Your Garden Coach NZ

This month we head to Essex, England, where I'm joined by Gemma Sturges, Kitchen Garden Supervisor at the magnificent Audley End House and Gardens.

Gemma has spent 15 years working in this extraordinary walled kitchen garden, where Victorian gardening traditions are very much alive.

Set within historic brick walls, the garden covers almost three acres and is home to an impressive collection of heritage fruit and vegetables, including more than 120 varieties of apples, 70 varieties of pears, and beautifully trained fruit trees.

We chat about what it takes to maintain a Victorian kitchen garden today, how traditional gardening methods have been adapted to suit modern organic practices, and what we can learn from the gardeners who worked these productive gardens more than a century ago.

From four-year crop rotations and soil management to historic glasshouses, heritage varieties and the practicalities of growing food on this scale, Gemma shares her experience of caring for a garden that is both a piece of living history and a working kitchen garden.

There are plenty of ideas here for those of us gardening on a much smaller scale, too.

Join us for a fascinating look behind the walls of one of England's remarkable historic kitchen gardens.

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Season 4 Episode 2. 

You’ve waited patiently — now it’s time to get going!

But before you start sowing and planting, take a little time to understand your own microclimate.

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You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Season 4 Episode 1

Know your Microclimate - resist rushing in, tempting as it may be.

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You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Maura is heading home! SO, I NEED A LITTLE HELP TO KEEP THE PODCAST GOING

Recently, we asked you whether you’d like Your Garden Coach NZ to continue.

The answer was a very definite YES — and I can’t tell you how much that meant.

But I also need to be open with you.

Producing the podcast takes a considerable amount of time, research, and work, and I simply can’t keep doing it without more support from our listeners. My lovely WWOOFer, Maura, is heading home in a month - My search for her replacement means I will have to pay for the expertise she has brought to the podcast

I want to keep bringing you practical, independent New Zealand gardening advice - advice that understands our seasons, our climate and the way we garden here. 

So, if the podcast has helped you grow better vegetables, understand your soil, garden with the seasons, try something new - or simply kept you company while you’ve been out in the garden - would you consider helping us keep it going?

Even a small regular contribution from more of our listeners would make an enormous difference.

There’s absolutely no pressure if supporting us financially isn’t possible. Listening, sharing the podcast, and telling another gardener about us all helps too.

But if you can support us, now is the time we really need you. Link below

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2256022/support 

Thank you for listening — and for helping us work out what the next chapter of Your Garden Coach NZ might look like.

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Season 3 Episode 26

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You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Season 3 Episode 25 

00:00- Intro 

07:20- Tea of the Month 

09:09 Winter Tasks 

11:20 Books for winter reading 

14:24- Plant a tree 

16:55- Moon Calendar 

21:33- Chickweed 

23:32- Gardening in Zone 1 in Early Winter 

33:02- Hugelkulture & raised beds 

33:42- Biochar Workshop 

34:38- Hellebores (winter roses) 

37:53- Winter flower sowing 

45:24- Dishes with Del Jerusalem Artichokes 

56:44- Final garden note 

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Season 3 Episode 24 

Timestamps: 

00:00 Introduction 

01:30 Tea of the Month: Winter Orange Spiced Tea 

03:31 Gardening in Late Autumn 

11:23 Veg of the month: Pumpkins 

18:32 Alpine Harvest Festival reminder 

20:21 Dishes with Del- Pumpkin Recipes 

27:54 Foraging in May 

30:04 Outro 

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Today’s episode is a little bit special.

Maura and I jumped in the car and headed over to Kurow, into the Waitaki Valley, to visit Awakino Station - a third-generation family farm run by Jaz Mathisen and her family.

And I have to say… this really is a homestead in the truest sense of the word.

From the kitchen garden and orchard, right through to the meat raised on the farm, everything comes together to feed not just the family, but the wider farm team - with everyone gathering around the table each day.

We spent time walking through the most beautiful kitchen garden, surrounded by these incredible shoulder-high stone walls, and just soaking in what felt like a very grounded, very real way of living.

Jaz speaks so thoughtfully about generational farming - the history, the stability, and what it means to carry that forward - and she also shares some lovely stories about the women who’ve helped shape this place over time.

And something else really special - Jaz has written a beautiful book, A Year at Awakino Station, which follows the rhythm of the four seasons and includes recipes from the farm kitchen. It’s now available in bookstores, and it’s one we’d really encourage you to get your hands on.

It was one of those days that will stay in our memories

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Season 3 Episode 23 

00:00 Intro 

04:29 Tea of the month: Apple, Beetroot, Rosehip & Ginger 

05:54: Moon Calendar April 2026 

11:13 Mid Autumn Phenology 

20:22 Mid Autumn Job List 

22:45 Feijoa

29:24 Dishes with Del- Feijoa Recipes 

38:08 Growing Microgreens 

43:38 Book of the Month- The Abundant Kitchen by Niva & Yotam Kay

44:43 Outro 

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz

Enjoy this bonus episode with Dr Compost chatting all about Biochar 

Support the show

You can contact us at [email protected] and follow us on socials @yourgardencoachnz