The Coach House Garden Rooms

28/08/2026

Winter is losing its grip in CHB New Zealand, as parts of our garden wakes up.
The sun and plum blossoms are bursting, and today’s warmth has me buzzing too. Our tiny, fuzzy eco-warriors are officially giving their love —thank goodness for our bees, they’re a fruit and vege garden’s best friend! Even the birds are singing and our neighbours’ pups are soaking up the rays. Let’s roll on into Springtime.
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13/07/2026

Winter sunshine, little helpers, and muddy hands—just the way we like it! ☀️🌱

Today we learned how to rescue self-sown seedlings, Russell lupins. We carefully potted them up in prep for when we find their forever home in the garden. A good day for growing plants… and gardeners too. 💚

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02/07/2026

https://www.instagram.com/p/DaQ9_l1Fknu/?igsh=MXNvMmpzbXhlZGdtYg==

22/06/2026

Please submit your feedback to NZ Parliament before 2nd July.

I am shocked and deeply saddened at the prospect of this bill and I will be making my submission to opposing this Bill.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1GBatCs7EK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The current New Zealand Government has introduced a shocking Conservation Amendment Bill to Parliament.

The NZ Alpine Club background briefing says that the Bill proposes to change the “core functions of DOC, requiring them to enable the economic use and development of PCL 'to the greatest extent practicable'. This is a paradigm shift in how public conservation land has been managed and means that conservation values may be sacrificed if the economic benefits of a proposed use or development are considered significant enough.”: https://alpineclub.org.nz/feature/conservation-law-reform-what-climbers-need-know?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAdGRleASikStleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadK4cqzjBft5Vell3xQyPDblCDWo-LLvsdjFXT1DldAaTmLwvyMApOBWg9dnA_aem_5FTQJB4KSNGwDNI74LpdHQ

The Bill makes it much easier for the Government to sell conservation land - see this Forest and Bird backgrounder here: https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/campaigns/save-conservation-land-amendment-bill?fbclid=PAVERFWASikydleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZA8xMjQwMjQ1NzQyODc0MTQAAadj_8fVHvIrZtP7709ROUwoS8cjDwSGCoZCs9SNEF9lqpSZyIWv6DsAezunqw_aem_XaQgkn8a8IbFGcI3bbS6bQ

Public submissions are open on the Bill until 2 July: https://www3.parliament.nz/en/pb/sc/make-a-submission/document/54SCENV_SCF_BD7D0F89-D8CB-42F7-9C5F-08DEABEDA048/conservation-amendment-bill?fbclid=IwdGRleASik6lleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe3gMKlYGsxSXsaroXrfKjAKaffte4q03QAI7IyAXqpqH2_AEhZ44Ri8vajqg_aem_XxlPxEmNSSrzNi_pJgOn2A

Our conservation estate has been built up over many, many decades to safeguard our natural heritage for its intrinsic values and as public estate for all New Zealanders to enjoy. This Bill is a scandalous and destructive attack on this estate and on the rights of New Zealanders.

I urge you to make your objections to this known via a parliamentary submission and through your social media and other networks. This is election year and this must be a major issue. If we lose these precious areas from public ownership, they are gone forever.

18/05/2026

This autumn we’re bringing this unused old raised garden bed back to life. Layer by layer, using recycled materials and a little patience — low dig gardening keeps the soil food web thriving while turning some “waste” into abundance.

Many thanks and a big call out to my co-director and editor Vini Martins. 🌱🙏

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30/04/2026

Picked these organic walnuts straight from my 80-year-old orchard tree, cracked, sorted, and turned them into something delicious. Nothing beats homegrown.