Kia ora,
Welcome to the monthly Kete Kai newsletter. A short note from the farm shop covering the shelves, the gardens, and upcoming activities.
Spring is the season of planting, and the shelves are showing it, with the last of the wintered roots alongside the first spring carrots and greens.
It’s early days, so there may be a few gaps while the new season grows in. Make the most of what’s abundant, and fill your kete with what the land is offering.
This weekend — make a day of it
This Saturday 17 October is a big one at the farm. Pick your veges in the morning, stay on for the Butchery Launch BBQ, then walk it off with a round of disc golf by the river.
Pick Your Own Veges
9am–11am · Market Garden · free entry
Carrots, buttercrunch and cos lettuce, and pre-harvested pumpkins are ready to pull. One signup covers your whole family.
Butchery Launch BBQ
11am–2pm · Farm Shop · free
Celebrate our newly opened onsite butchery. Taste our beef and lamb free, meet the team, and take home a 10% meat voucher.
River Run Disc Golf
Open all day · $8 koha · $5 disc hire
Our new course along the river officially opens alongside the BBQ. Every koha goes back into the River Run Reserve.
On the shelves
We’re passionate about local kai, offering food we know is high quality: either it was grown here, or nearby, or we’ve sourced it from NZ spray-free or organic suppliers.
From the pastures & gardens
Beef & lamb: our onsite butchery is back open after a small holiday and fresh meat is back in the shop fridges. Perfect for the first brave BBQ of spring and weeknight plates.
Sausages: our farm beef and lamb sausages are back too. We’d love your feedback on new flavours: just hit reply and tell us your favourite, or the one you wish someone would make.
Winter veges: last of the carrots, parsnips, garlic, onions, leeks, and pumpkins.
Spring greens: new broccoli, rainbow chard, celery, parsley, rosemary, mesclun, microgreens, and lettuce mix.
Locally sourced
- Local honey from Grafters and Marsden Homestead
- Pasture-raised eggs from No Boundaries
- Orchard & tropical fruit: bananas, new season avocados, last of the apples, kiwi green & gold
- Roots, nuts & staples: hazelnuts, organic kūmara, potatoes, ginger and turmeric
- Fresh bread Fri/Sat/Sun, plus wheat and corn tortillas
- Pantry staples: beans, legumes and grains, rice and local Monty & Sons pastas, granola, nuts and seeds, organic flours from Capital Millers
- Bulk organic goods: oats, rice, coconut, flour, and sugar
- Local dairy: Hohepa & Zany Zeus cheeses, Three Oaks and Biogro organic probiotic yoghurts, Three Oaks milk (raw & pasteurised), Udderly organic milk
- Ferments: Wildly Kefir, Gratitude Kefir, Good Buzz kombucha, Good Bugs kimchi & kraut, Urban Hippie miso
- Snacks for the farm trail: biltong and nut trail mixes
Farm Shop / Kete Kai hours
★★★★★ 4.8 · 69 Google reviews
Monday–Friday 11am–5pm · Saturday 9am–5pm · Sunday 10am–5pm
98 Whitemans Valley Road, Upper Hutt · 027 369 4758 · shop@mangaroa.org
New — the mobile library at the farm
Every third Tuesday from 1pm at the Farm Shop. Return your books, find your next good read. Next visit Tuesday 3 November.
Grow with us — supporting your home garden
As well as our garden workshop series, in the shop you’ll find edible and food forest support species from Heritage Nursery NZ, raised here at Mangaroa and suited to the Wellington growing region.
- Hawthorn, hazel, sweet chestnut and white mulberry
- Horopito, kawakawa, bay
- Bioregional flower seed packets, saved from plants adapted to our local soil and climate
Through the growing season, keep an eye out for overflow edibles from our market garden and the nursery. Looking for something in particular? Pop in or email shop@mangaroa.org. We’re happy to take orders or source in bulk.
In the market garden — Pick Your Own is back
Saturday mornings in the Market Garden
Through spring and summer we open the gates to the market garden on Saturday mornings. Pull your own kai from the weekly selection, and let the kids find out where good food actually comes from.
Pick. Weigh. Pay. Simple as. Book your family’s slot, turn up with a bag, and our gardeners will point you at whatever is ready that week. What you pay depends on what is in season, so every Saturday is a little different.
Entry is free and one signup covers your whole crew. Saturday mornings, 9am to 11am, through spring and summer.
On the land — coming up at the farm
This spring’s events are all about kai: tasting it, growing it and making it.
Mangaroa Farms Spring Festival →
Sat 31 October · 10am–3pm · the whole farm · free entry
Signups are open now for a market garden or permaculture orchard tour ($20).
Other events
Sourdough Bread Baking Workshop →
Sat 7 November · 10am–1pm · the Wharekai
Thu 22 October · 6pm–7:30pm · the Wharekai · $50
See the full events calendar →
Thanks for being on the journey with us.