thisNZlife

6 big lessons from 17 years of organic food farming

Mix it up

The Food Farm can go from prolonged dry periods in summer to torrential rain for days. In spring, there are brutal frosts. That's why you'll find the same plants scattered throughout the Food Farm gardens.

“If you put all your lettuce in one part of the garden, an adverse event can take it all out, so we mix up where we plant things.”

Make the garden work for you

The Food Farm changes every year, depending on the needs of the family. It started as a way to feed three small children organic, nutritionally rich food. As they grew, it expanded and they sold key crops at the local farmers' market.

“When things got really full-on, we'd just grow for ourselves. Then as the kids grew, we did CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes. Then as my job with Eat NZ got bigger, we pulled back again to just growing for ourselves. It's one of the key learnings for us – your life changes and what you do on your land changes.”

Plant strategically

She tries not to and says she's improved over the years, but Angela confesses she still grows too much of one thing all at once.

“We've gotten so much better at succession planting. I don't need a whole row of lettuce to harvest all at the same time, even though I've got the space to grow them. I actually need a third of a row now, and then two weeks later another third, and then two weeks after that another third.” Bonus tip: only grow what you'll eat. “There's just no point growing it, especially if the kids don't eat it.”

Plant perennials

Angela and Nick now grow a lot more perennial vegetables than when they first started, including globe and Jerusalem artichokes, wild fennel, yacon, rhubarb, NZ spinach, sorrel, walking onions, lovage, plantain, and watercress.

“We've realised the value in perennial systems versus annual systems. I also grow a lot more flowers with the veggies because I better understand now the intimate relationship between flowers and vegetables, so we've increased our biodiversity here massively.”

Go with the flow

Angela is one of the most organised people you'll meet, but she's learned chaos is a better way to garden.

“I'm far less pedantic now, and it's a much more free flow garden, less clear lines, more integration and complexity (of plants). I've learned about biodiversity, allowing microsystems to develop and support themselves.”

Go wild

In permaculture philosophy, the outer edges of a property are known as the wild zone, a mix of trees and plants that need little to no management. Over the years, Angela says they've seen this area have an increasing impact on their block.

“Our (wild zone) runs all the way down our property, and we can see the effect it has on our cultivated spaces. There's just so much more life: bird life, insect life, lizard life, pest life. The majority of (the plants) are doing something good for our cultivated

• spaces.”

SELF-SUFFICIENCY THE DOWN-TO-EARTH FOOD FARMERS

en-nz

2021-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thisnzlife.pressreader.com/article/282136409571745

NZ Lifestyle Magazine Group