Vegetables
Why grow vegetables?
Caring for the land is mutually nourishing.
Vegetables can connect us to our places and cultures.
Vegetables can attract pollinators and other beneficial insects
Growing vegetables can reduce our food miles and plastic packaging, so reduces our carbon footprint
Looking after land, improving soil health, growing vegetables, restoring nature, all give Taiao (nature) the qualities to sustain life and wellbeing
Vegetables provide highly nutritious food that gives people health and wellbeing connected to nature.
Growing vegetables can give us a sense of achievement, by working outside and growing a beautiful vegetable patch.
They allow us to save money and be more resilient to rising food costs and supply disruptions.
Find out more about ……
Beetroot | Rengakura
Beetroot, also known as beet, are related to spinach. Their leaves and taproots are edible, providing a good source of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Betacyanin, which gives beetroot its rich, purple-crimson colour, may have anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory properties.
Broccoli | Pūpihi | Poroki
Broccoli has amazing nutrients, like Vitamin C. It can help prevent some diseases by reducing blood pressure, & containing antioxidants that reduce cancer risks (particularly in men).
Broad beans
Broadbeans provide cover habitat for invertebrates above ground. Planted as a winter cover crop they reduce erosion and improved soil fertility to benefit organisms below ground too. Bees and other insect pollinators love their flowers.
Carrot | Kāreti
Wild carrots are native to Eurasia, where they were originally purple! Carrots are a good source of Vitamin A and potassium.
Leek
The leek is a vegetable, a cultivar of Allium ampeloprasum, the broadleaf wild leek. The edible part of the plant is a bundle of leaf sheaths that is sometimes erroneously called a stem or stalk.
Māori potatoes | Taewa
Vegetables can provide connections to our cultural identity: Māori potatoes, taewa, became a staple food crop before European settlement of NZ. They often replaced S Pacific crops like kūmara, taro & yams.
Onions & Garlic
Many vegetables are super foods: Garlic & onions have loads of benefits as a good source of fibre & important nutrients (like selenium). They have medical benefits like fighting colds & they may even help diabetics control blood sugar.
Peas | Pī
Peas help soil health - they fix nitrogen, making it more available for other plants (they are great “companion plants”). Pea plants also produce long root systems that help loosen the soil. They decompose easily into organic matter that enriches the soil.
Salad greens
Growing greens (like lettuce, spinach or mixes like mesclun) can save you lots of money & keep you supplied year round. Growing a tiny patch of greens can save you at least $10-15 a week (when recently lettuces have been $4-5 & spinach over $7 in the grocery)!
Tomato | Tōmato
Tomato are a great source of Vitamin C. They originate from the Andes Mountains in South America. Although tomato plants' fruits are edible, its roots and leaves are poisonous as it is related to deadly nightshade.