Springvale Garden Centre general manager Gareth Carter says vegetable plants have been flying off the shelves since Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand. Photo / Bevan Conley
Springvale Garden Centre general manager Gareth Carter says vegetable plants have been flying off the shelves since Cyclone Gabrielle hit New Zealand. Photo / Bevan Conley
Vegetable plants are in hot demand at Whanganui garden centres as the impact of flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle on crops around the North Island becomes clearer.
In Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne hundreds of hectares of orchards and crops have been washed away by Cyclone Gabrielle, kumara crops in Northland have been decimated by flooding and Auckland vegetable growers have been hit hard at a critical time of the growing season.
Increasing costs are also playing a part in demand, with Stats NZ data released last week showing food prices were 10.3 per cent higher in January 2023 than a year earlier, with fruit and vegetable prices rising 15.7 per cent from last January. Growers have also raised concerns about rising fertiliser costs, labour shortages, and fuel and shipping costs.
Springvale Garden Centre general manager Gareth Carter said customers’ reaction to the cyclone and flooding had been “a bit similar to Covid”.
“People realise the vulnerability of our supply chain,” Carter said.
“Large quantities of produce are grown in Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay - vegetables as well as fruit.”
Whanganui was fortunate to have local suppliers such as Laugesens Gardens, he said. However, the increasing price of produce was adding pressure on households.
Sales of vegetable punnets and seeds were strong as people decided to grow more themselves, Carter said.
“The day after the cyclone we had lots of comments from customers and our vege sections are completely stripped at the moment [Tuesday morning].”
However, more stock had arrived and the shelves were replenished on Tuesday, he said.
Springvale Garden Centre's vegetable stock is being replenished with new stock that has arrived. Photo / Bevan Conley
“This is the time you want to plant your winter vegetables so they’re ready when winter arrives. You’ll get growth through March and April and then it slows down in May. The season has been good for planting. The soil is already wet enough, even for planting trees and fruit trees.”
People did not need a garden plot or edged beds to grow vegetables, with container gardening a good alternative as well as digging up a patch of lawn.
“Growing vegetables in pots is highly successful,” Carter said.
“You can grow anything in a good-sized pot. Peas are great. I always grow my peas in a pot and then I can move them around.
“Vegepods [raised garden bed kits] are quite the rage at the moment. They’re so productive and they’re good for the elderly and people who have less mobility.”
Wanganui Garden Centre spokeswoman Vanessa Cvitanovich said vegetable plants had been “flying out the door”.
“It feels like Covid again - it’s unreal,” Cvitanovich said.
“People are buying a lot of brassicas and leeks, and lettuces are flying out the door.”
Cvitanovich’s husband Andrew was planting more vegetable seeds for the garden centre and they had increased their orders from other suppliers to keep up with demand.
Most vegetables were easy to grow but inexperienced gardeners should be aware of the problems white butterflies caused, Cvitanovich said.
“You need to cover your crops so white butterfly can’t get on them. The butterfly causes so much damage at this time of year. They’re quite voracious eaters.”
The Citadel cafe owner Malcolm Whitlock experienced cyclones when he lived in Vanuatu.
The most memorable was 2015′s Category 5 Severe Tropical Cyclone Pam which decimated a lot of the islands where communities were reliant on market gardens and their own plots, he said.
“They were affected by water and wind - crops were completely unusable after that.”
A lesson learned from the indigenous cultures was their immediate reaction to tend the garden, replant and get back into a food chain, Whitlock said. When they knew the cyclone was going to be significant, many people harvested as much of their crops as possible and immediately after the event began replanting so within six to 12 weeks there was a new crop.
Following New Zealand’s recent weather issues, Whitlock anticipated significant changes in his business’ supply chain, with wine, apples, kumara and other produce greatly affected.
However, in the past five years The Citadel had focused on sourcing local providers and was fortunate to have Laugesens and other local market gardens as suppliers, he said.
Supply and demand was likely to lead to significant changes in price for businesses and consumers, Whitlock said.
New Zealand registered dietitian Emma Verhoek said although the full impact on the future supply of fresh produce was not yet clear, there were options people could consider in case of future shortages.
“The key thing is thinking outside the square of what you would normally prepare,” Verhoek said.
“If something’s not available, what could you do instead?
“Vegetables and fruit are important for fibre and vitamins and minerals. We should be ‘eating the rainbow’ to get a range of colours as they all provide something different. We should be having two servings of fruit and at least three servings of veges a day - ideally five. They can have preventative effects on some health conditions and provide more sustained energy from meals.”
Frozen vegetables and fruit were good sources of essential fibre and vitamins, she said.
“It’s convenient, it’s blanched and snap frozen, and most is New Zealand grown. Frozen vegetables are a better source at times than something that’s been sitting in your fridge for a week or 10 days.
“You can use frozen veges to bulk up meals. The range of frozen vegetables is so good now and you can buy pouches of portions of vegetables that can be steamed. They are good for people who can’t prepare vegetables. An elderly person probably doesn’t want to buy a whole pumpkin and then they might not be able to cut it.”
Canned vegetables and fruit were also available and some soups in pouches contained a good number of vegetables, she said.
Whanganui dietitian Emma Verhoek. Photo / Alanah Brown Photography
“If you’re having takeaways, think about options that include vegetables, like stir-fries or wraps. Or you could buy a bag of preprepared coleslaw and add that to a wrap.”
Vegetable gardening was a good option for those who were able, Verhoek said.
“It doesn’t have to be a fancy garden. You can grow potatoes in a bucket or grow some lettuces. Think about using what’s in season and what you have now. Zucchinis are cheap at the moment. I grate them up and freeze them then add them to soups over winter.
“If you’re growing stuff now in your garden, think about freezing the excess, or you can take excess fruit and veges to the Kai Hub or share it with your community or school.”
Vegetables to plant in March
If you want to get started on a vegetable garden, Gareth Carter recommends some vegetables to plant in the next month.
