Tomato Plants Delivered to you!
Reasons to grow
I have to thank all my customers, you just bought clothing for our awa (river).
Meet the amazing Petaka Stream
WHY I GROW FOR YOU
I'm on a quest, not only to grow the best heirloom varieties for my customers but also to recloak my river. Some call it Riparian planting, but I'm simply giving it back it's clothing. The river downstream of this picture is dying. The sad thing is it doesn't even know why it's being punished—the cold, clean waters from this stream flow into the naked parts of the stream. The sunlight heating and stripping it of its oxygen as it warms the water, the banks are unable to hold on to their soil, so it too falls into the stream. It removes the deep pools that are crucial for hot summers and clouds the waters. The rich nutrients from the soil reek havoc in the streams. They promote algae blooms that also grab what oxygen is left in the water as they grow, and our fish have to flee or die (refugees). You can't live where you can't breathe. Many of our unique creatures require leaf litter to build their homes and to encourage other insects to live, which become a food source in the circle of life. So thank you for buying my tomatoes, because you just contributed toward cloaking our awa (river). And yes I will plant trees that our grandbabies will swing from into deep pools because I must.
You can only become truly accomplished at something you love. Don't make money your goal. Instead, pursue the things you love doing and then do them well so well that people can't take their eyes off you.
Maya Angelo
- Home is where the garden is!
There's nothin' in the world that feels like coming home. Keith Urban
They say your environment is your second mother, your second teacher. The first is, of course, your actual mother. It made me realise how important it is to have access to nature. I discovered Ron Finley, and I have to mention him and his crusade of connecting people back to the earth. He's a designer, a gardener and an artist in the heart of the urban jungle of Los Angeles. He serves his community by teaching people how to grow their food, and it's a gift I take for granted. So this is for the person who is new to growing and has no idea where to start, start where you are. Grow a tomato, if tomatoes are not your thing strawberries are a real winner too and remember seven strawberry plants for each person in your family if you want to grow enough.
And then get out of control and dive straight into the next level and start collecting seed. I just sat down last night and went through my stash, I feel so wealthy, and I have plenty to give to friends and family. The picture below is my grandparent's farm in the Hokianga, where I learnt how to grow Dahlia's in my potato bed. Bless my grandfather and his wild ideas. The other is a picture of me I managed to snap this winter.
I'm certain my tomatoes love country music!
This is my gospel and I'm telling people, grow your own food. Growing your own food is like printing your own money. Ron Finley
What you desire and what your destiny is, in a sense, one in the same thing. Desire means, "to long for, to wish for deeply", and this word is derived from de sidere, meaning, "from the stars". So when stripped back the original meaning in a sense is "to await what the stars will bring". So my tomato growing family, find what it is that you desire and discover your destiny. Get growing!
This is my grandfather's old tractor I spent many days hanging off the back of this on adventures, mainly milking cows by hand and cutting firewood.
Watch this guy around the Kamokamo patch. These are my favourite types of piggies, the Kunikuni. Full of mischief.
I haven't been in this garden for over ten years. Maybe it's time for a comeback. Spent hours in here crafting my growing skills under the watchful eye of my grandparents Wi and Betty.
