Edible Garden
Inspiration for food you can easily grow at home
Incredible edibles
If you have always wanted to grow food but never knew where to start, or are looking for some new ideas, visit the Auckland Botanic Gardens’ Edible Garden. We display a range of productive plants – from traditional Kiwi vegetables to more unusual or heritage varieties from around the world – get inspired and add some new elements to your dinner. Food harvested directly from the garden is better for you, tastes great and generally costs less! All the plants we grow thrive in Auckland conditions – and you can grow food easily in Auckland throughout the year.
In the Edible Garden discover the multitude of ways you can grow food: against walls, as a hedge, in the form of a ’food forest’, in raised boxes, pots and recycled containers. The fruit and vegetables in the Edible Garden glow with health and vitality. The garden is organic - we don’t use any artificial inputs (chemical fertilisers or chemical sprays). Learn how you can create a healthy garden by building biodiversity and making your own compost and fertilisers; healthy soil - healthy plants – healthy people.
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Cultural
Fruit and vegetables have been grown ’organically’ around the world for millenia. It was only around 100 years ago – in the early 20th Century - that artificial chemicals were developed and mass marketed. Chemicals can upset the natural balance of the soil, the nutrient cycle and food chain. Similar to what can be observed out in nature; an organic, biodiverse garden has its own inherent balance. You can see this for yourself in the Edible Garden.
As well as remaining relevant to experienced gardeners, we aim to entice novice gardeners and children into edible gardening and provide ideas that enable disabled and elderly people to continue gardening. Visitors can take away ideas about growing edibles, heritage varieties, composting, soil management and find out about workshops either here at the Gardens or other parts of Auckland.
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Gardening Tips for Edibles
Healthy soils workshop 2015
- Healthy soil is essential for producing vitamin and mineral rich vegetables. The use of ample organic material is fundamental to the success of most vegetable gardens.
- Build a healthy soil through composting, worm farming, making liquid manures and sowing green crops.
- Disrupt and distract diseases and pests by rotating your crops each year and planting companion plants between and around your fruit and vegetables.
- Generally vegetables can be divided into three groups for crop rotation: Root and leaf crops – carrots, potatoes, radishes, parsnips, beetroot, yams, silverbeet, spinach, lettuce; Vine crops and brassicas – tomatoes, cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, cabbages, cauliflowers, kale; Legumes and alliums – garlic, onions, peas, beans, shallots.
Herb Garden
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