Organic NZ

Organic NZ is filled with info to live a healthier lifestyle - for you and the planet! Published by the Soil & Health Association of New Zealand, working since 1941 for sustainable organic agricultural and good health. Topics range from home garden to large-scale success stories; eco-building; urban organics; genetic engineering & chemical issues; food matters & natural health.

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Organic NZ

Speaking with one voice • Guest editorial by Chris Morrison, chair of Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ), the national voice for organics

Your letters

Competitions • Be in to win!

Campaign to ban glyphosate • Update on Soil & Health’s glyphosate campaign, by Jodie Bruning

Organic Week 2020

Soil & Health’s Soil4Climate panel

Happy 10th birthday Ooooby!

Grape growers wanted for trials

Book review Tree Beings

Soil4Climate project breaks new ground

Ethics in a cup • There’s a fair bit of hoopla involved in creating your morning cup of coffee, as Theresa Sjöquist finds out from IncaFé’s Joop Verbeek.

Cooking with coffee • Even if you don't drink coffee you may be tempted by these recipes.

Te Wharekura o Maniapoto Kura-ā-iwi – educating the community • Yvonne Taura interviewed Hōhepa Hei about a kura where the tauira have established a māra kai (vegetable garden) and other initiatives based on the concept of kaitiakitanga. This is an extract from the new multi-authored book He Mahi Oneone Hua Parakore: A Māori Soil Sovereignty and Wellbeing Handbook.

HOT favourites • How to grow chillies, by Minette Tonoli

Top 12 favourites

Tips and tasks for the November–December garden • Late spring to early summer is one of the busiest times in the garden. Whether you’re in cooler or warmer regions, these tried and true tips from Diana Noonan will help you keep on top of the chores – and keep the garden producing in abundance!

keep your chooks in tip-top health • Pam Adam draws on 30 years of keeping chickens to bring readers these DIY tips and recipes for a healthy flock.

Maramataka for Whiringa rangi and Hakihea

Maramataka for Hakihea

from breakdown to breakthrough • The sudden onset of grand mal seizures turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Lydia Harris. She shares her story here.

Something IN THE WATER • Mary Ralston investigates the health dangers of nitrates in drinking water, and what we can do about it.

Organic sheep and beef renewed efforts for growth • Martin Freeth reports on efforts to renew growth in an often-overlooked part of the organic foods sector through an export-oriented producer group, New Zealand Organic Meats (NZOM).

A view from the land

MULCHING to protect soil organic matter • This is the fifth article in a series by Dr Tim Jenkins on maintaining and building soil organic matter. This time we look at the role of mulching.

low energy high performance • This off-grid portable house in Central Otago offers incredible performance and comfort, using international best practice design. Andrea Bosshard tells the story.

Noticing microbial worlds • Margaret McFall-Ngai, a pioneer in the study of animal–bacterial symbiosis, invites us to consider the importance of microbes in the evolution and health of animals and plants. This article is an abridged version of chapter 3 in Arts of Living on a Damaged Planet (University of Minnesota Press, 2017), edited by A Tsing, H Swanson, E Gan and N Bubandt; it is reproduced with kind permission of the author and publisher.

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