There's something deeply satisfying about a winter vegetable garden. While the rest of the world around you slows down, your patch can be quietly busy - growing brassicas that sweeten with the frost, leeks that thicken steadily and garlic that's tucking in for its long, slow journey to harvest. Why Soil is the Foundation of Winter Success: In the cooler months, plants grow more slowly. Their root systems are less aggressive, their uptake of nutrients more measured. This means any problems...

There's a growing awareness - and it feels timely - of just how important the food we eat really is. Not just what we eat, but where it comes from, how it was grown and what the soil it grew in was made of. the vegetables you grow at home, in soil you've genuinely nourished, are in a different category to most of what sits on supermarket shelves. Soil health and nutritional value The nutritional content of vegetables is directly connected to the health of the soil they grow in. Minerals in...

May is a month of quiet transition in the New Zealand garden. Summer crops are spent, the days are shorter and there's a distinct chill in the morning air. But before the garden rests, there's one job that will make a bigger difference to your spring and almost anything else - protecting your soil through winter. Why bare soil is a problem If you have soil that will be left bare over the winter and is exposed to the elements this can cause real damage. Rain compacts the surface, cold...