Okiwi Passion is currently the main grower of a wide range of high quality, non-certified organic produce on Great Barrier Island. 90% of our produce stays here. Truly local food.
Our produce is available at a weekly Saturday market at Stonewall Village in Tryphena, and via a fruit/vege box scheme for locals and visitors almost year round. We also supply local cafes and restaurants.
Okiwi Passion operates on an amazing 8 or so acres in the small northern settlement of Okiwi on the east coast of Great Barrier Island. We are very fortunate to have incredibly fertile alluvial soil with excellent structure, created by millennia of soil building in the Okiwi basin, and a very warm microclimate assisted by 30 year old bamboo shelterbelts (essential for the extraordinary winds we can get).
We started growing here in 2007. Over the years we have developed extensive gardens and have planted around 80 fruit trees (pip, citrus and stonefruit) which are now starting to bear. We also have established plantations of bananas, feijoa and cherimoya. We keep a crew of around 65 free range hens helping us out scratching out weeds, gobbling bugs, depositing their lovely rich droppings, and laying golden yolked eggs eagerly snapped up by locals and visitors alike.
Being able to grow high-quality, nutritious food in a mindful way that respects nature and feeds and protects the soil upon which we all depend, is a vital service in today's world where "agri-business" is becoming more and more mindless. We see the soil as a treasure to be guarded. We minimise cultivation, using compost, green manure, the chickens and a lot of banna grass and bamboo mulch that we make on-site. The mulch keeps weeds down and moisture in, and feeds the soil over time. We also use certified organic mineral fertilisers, liquid foliar fertilisers and biological inoculants, and practicing rotation of our crops. We promote biodiversity for its ecological value by having a widely diverse range of crops, fruit trees and wild flower strips to attract beneficial insects.
We grow all our own seedlings for planting out. Our plant nursery grew alongside the gardens, and it's now a thriving part of our business, growing high quality organically raised vegetable, herb and flower seedlings, and larger ornamentals, such as roses (for the soul!). We raise all our plants using certified organic potting mix enriched with extra organic fertilisers and beneficial microbial inoculants.
Learn more about us and our crops or check out the gallery.
