Kia ora,
Spring is close. The days are stretching out and the farm is stirring - our first calves and lambs arrived this week. Kōanga always brings a sense of things beginning again, and this month it also brought a long table full of neighbours, and a shop full of kai from people we know by name.
This is our local food edition. Thanks for being part of it.
Ngā mihi aroha, Your friends and farmers at Mangaroa Farms
Field to Feast - Our First Wellington On a Plate
For our first Visa Wellington On a Plate, we welcomed guests up the valley for Field to Feast, a long-table dinner on a working regenerative farm, with the vegetables and pasture-raised meat coming directly from Mangaroa Farms and local suppliers.
The evening opened around the fire with a warm tincture and canapes from Tyler and Zoe, then moved into the yurt for three courses: local sourdough with vege purees, a beef brisket from the farm, and a lemon dessert. Casual Healing held the vibes with great music through the night.
Read the full story here.
Spring Festival returns - Saturday 31 October
Our biggest day of the year is back. On Saturday 31 October, 10am-3pm, we’ll welcome the return of the sun with a day of farm charm: live music, farm and garden tours, workshops, vendors, kids activities and plenty of delicious local kai.
Entry is free and everyone is welcome - bring the whole whanau and make a day of it. Registering ahead helps us plan the day.
Recent Updates
Mangaroa Farm Shop is now open 7 days a week, stocking fresh Mangaroa produce, meat, and artisan products from around the country. Visit us.
Whole lambs for the freezer. The first thirty from our butchery went so fast we’ve added thirty more - $300 per whole lamb (unbutchered). Orders close Thursday 10 September. Reserve your lamb
Fruit & Forage walking track - This Saturday 29 August we plant the first chapter of a vision to turn our 4km farm loop into an edible landscape - made possible by our community and matched support through the Ma Earth Funding Round. Free, all welcome. Register
1,500 trees in the ground. Community Tree Planting Day on 15 August was a beauty - thank you to everyone who came out to protect our waterways. Watch the video.
New planting ideas were tested this month alongside Halter collars, where we explored possibilities for combining riparian waterway planting along pastoral borders.
Pick Your Own carrots return in October - weigh and pay, and a great way to get sweet, nutritious, affordable carrots.
Garden workshops start this spring. A monthly series for home gardeners, from building your first no-dig bed through to seed raising, winter planning, harvesting and preserving. Sign up here.
Predator free efforts have been ramping up across the farm, with us installing automated traps that are self-resetting and help to protect our forests and birds with less effort. We’ll be sharing more about this in coming months.
Meat from our paddocks, delivered. The online store is full of frozen beef and lamb - animals raised on pasture we’ve spent years rebuilding, butchered on site. Fresh cuts in the farm shop. Order online
We’d love your feedback. Tell us what you think of what we’re doing, and we’ll say thanks with a $15 farm shop voucher. It takes two minutes and genuinely shapes what we do next. Share your thoughts
Host your event with us - bespoke event spaces and accommodation, grounded in nature - and after Field to Feast, we’re more excited than ever about farm-to-table dinners. More
Stay at Mangaroa Farms in one of our beautiful spaces - offering a peaceful escape in nature for you and the family. Check out our accommodation options here.
Interested in living at Mangaroa Farms? Leave your details on our expression of interest form here.
New in the Farm Shop / Kete Kai
Now open 7 days. Kai from our land, plus artisan goods from makers around the country.
Fresh from the garden: carrots, parsnips, beetroot, cos lettuce, microgreens and mesclun.
New farm-made sausages hit the shelves next week - our regeneratively raised beef, made better for you: gluten free, preservative free, and made with organic casing. They’re the first of a range, with more flavours coming.
Mangaroa beef & lamb fresh from the butchery, or frozen for delivery. Order online here.
Ohau Gourmet Mushrooms: mushroom and black garlic risotto packs, and small-batch pickled oyster mushrooms with thyme and lemon.
Three Oaks Organic Farm raw milk and yoghurt is back. Register to collect your weekly supply from us here.
Weekend bread: Shelly Bay Bakery on Fridays, Dough Bakery on Saturdays and Sundays.
Want something on the shelves, or a particular cut? Email the shop team at shop@mangaroa.org.
Visit us: Monday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday 9am-5pm, Sunday 10am-5pm 98 Whitemans Valley Road, Upper Hutt +64 27 369 4758 | shop@mangaroa.org
Stories from the Market Garden
Late winter is the hungry gap - the stretch when overwintered crops start bolting, stored vegetables are mostly eaten, and the spring sowings aren’t ready yet. Seed trays are underway in the greenhouse, but the soil outside is still too cold and wet for much to go in.
Cam’s Two Cents
So how can you keep fresh food on the table through the hungry gap?
- Roots that hold in the ground. Carrots, parsnips and beetroot will keep until early November before they turn woody or go to seed.
- Microgreens. Quick, indoors, full of flavour.
- Cold-tolerant gap-fillers. Pak choi and cos lettuce give you a harvest while slower spring crops catch up.
Careful planning, crop storage and a few quick-growing vegetables can make the hungry gap feel a little less hungry.
Interested in the garden? Email welcome@mangaroa.org
Upcoming Events
Foraging with Earth School Aotearoa | Spring has Sprung
Sat 5 September | 11:30am-12:30pm
Come as one, or come as many for a wild forage walk exploring early spring foraging - fresh roots and a range of medicinal and edible plants. Priced per family, not per person, and pram friendly - about an hour. Sign up
Vegetable Fermentation Workshop
Sat 12 September | 10:30am-2:00pm
Join Hella Coenen for a hands-on fermentation workshop where you’ll learn the art of making small batches of different krauts at home, followed by a shared meal together. Sign up
Community Seed & Plant Swap
Sat 19 September | 11:00am-2:00pm
We’re running a local seed and plant swap right here at the farm, next to the shop. It’s a simple kaupapa: bring along any spare seeds or plants you’d like to pass on, pop them on the tables provided, and take home whatever catches your eye. Seeds should be labelled in bags, and plants labelled too, so everyone knows what they’re getting. More details
Home Garden Workshop Series | Spring Edition
Monthly Saturdays from 19 September | 1:00pm-2:30pm
Learn to grow your own kai in a real working market garden. Our Home Garden Workshop Series runs monthly through the growing season - hands-on, practical, and designed for beginners and developing home gardeners. More details
Somatic Breathwork Journey
Tue 22 September | 6:00pm-7:30pm
Join Amy Webber for a journey into your breath. Somatic Breathwork is a full embodiment experience designed to help you release stress, trauma, emotions and stuck energy from the body. This powerful modality uses your own breath to shed layers that no longer serve you, creating space for meaningful change in your life. Sign up
Sourdough Bread Baking Workshop
Sat 17 October | 10am-1pm
Spend a morning with Doris Zuur in our kitchen learning to create delicious sourdough. You’ll learn how to keep a starter alive, how to read a dough by touch, and the small decisions that turn flour and water into a good loaf. Sign up
Mangaroa Farms Spring Festival
Sat 31 October | 10am-3pm
We’re back again for our biggest day of the year. Come and welcome the return of the sun with a day of farm charm - live music, garden tours, kids activities, delicious kai and more. More details
We’re learning and growing through this journey, and always welcome community input as we continue finding our way together.
Thanks for being a part of this regenerative movement alongside us.
Ngā mihi aroha, Your friends and farmers at Mangaroa Farms