine and zucchini indoors, or in the greenhouse. Be cautious about planting them outside however, as the success of these summer crops depends totally on soil temperature, especially the heat loving varieties. Tomatoes particularly despise temperature fluctuations and will sulk, which will impact their overall resilience and productivity. Plant seeds twice as deep as the width of the seed and keep them consistently moist, but not sodden. Air temperature should be 13 C (at night too) and soil temperature 18 C. If it's still cold where seedlings are ready to go out, my advice is to move them into larger pots with a more nutritious soil mix and keep them indoors until temperatures outside stabilise. Give new seedlings an Ocean Organics NZ seaweed feed to reduce transplant shock and encourage strong root growth.

How about flowers for the bees and other beneficial insects? Sweet peas, cornflowers, cosmos, poppies, nasturtium, marigold, viola, calendula, snapdragon, sunflowers (only in warmer areas) and zinnia are all great companion plants in the garden. Flowers, herbs and natives, such as manuka, hebes and harakeke, entice pollinators and beneficial insects into the garden. These insects such as ladybugs, praying mantis, hoverflies and the parasitic wasp (a non stinging wasp that lays its egg in caterpillars and other pests, eating their host once they have hatched!) are our best defense against pests.

Plant seed potatoes now for Christmas spuds and sprout your kumara tipu (in a damp sandbox or suspended in a glass of water), to be planted out in November.

Feed fruit trees with fresh layers of compost, seaweed, leaf litter or mulch around the base and/or plant a living mulch, such as comfrey, herbs and flowers to support your trees.

Don't forget to stay on top of your slug and snail populations with night raids, beer traps, ducks or soda bottles with the bases cut off.

I am hosting 2 Edible Gardening on the Home Block Workshops at my home in the Karangahake Gorge - 21st Sept and 19th Oct. These workshops cover soil health, crop rotation, companion planting, composting and worm farming and are designed for both the beginner and the experienced gardener. Message me to register your interest.

Happy growing!
Nicki - Vital Harvest

With Spring on our doorstep this is the time for getting in seed stocks, preparing garden beds and making any final adju...
01/08/2024

With Spring on our doorstep this is the time for getting in seed stocks, preparing garden beds and making any final adjustments to your garden design. Next month we just want to focus solely on sowing and planting, so tick off any of those 'winter projects' still on the to-do list (she says looking at her unruly strawberry bed!). I love that our days are getting longer!

This week I have been pruning the last of the deciduous fruit trees in the food forest. Don't worry if you haven't done yours, stone fruit particularly doesn't mind a Summer prune. It is good to get the citrus tidied up if you need to, removing low hanging branches and taking out those that are diseased or crossing. The Borer is active from spring to autumn, loves the smell of citrus wood and will lay its eggs in fresh cuts, so winter pruning helps avoid this. Prune roses, feijoa and passionfruit.

If you experienced leaf curl or blackspot last year a copper spray as soon as you see the fruit buds fattening up is helpful. Spray again a fortnight later. Copper is very toxic to bees, so please spray before they are out and about. Regular Ocean Organics NZ foliar sprays will boost the health of your trees and Neem is a great solution to overwintering pests. Top up the mulch around your fruit trees.

If you want new potatoes for Christmas, start chitting your potatoes now. Choose your best from last season or buy specific ''seed potatoes' from your local garden centre, pop them in a warm and light spot (not direct sunlight) and allow them to sprout.

Start your Kumara tipu/shoots by placing a couple of kumara in a sandbox and keep slightly moist to encourage sprouting. Alternatively you can stand a kumara up in half a glass of water. These sprouts will be the tipu to plant out in a month or so.

Clean seed trays and pots with warm soapy water to remove any fungal spores, snails and insects.

You can plant asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb, parsley, spinach, silverbeet, kohlrabi, broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuces, bok choy and spring onions.

Direct sow onions, broadbeans, peas, mizuna, radish, rocket, beetroot and coriander. Flowers include alyssum, bishop's flower, poppies, sweetpeas, hollyhocks, cosmos, calendula, cornflower, marigold, stock, borage and lillies.

Be careful if planting seedlings out, there is still a large difference between day and night time temperatures and soils are really only just starting to warm up. Ensure you get your seedlings ready for life in the real world by 'hardening them off', placing the seed trays outside for 4-7 days before planting out to help reduce the transplant shock. New seedlings may still need a protective cloche. Keep the heat loving varieties like tomatoes, chillies and peppers tucked up inside for a while yet, they hate cold soils and will sulk with temperature fluctuations, which could have an impact on their productivity and vitality all season long.

Enjoy a little downtime while you can.

I have two Edible Gardening Workshops coming up at home - 21st Sept and 19th Oct. Message me ([email protected]) to register your interest or head to my website to secure your spot.

Happy Gardening
Nicki – Vital Harvest

28/07/2024

You can now purchase your New Zealand Seaweed Ocean Organics Products at the same time you purchase your seeds through Kings Seeds.

Their gorgeous Spring Catalogue is out now.
We’ve already been starting to daydream our garden plans and Spring planting now that the daylight hours are starting to increase☀️

https://76da0758.flowpaper.com/KSC/ =21

What are you planning in your Spring Garden and what tools do you use to plan? 🌽🥦🫛🍓

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR JULY IN THE GARDEN Matariki has risen, it is a time to reflect on the past, remember those who have pa...
30/06/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR JULY IN THE GARDEN

Matariki has risen, it is a time to reflect on the past, remember those who have passed on, to celebrate the present with kai and time with our whānau and communities, and to look ahead and plan for the future. Two key stars in the Matariki cluster, Tupu-ā-nuku and Tupu-ā-rangi, are significant for food crops. Tupu-ā-nuku is the star that governs food from the earth (our vegetable gardens) and Tupu-ā-rangi food from the sky (fruit from trees, berries and birds). Traditionally clear and bright stars promised a warm and abundant winter and hazy stars warned of a bleak winter.

As well as the Maori New Year, it is the start of the gardening calendar, a time to reflect on the successes of last year, identify what in the garden worked and what didn't, and draw up any plans for what we might like to change. It is a good time to move things, create new beds and add infrastructure. Also check seed stocks, plan what to grow next year and order new fruit trees.

If you are planting, late season broccoli, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi and cabbage can go in. Sow parsnip, radish, celery, globe artichokes, beetroot, spring onions, white onions, coriander, parsley, mizuna and rocket. In warmer areas, or under cover in a greenhouse, bok choy, spinach, peas, snow peas and lettuces. Flowers include alyssum, calendula, cornflowers, stock, snapdragons, violas and poppies.

Keep up the night raids (heading out to the garden just on dark with a head torch culling slugs and snails). Making a dent in these populations before Spring, when we are planting new seedlings en masse, will be a huge advantage. Companion plants of chives, rosemary, lemonbalm, sage and thyme will also deter slugs and snails, as will cloches of soda bottles with the bottoms cut off.

Plant rhubarb, asparagus and yacon crowns, jerusalem artichokes and divide strawberry plants, separating the runners from the main mother plant. Each of these crops would appreciate a good dollop of aged manure or seaweed.

Deadhead flowering shrubs and plants. Chop herbs or perennials that have died back to a crown or ground level. Tidy up spent crops, also chopping them off at the ground, leaving the roots to breakdown and feed the soil biology.

If there is still leaf litter blowing around add it to garden beds (it's particularly good if run over with a lawn mower first), or collect in a pile and leave for a year to become leaf mould, adding into the garden once it has completely broken down. Planting cover crops, such as pea, oats and lupins or broadbeans, aged animal manure, leaf mould and vermicast will all rejuvenate tired garden beds.

Plant fruit trees, stake, feed with compost and mulch with woodchip. Prune fruit trees and collect and compost any rotting fruit from under your trees. Spray with Copper if fungal issues are obvious, otherwise I recommend keeping trees healthy with regular seaweed foliar feeds and a Neem program (3 sprays 1 week to 10 days apart) if there seems to be damage from insects. Prune roses, hydrangeas, feijoas and berries.

Otherwise curl up around the fire and plan your future plantings and harvests.

Mānawatia a Matariki
Nicki Murray-Orr - Vital Harvest

We will be closing our office at 4pm over the next 10 days while we lead up to and attend Fieldays 4th June - 14th June ...
03/06/2024

We will be closing our office at 4pm over the next 10 days while we lead up to and attend Fieldays
4th June - 14th June
Back to usual hours 8.30-5pm on Monday 17th June ✅✅

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR JUNE IN THE GARDENJune, our official start to Winter, with Matariki rising and the Winter Solstice lat...
01/06/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR JUNE IN THE GARDEN

June, our official start to Winter, with Matariki rising and the Winter Solstice later in the month, time to ease up a little in the garden. While Summer harvests are still fresh in our minds, this month is great for reflecting on the successes and failures of last year, what worked and what didn't? Draw up plans for any changes you'd like to make, in both plant selection and infrastructure, and move any trees and shrubs if you need to.

Spent crops can be chopped off at ground level, leaving the roots in the ground to break down and feed soil biology. My advice is to disturb the soil as little as possible to preserve your underground workforce. Deadhead flowering shrubs and plants. Make compost!

A little planting each month will maintain regular harvests. Some suggestions include beetroot, bok choi, broad beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, kale, red and white onions, spring onions, radish, silverbeet and spinach. Herbs like coriander, parsley, mizuna, rocket, rosemary, sage and thyme can still go in. Companion flowers include alyssum, borage, calendula, cornflowers, stock, violas and poppies.

Plant rhubarb and asparagus crowns and divide your strawberry plants by separating the runners from the mothers, the main plant. If the mother plants are massive, you can divide those to keep them productive or simply replace them with the fresh runners.

It's garlic planting time if you haven't already got yours in. Plant your largest cloves in free draining, aerated and well composted soils. Mulch heavily, garlic hates competition from weeds, and feed regularly, particularly in the first few months to boost bulb development.

If you aren't planting and sowing edibles, then cover crops of mustard, peas, oats, lupins and/or broad beans are a great way to fill gaps in the smaller Winter garden as well as rejuvenate tired garden beds.

New seedlings should be under netting, frost cloth, plastic cloches or in glasshouses. Containers on the deck can be a great way to grow winter veg if you've left things a little late. Hungry birds are pecking around and the slugs and snails are venturing out – plastic soda bottle cloches and sharp sticks placed in a teepee are good to deter the birds and 'digit control', night missions into the garden with the head torch for the slugs and snails, are our best defense.

All deciduous fruit trees can be planted now. Stake them, keep them well fed with compost and mulched with woodchip. Collect any rotting fruit from under your trees and compost. Prune trees, removing dead or diseased parts first, then prune for shape and form, letting in more light where needed. Spray with Copper only if fungal issues are obvious, otherwise I recommend keeping trees healthy with regular seaweed foliar feeds.

As things quieten in the garden and we are spending more time indoors, it is a great time to think about the crops you might want to grow next season. Curl up around the fire with your seed and tree catalogues.

If you need help with your garden, orchard design, pruning fruit trees or any landscaping questions, message me I am happy to help.

Happy Solstice,
Nicki Murray-Orr – Vital Harvest
[email protected]

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR MAY IN THE VEGE GARDENWith shorter days and cooler nights, growth and jobs in the garden are slowing d...
02/05/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR MAY IN THE VEGE GARDEN

With shorter days and cooler nights, growth and jobs in the garden are slowing down. Hopefully you have already planted most of your Brassicas (broccoli, cauli, kale and cabbages), as any new plantings going in now won't really be ready until Spring. However don't let that put you off popping in a few more, they'll soon take off at the first hint of warmer temps. If you are a little behind you can boost brassica production by planting in the greenhouse or under a plastic cloche.

Broad beans, lettuces, silverbeet, beetroot, fennel, snow peas, spinach, celery, shallots, onions, bok choy, coriander, mizuna, rocket, parsley and radishes are are all great crops to plant in cooler seasons. Give your Brassicas and leafy greens regular liquid seaweed feeds.

May is a good month for dividing and planting out strawberries. There is an old adage that strawberries planted in winter will produce sweeter berries in the summer.

Harvest crops you want to store, potatoes, pumpkin and kumara, before the first frosts arrive. Yams can be harvested once their tops die down.

Traditionally the shortest day of the year is when NZ gardeners plant their garlic (harvesting it on the longest day), although it can really be planted anywhere from April to the end of July.

You can sow or plant winter flowers such as poppies, alyssum, calendula, cornflowers, stock and sweet peas. It's also the last chance to plant spring bulbs before the soil gets too cold and to ensure a Spring showing.

I really encourage a “no bare soil” rule, truly the easiest way to look after your garden. This is easy to achieve in Winter months by sowing a "cover" or “green manure" crop, like lupins, broadbeans or mustard, in the parts of your veggie patch that aren't being used over winter. These crops add nutrients, suppress weeds and improve your soil structure. Cover crops are a stress free way to 'rest' your garden over winter. Otherwise plant densely, with faster growing crops in and and around the slower growing crops, and mulch here is also your friend.

Clean and sharpen secateurs and loppers in preparation for pruning fruit trees once they have finished fruiting. Prune grapes, roses and berries also. The next month or two is the best time to plant or move small trees and shrubs and divide perennials.

This time of the year is brilliant for making compost with spent summer crops. Composting now will totally set you up for Spring. Collect as MUCH leaf litter as you can find – it's awesome for adding to compost, to be used as a mulch (especially if you run over it with the lawn mower) or for making leaf mould, which is a fantastic soil conditioner.

My next workshop is Edible Gardening on the Home Block on the 11th May. Message me to register your interest or head to my website.

Happy growing!

Nicki Murray-Orr
Vital Harvest

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR APRILThings are slowing down in the garden but Autumn can still be a very busy time; har...
01/04/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR APRIL

Things are slowing down in the garden but Autumn can still be a very busy time; harvesting, storing, clearing spent crops, making compost, planting winter seedlings, sowing cover crops to nurture empty beds as well as saving seed.

Seeds evolve very quickly and every year that we save seed from crops that thrive in our backyards, the better they will be suited to our soil type and environmental conditions. Home gardeners can play a significant role in seed saving, preserving the genetic diversity of seed stocks, becoming less dependent on the industrial food system, as well as save money. Simply allow a few of your best varieties to fully complete their life cycle. NB these will need to be heirloom or open pollinated varieties (not hybrid, which have a F1 or F2 on the seed packet, as these will not grow true to type). When the seed heads of flowers or lettuces for example have dried, shake them into a paper bag. Scoop out the seeds from your best pumpkins and tomatoes, rinse off the flesh and leave to dry on a paper towel. Leave the last few beans on the vines until they dry and rattle. Store all fully dried seed in a cool, dark and vermin proof spot.

This month harvest potatoes, pumpkin, squash and kumara – a ¾ moon (the week after the full moon) is perfect for harvesting crops you wish to store. Cut off and plant out strawberry runners in soil that has been well fed with compost or aged manure. Let your asparagus go to seed and cut it back to use as mulch once it starts to die back, then feed with seaweed or compost. Keep picking leafy greens to ensure they continue to replenish.

Direct sow carrots, radishes, daikon, turnip, broad beans, parsnip, parsley, rocket, coriander, mizuna and peas. To prevent losing peas to hungry birds you can sow them into toilet rolls then plant the whole thing, roll and all, when the seedlings are about 10 cm high. Garlic can also go in this month.

Sow and plant broccoli, bok choy, celery, cauliflower, cabbage, chard, kale, kohlrabi, fennel, globe artichokes, leeks, lettuce (those that prefer cooler temps such as buttercrunch, canasta and drunken woman), onions, silverbeet, spring onions and potatoes (in frost free zones). Don't forget to harden off indoor grown seedlings by placing them outside for 4-7 days before planting out.

Keep all Brassica seedlings netted if the white caterpillar butterflies are still about. Keep up with night raids to curb slug and snail populations. Cutting the bottoms off soda bottles and placing over precious new seedlings can be a deterrent, albeit not foolproof. Hungry birds are fossicking about in the garden, so soda bottles, netted cloches and off cuts of mesh can preserve direct sown seed and new plantings until they get established. Keep up regular liquid feeds for another month or two.

Cover crops, such as mustard, buckwheat, broadbeans, phacelia or a mix of peas, oats and lupins, are a great way to fill in gaps in a winter garden and to rest and replenish tired beds.

Companion flowers include calendula, cornflower, dianthus, larkspur, poppy, sweet peas, borage and spring bulbs.

If you haven't already, prune stone fruit (peaches, nectarines and plums). Pip fruit will be later in the winter and leave citrus pruning until spring. This is the best time of the year for planting natives and ornamentals, dividing perennials and moving shrubs or small trees if you need to. Order bare rooted fruit trees from nurseries for a June/July delivery. Plant citrus, feijoas and blueberries.

My next Edible Gardening on the Home Block workshop is on the 20th April. Message me to register your interest.

Happy gardening,
Nicki Murray-Orr
Vital Harvest

Great to be able to support this beautiful kaupapa. 💚
13/03/2024

Great to be able to support this beautiful kaupapa. 💚

06/03/2024

Vanda (Ascocentrum) curvifolium. I love the colour of this orchid. Grown well, they make a magnificent display of red flowers.

She lives on a diet of K Lite 12-1-1, a little bit of SUPERthrive Pro-TeKt, a dash of lemon juice, and a monthly dose of Ocean Organics Soil Seaweed Concentrate.

They grow well in bright light and enjoy a bit of warmth.



Ocean Organics NZ

Edible Gardening Workshops with Nicki from Vital Harvest;Saturday 9th MarchSaturday 20th April
04/03/2024

Edible Gardening Workshops with Nicki from Vital Harvest;
Saturday 9th March
Saturday 20th April

E D I B L E G A R D E N I N G W O R K S H O P S - 2 new dates;

Saturday 9th March
Saturday 20th April

The next two months are critical in the veggie garden if you want to ensure you have veg to harvest all winter long. It's also a good time to fine tune your garden design and move things if you need to.

Do you want to know more about rejuvenating and replenishing tired soils, good garden design, growing nutrient rich produce, companion planting and creating cracking compost? Then book yourself and a friend in for a fun interactive day at mine. See my website for workshop details and to register your interest. Or simply DM me here 🌿Just a couple more spaces left for this Saturday's workshop..

https://www.vitalharvest.co.nz/workshops

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR MARCH.We may not be ready for Summer to finish (this one has been a joy after the last!)...
01/03/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE IN THE GARDEN FOR MARCH.

We may not be ready for Summer to finish (this one has been a joy after the last!), but Autumn is such an awesome season in the garden. Summer crops are still delivering, fruit bounty in the orchard, and, soils will still retain their summer warmth for a few more weeks yet, so it's perfect for planting veggies, fruit trees and ornamentals, dividing perennials and moving stuff. I do most of my orchard design implementations in Autumn, knowing the trees will get a nice chance to settle in before the demands of Summer.

When temperatures start to drop the activity of the soil biology slows down. Ultimately the plants end up using more food than the soil biology can replace, so plant growth also slows. It is therefore important to get key crops in now to ensure young seedlings have a couple of months of growth before things really cool down. I'm really thinking about Brassicas here, cauliflowers, cabbages, broccoli, brussel sprouts and kale. Plant a few every 3-4 weeks to stagger harvests and be sure to protect them from the cabbage white butterflies with fine mesh nets.

March is perfect for sowing carrot, beetroot, kohlrabi and parsnip, they will sit happily in the garden all winter long. Other crops to sow and plant this month include radish, leeks, onions and greens like bok choy, spring onions, fennel, parsley, mizuna, rocket, coriander, spinach, lettuces and celery. Don't forget flowers for the bees - calendula, chamomile, larkspur, cornflower, snapdragons, nigella and borage. Now is good for Spring bulbs too.

Lift Kumara vines to prevent them re-rooting and keep their energy directed into tuber production and pinch out the tips of pumpkins to stop further vine growth and fatten up the pumpkins.

By allowing a few things to complete their life cycle and go to seed in our garden, we can start to save our own seed. Every year that we save seed from crops that thrive in our gardens, the better they will be suited to our soil type and environmental conditions. Beans, lettuce, tomatoes, pumpkin and flowers are a great place to start.

The annual garlic plant is upon us. Traditionally garlic would be planted on the shortest day and harvested on the longest, but in a potentially wet and/or humid climate, such as Waihi, planting early can help avoid rust. Rust usually occurs late in the season, so the theory behind planting early is that bulbs will be a decent size before it arrives. If you do get rust your garlic is still edible, however bulb development may be compromised and it may not store quite as well. Plant into richly composted soil, with wide plant spacings, mulch heavily to prevent competition from weeds and apply fortnightly liquid foliar feeds in the first few months.

Fill gaps in the garden with cover crops such as broadbeans, buckwheat, lupins or mustard to give it some protection and nourishment. Avoid bare patches with plantings, cardboard and mulch or even an old sack or bit of carpet to protect your soil and its biology until you are ready to replant. This also keeps the weeds at bay.

In the orchard stone fruit can be pruned as soon as fruiting has finished. Save citrus pruning for the Spring as the native lemon tree borer flies at this time of the year and can lay eggs in fresh cuts. If you need to prune damaged trees use pruning paste.

I have 2 workshops coming up – Edible Gardening on the Home Block 9th March & 20th April. Message me or visit my website to register your interest.

This is my 83 yr old Dad in Southland and his amazing cabbages. I totally credit him for my green thumbs.

Happy growing,
Nicki Vital Harvest

🌿 Connecting with Community: A Special Day with The Guy Time Group! 👨👨👦Today, we were honoured to host The Guy Time grou...
13/02/2024

🌿 Connecting with Community: A Special Day with The Guy Time Group! 👨👨👦

Today, we were honoured to host The Guy Time group from Morrinsville. Keith had a great time sharing our story, discussing our products and showing them who we are.

After an engaging chat and a yum morning tea (huge thanks the team), Keith led the group on a factory tour giving them an inside look at our operations. We wrapped up the day with a taste of freshly picked plums from our own back garden.

Thank you, Guy Time group, for spending the day with us. We thoroughly enjoyed connecting with you, sharing our passion and story with you.

💖 Still looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift? 🎁 Treat your loved one with the goodness from Ocean Organic. Our r...
13/02/2024

💖 Still looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift? 🎁 Treat your loved one with the goodness from Ocean Organic. Our range of nourishing creams, organic soaps, and revitalizing teas are sure to spoil your special someone. Don't miss out on our Valentine's Special, valid till the 14 Feb 2024 💝 🌊🌿🎀

☀️🌿 Don't forget self-care in the summer sun! 🏖️ Whether it's cracked lips, heels, or summer-induced eczema, we have got...
08/02/2024

☀️🌿 Don't forget self-care in the summer sun! 🏖️ Whether it's cracked lips, heels, or summer-induced eczema, we have got you covered with our NZ Herb and Healing ointment and Seaweed Lip Balm. A must have for on-the-go and an all-in-one healer for home. Beat the heat beautifully! 💚🌺

💕 Spoil Your Love 💕 This Valentine's Day, treat your special someone with our luxurious Nourishing Herb and Lavender Han...
07/02/2024

💕 Spoil Your Love 💕 This Valentine's Day, treat your special someone with our luxurious Nourishing Herb and Lavender Hand Cream, Rose and Almond Face Cream, and two "Pick Me Up" Lavender Soaps! All for just $70! Enjoy the goodness of natural ingredients for the health and beauty of your skin. Order online or drop by our store for a look at our other health care, garden, and animal health products.

🌱🌿 Seedling tip for success! Soak your seedlings in a gentle solution of Ocean Organic’s Soil Concentrate before plantin...
05/02/2024

🌱🌿 Seedling tip for success! Soak your seedlings in a gentle solution of Ocean Organic’s Soil Concentrate before planting, and use the liquid to water them in. This not only prevents transplant shock but also provides a nourishing boost for their growth. Happy planting! 🌼💦

❤️ Valentine's Day Special Offer ❤️ Give the gift of self-care this Valentine's Day with our Nourishing Herb and Lavende...
02/02/2024

❤️ Valentine's Day Special Offer ❤️ Give the gift of self-care this Valentine's Day with our Nourishing Herb and Lavender Hand Cream, Rose and Almond Face Cream, and two Lavender Soaps for only $70. 🎁💝 Pamper your loved one with the goodness of seaweed-infused skincare, promoting healthy skin and well-being. You can order online or visit our store and have a nosey at the rest of our health care range and our Garden and Animal health range.

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR FEBRUARY IN THE GARDENI know it seems mad to be thinking about what we want to be eating in Winter whe...
01/02/2024

NICKI'S GUIDE FOR FEBRUARY IN THE GARDEN

I know it seems mad to be thinking about what we want to be eating in Winter when there is so much abundance in the garden, but that's exactly what we need to be doing. Things slow down when temperatures drop, so if we want to be eating Winter broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, now is the time to get it in the ground. Sowing or planting a few of each every month from now until May, will give you harvests all winter long. The later sowings are not likely to do much until the temperatures warm up again, but as soon as they do they'll take off, so have them ready and waiting in the ground.

For those of us in the North Island, who had such a shocker of a season last Summer, this one seems just glorious. Or is it that we are just that much more appreciative? A nice balance of sunshine hours and regular dollops of rain.

If your tomato plants are getting too tall for their stakes or to harvest easily, you can pinch out the tip of the plant so it puts its energy into ripening the fruit instead of growing. You can also remove some of the excess leaves so that the sun can get to the fruit. Keep feeding with liquid seaweed. Zucchini, cucumber and pumpkin (Cucurbits) are particularly prone to powdery mildew. Remove affected leaves immediately and feed with liquid seaweed.

As your crops come to an end simply cut them off at the base, leaving the roots in the ground to break down and feed the next crop, rather than ripping them out of the ground whole. This creates less soil disturbance, adds lovely organic matter in the form compostable roots and saves you a heap of time and effort. You can either plant some swift turn around crops (mizuna, cress, lettuce, rocket, radishes) or a cover crop (lupin, buckwheat or phacelia), something that will nourish the soil in preparation for hungry winter brassicas or garlic. Mustard is an excellent soil fumigant and particularly good after tomatoes. It is however also a brassica so best not used in beds where other brassicas such as broccoli or cauliflower will be planted. Broad beans are one of my favourite Winter cover crops to nourish the soil, but are best planted in March.

Collect any flower seeds that are starting to finish and dry, such as cornflowers, sunflowers, poppies, scabiosa, nigella and calendula. Coriander, dill, fennel and parsley are perfect to leave to go to seed, when you can simply fling the dried seeds around the garden again (don't go too crazy with the parsley unless you want a carpet of the stuff!). Easy veggies that can be left for slightly more intentional seed saving include lettuce, beans, carrots and spinach. You will need a little room to allow plants to do their thing, clear out the ones you don't want to save seed from and let the best develop fully. This is where intensive block plantings are useful. The more plants the more genetic diversity. Often I let my favourite lettuces naturally drop their seed and produce seedlings, which I then dig up and replant in a fresh bed (AKA lazy seed sowing). Save capsicum and tomato seed from your best fruit, by scooping out the seeds onto a paper towel to dry. I find swishing tomato seeds around in a jar of water for a couple of days to separate the pulp from the seed before tipping onto the paper towel is the most effective. Leave beans on the vines to dry until they rattle. Other seeds shake into a paper bag when they are dry. Ensure the varieties you are saving are heirloom or open pollinated and label everything!

Sow coriander and rocket, parsley, spring onions, carrots, parsnips, daikon, radish, beetroot, leeks, dwarf beans, lettuce, bok choy, kale, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage, celery, fennel, spinach, silverbeet and chard. Just remember that when those brassicas get planted out they will need to be netted to protect them from the cabbage white butterflies. Flowers include anise hyssop, borage, calendula, chamomile, cornflowers, dianthus, larkspur, nigella love in the mist and snapdragons.

Happy growing,
Nicki
Vital Harvest

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