Edible Gardens

One huge difference I’ve noticed between New Zealand and Texas is the focus on edible gardens at home. There is overwhelming dislike of high grocery prices, lack of food options at the supermarket, and general disdain for paying for something that can easily be found in your backyard. Or on the sidewalk. Or squished underneath your car as you drive down the driveway. (True story - I keep squishing oranges that fall from our neighbor’s tree.)

The climate in Auckland is such that things grow, whether you want them to or not. Yes, mold in houses can be problematic, but it also means that it takes very little effort to have all sorts of delicious things growing in whatever space you have available. There are a lot of houses around us that have productive citrus trees. It is not uncommon to see someone set out a tray of ripe fruit for people to take because a tree is producing more than a family can eat. When we were living in an AirBnb for the first few months of our stay in New Zealand, our hosts, who lived next door, regularly dropped off bags upon bags of delicious, juicy oranges. Our new house came with navel oranges, blood oranges, tangelos, kefir limes, feijoas, and lemons. I’m anxious to plant a regular ol’ lime tree because they can go for upwards of $40/kg during the year.

In addition to citrus, blueberries and strawberries are common. Blueberries are currently selling at the grocery store for $9/250g, but I’m able to resist because we have our own crop on the verge of exploding. It is our first year with blueberry bushes, and we are learning that we have to defend them against the birds. Fortunately, we’re smarter than them and now have an elaborate netting system worked out. To be fair, the blueberries in the grocery store will eventually get down to around $3/250g, but for much of the year, they are quite expensive if they are available at all.

Herbs grow with next to no effort as well. Mint, parsley, coriander (cilantro if you’re from the US), rosemary - all of the basics - can be left to their own devices. Because it never really freezes, the plants will last for years, meaning no more $4 herb bundles from the supermarket.

There are quite a few annual plants that can be found at all of the garden stores, like Palmers (which has a very hand set of monthly checklists to reference) King’s Plant Barn, and Sunhill Garden Centre. All of the regular things that can be found at the grocery store can be found at the garden centers. If you’re interested in tomatoes, zucchini, pumpkins, spinach, beets, etc. can be found here.

What isn’t readily available? Hot pepper options. Yes, capsicums (aka bell peppers) are available, but if you want fresh jalapeños to scratch your salsa mix itch, you’ll need to look elsewhere. We got all kinds of varietals from King’s Seeds, including jalapeños and ancho chilis. I’ve seen fresh jalapeños in the grocery store once - for $99/kg. To be fair, jarred jalapeños are readily available and cheap all year long. (But come on, fresh is best!)

The other big complaint I hear from Americans in New Zealand is that they can’t find good carving pumpkins. Never fear, King’s Seeds can hook you up with several different options for all of your jack-o-lantern and decorative gourd needs. However, keep in mind the seasonal differences. It may be quite difficult to get a pumpkin crop in October, which is spring in the southern hemisphere.

We’re trying to take advantage of this new climate and embrace the kitchen garden. So far, its required very little effort outside of picking out new plants that I know we’ll eat and getting some bird netting to protect our blueberry and strawberry crop. I’ll let you know how it goes and if it is worth the effort.