Real time, real seasons
You can’t speed-run a garden. Each session lands exactly when the garden needs that skill - seed raising in seed-raising season, preserving when the harvest is actually done.
10 Saturdays · September 2026 - May 2027 · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Grow your own kai.
A full season of market garden education
Join us for a hands-on workshop series at Mangaroa Farms. Alongside our expert garden team, come on a journey through a complete seed-to-harvest cycle - build the beds in spring, save the seeds in autumn - and take home the skills to grow good food wherever you live.
10 sessions
one full growing season
20 seats
one small cohort
From $15
per session on the season pass
4.8★
rated by 69 Google reviews
Why gardens fail
Most of us have had a go. You get motivated at the start of spring, plant a few tomatoes, and it all starts strong. Then life speeds up - work, school, the holidays away at Christmas - which is exactly when everything you planted in spring needs attention and the first harvest is ready. You come home to an overgrown patch, and somewhere in your head a quiet voice says maybe you’re just not a gardener.
You are. What was missing isn’t effort or a green thumb - it’s a plan. A garden run on a proper system is low maintenance and high output: a little bit of work once a week turns weeding into a minor task, and knowing what to do now means you’re never rescuing the garden later. That system is what this series teaches.
A flourishing garden isn’t more work. It’s a better plan.
How it works
A full season, from seed to harvest
One Saturday a month, participants will gather at the market garden to learn and experiment as the season unfolds - working the cohort’s own dedicated project beds, the same soil session after session. By May 2027, you’ll have seen the full cycle, from seed to harvest to seed again - and you’ll know how to run it at home. Each session has Q&A time for problem solving whatever’s happening in your own patch.
A real garden, not a slideshow
We learn in the market garden at Mangaroa Farms - living soil, spray-free organic methods, biological farming and permaculture principles you can watch working.
A cohort, not an audience
The same small crew, ten Saturdays. Ask anything, compare notes, and watch everyone’s home gardens come alive alongside the farm’s.
Take the learnings home
Every session ends with a Q&A, sharing wisdom on what to do in your own patch before we meet again - so your garden moves through the year with ours.
Your guide
Learn beside Cam
Gardens run in Cam’s family - his grandparents grew, his parents grew, and growing food for the whānau was just what you did. His own garden kept getting bigger until friends started asking to buy from it, and a family patch became a market garden. Somewhere on that journey he discovered the thing that changed everything: soil isn’t dirt. It’s alive. Understand the biology first, then the chemistry, then how the two work together - that’s the regenerative organic approach Cam brings to the beds at Mangaroa, where science and biology do the work that chemicals only pretend to.
“The journey never ends. You’re always learning, because it’s infinite.”
The season
The whole year, session by session
Ten sessions, one arc. What you plant in spring becomes the harvest and the seeds you save in autumn - a complete loop.
Spring block
On sale nowSessions 1 - 3 · $30 each or $60 for the block
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Session 1 · Sat 19 Sep · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Starting a Garden & Building No-Dig Garden Beds
Spring kicks off. We build living beds from scratch - no rotary hoe, no digging, no fuss.
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Session 2 · Sat 24 Oct · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Seed Raising
The nursery fills up. Trays, mixes, timing - and why some seeds thrive while others sulk.
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Session 3 · Sat 28 Nov · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Transplanting & Direct Seeding
The beds fill with summer crops. What goes in as seedlings, what gets sown straight into soil, and why.
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Summer block
On sale nowSessions 4 - 6 · $30 each or $60 for the block
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Session 4 · Sat 19 Dec · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Summer Garden Management
The garden hits full speed. Watering, feeding, training - keeping on top of the December flush.
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Session 5 · Sat 16 Jan · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Soil, Compost & Plant Nutrition
The engine room. What healthy soil actually is, how compost really works, and how plants feed.
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Session 6 · Sat 20 Feb · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Plant Health, Pests & Winter Planning
Spray-free problem solving. Reading pest pressure, working with biology, planning the cool season.
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Autumn block
On sale nowSessions 7 - 9 · $30 each, or $60 for all four autumn/winter sessions
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Session 7 · Sat 6 Mar · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Harvesting, Crop Changeover & Autumn Planting
The changeover. Bringing in the summer harvest and turning the beds around for autumn.
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Session 8 · Sat 13 Mar · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Harvesting & Preserving
The kitchen session. Getting the harvest into jars, chutneys and the pantry shelf - the autumn harvest is the one you store.
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Session 9 · Sat 24 Apr · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Seed Saving & Next Season
Full circle. Saving seed from the plants we raised in October - next year’s garden, for free.
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Winter finale
On sale nowSession 10 · included in the autumn/winter pack
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Session 10 · Sat 15 May · 1:00 - 2:30pm
Winter Growing & Preparing the Garden
Tucking the garden in. Winter crops, cover crops, and setting up an even better spring.
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Whitemans Valley, Upper Hutt
Ten minutes from town. A whole growing year away.
Join the series
Three ways in
Every session is capped at 20 people so everyone gets their hands in the soil. Pack and season pass holders are automatically enrolled in every session of their block - no rebooking, your seat is held all the way through.
Single session
$30
Dip a toe. Come to the session that matters to your garden right now.
Block pack
$60
A whole season block - spring, summer, or autumn/winter. That’s $20 a session, and the rhythm is where the learning compounds.
Season pass
$150
All ten sessions - the complete loop for $15 a session. On sale until the October session, then it’s gone.
Spring
Building beds, raising seeds, planting out. The foundation of the whole year.
Single session
Sat 19 Sep - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 24 Oct - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 28 Nov - Single Session
$30
0
Block pack · $20 a session
Spring Pack - All 3 Sessions
Nearly full
$60
0
Summer
Managing the flush - water, feeding, soil, and spray-free problem solving.
Single session
Sat 19 Dec - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 16 Jan - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 20 Feb - Single Session
$30
0
Block pack · $20 a session
Summer Pack - All 3 Sessions
$60
0
Autumn & Winter
Harvest, preserving, seed saving, and tucking the garden in. The pack covers all four sessions.
Single session
Sat 6 Mar - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 13 Mar - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 24 Apr - Single Session
$30
0
Single session
Sat 15 May - Single Session
$30
0
Block pack · $20 a session
Autumn/Winter Pack - All 4 Sessions
$60
0
Season pass
The complete loop - all ten sessions
All ten sessions for $150 - that’s $15 each, and the only way to lock the full loop from day one. Sale closes after the October session.
$150
0
The whole year is bookable today - every session, every pack and the season pass. Start where your garden is.
Cost a barrier? Email events@mangaroa.org - a koha spot is available each session.
Add your seats, then checkout from the cart - it pops up bottom-right as soon as you add one. Or book on our store.
The classroom
This is where you’ll learn
“Such a beautiful spot to learn and experience the farm and nature. An amazing group of people!”
“The kind of place where food is grown, sourced and presented with integrity. Absolutely worth visiting at any time of year.”
“As a nutritionist, I was genuinely impressed by every part of this farm experience.”
“Some of New Zealand’s best organic seasonal produce - you can feel the care that’s gone into every offering.”
“I rave about Mangaroa Farms every opportunity I can - the team are leaders in best practice across a number of different disciplines.”
“A brilliant step into the future we actually want!”
Good to know
Questions people ask
I’m a total beginner - is this for me?
Yes - it’s designed for you. The series starts from bare ground (literally, session one is building a garden bed) and builds one skill at a time. Green thumbs welcome too - growing spray-free with biology on your side goes deeper than most home gardeners ever get to see.
Do I have to come to all ten?
No. Every session stands on its own, so a single session is a genuinely good afternoon. But the year is where the magic is - we strongly recommend at least a block of three, and the full season is the whole story. The sessions land in the order the garden needs them.
Do I need my own garden?
No - the series is taught in the farm’s market garden, on the cohort’s own project beds. A patch at home (or a plan for one) makes it richer: planning, positioning, shelter and site all come up early in the series, and every session has Q&A time for exactly your situation.
What if I miss a session?
We don’t do refunds, but transfers are easy - flick us an email and send a friend in your place.
What should I bring?
Clothes you can garden in and be ready to get your hands dirty - this is a doing series, not a watching one. Tools are supplied. Bring gardening gloves if you like wearing them, and something to take notes with.
What happens if it rains?
Drizzle won’t stop us - sessions run in light rain. If the weather’s genuinely foul we’ll push the session out, usually to the following week or the Sunday, and let you know by email.
Is cost a barrier?
Email events@mangaroa.org - a koha spot is available each session. We’d rather have you in the garden.
Getting here
Find us on the farm
98 Whitemans Valley Road, Upper Hutt
- Sessions run 1:00 - 2:30pm in the gardens at Mangaroa Farms.
- Park in the main farm car park and follow the signs to the garden.
- The farm shop is open on workshop Saturdays - stocked with produce grown metres from where you’ll be learning.
The season starts in September
Be there for the whole loop
Twenty seats, ten Saturdays, one garden followed from seed to harvest to seed again. Come for a session or stay for the year.
Grab your seat