New Lynn Organic Teaching Garden

Connect with the whenua and each other in our New Lynn organic māra (garden). Share in caring for and regenerating the land and learn how to green your own space and grow your own kai following organic principles. Nestled on the edge of Olympic Park, this is a diverse and flourishing garden in the middle of a light industrial and suburban area.

Discover diversity

First time visitors are thrilled to discover this hidden gem, often having driven past for years not knowing this urban oasis existed. We invite you to wander through to experience a diverse and thriving regenerative habitat, featuring natives and a range of lesser known and heritage plants.

Whether you are a gardening novice or keen to upskill in a specific area, you’ll find an achievable solution or example to follow here. Interpretive signage helps explain concepts in action, such as native revegetation, rongoā principles, food forest, bee friendly planting, vege gardening and composting.

Dig in to share the bounty

Meg, our garden coordinator and co-designer of the original site, hosts weekly organic garden sessions where volunteers of any skill level are welcome. This is an opportunity to get hands-on experience in the principles of organic gardening. Produce grown in the garden is shared among volunteers and used in food and gardening related workshops. Find out more about volunteering at EcoMatters.

The garden also showcases a range of composting solutions in action, providing alternatives to sending food scraps to landfill. There are worm farms, a large scale Bokashi system and Carbon Cycle compost bins, as well as a community composting hub. Contributions to this community composting hub are by membership only, but new participants are welcome to get involved.

An evolution, thanks to expertise

The garden was established in 2004 from a bare site, originally as a sustainability demonstration garden. Since then, it has continued to evolve, with new plantings, garden styles and structures added during community workshops and volunteer sessions, allowing experts to showcase and share their skills with participants.

KIA ORA AND THANKS

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all those who have helped create the thriving and diverse māra we enjoy today. 

A special thank you to those who have generously shared their expertise by leading workshops or helping develop specific areas, including Richard Main for native revegetation and vegetable gardens, Betsy Kettle for the citrus guild, Brendan Hoare for the food forest, Tony Murrell for the bee garden, Justin Newcombe for the mosaic seat, and Grant Steven for the earthen pizza oven and organiponico (Cuban style) raised garden beds, and all workshop participants and volunteers for their mahi.

Funding from partners such as the Ministry for the Environment and the western local boards as well as from Auckland Council and The Compost Collective has been instrumental in helping establish and maintain the garden.