BioKai - Health from the Ground Up

30/05/2025

Last chance to get Composting Worms before winter!
Only 4 bags left!

Tiger worms for worm farm transform waste into rich compost and fertiliser to regenerate soil. Lively worms from our farm and basic instructions.

22/01/2025

Worms, worms, wonderful worms!

10/11/2023

We recently shared our kids’ enthusiasm for their own garden plots in our latest KoruKai newsletter and had a number of people ask us how we got them to be so into gardening. We also run farm tours throughout the summer and people regularly comment on the beautiful gardens that the kids manage.

In this blog I share our story about gardening, food and nutrition and an interview I did with the kids asking them about their gardening experience and why they like it so much.

How to get kids into gardening and eat more vegetables at the same time! How to get kids into gardening and eat more vegetables at the same time! http://biokai.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/IMG_2284.jpeg 1280 960 Cornelia Holten Cornelia Holten http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/d61fbfef0000c0617c0d191...

26/10/2023

Worms are a very popular item this spring. We harvest and bag up 1kg of composting worms each week. We have three large worm farms and harvest from one farm each week, so they have a 2 week resting period. When placing an order always check the next shipment date stated on the order page.

Worms are shipped on the date stated above. This gets also printed on your invoice in case you forgot. Tiger worms transform food and garden waste into rich compost and fertiliser to regenerate soil and bring back life force to the below ground livestock - the microbes. This turns on nutrient cyclin...

03/10/2023

Due to many requests we have now a cover crop seed mix available in 500g and 1kg bags.

We have put together this blend of plants for maximum benefit to the soil and your garden. According to the longest-running biodiversity study in the world in Jena, Germany (more info at "The Jena Experiment") we need 6-8 plants across four plant families to see the greatest benefit.

Our mix contains 9 plants from 5 families to ensure your soil gets humming!

Contains: Black oats, Kraken - barley, Ryecorn, Tick bean, White lupins, Mustard, Phacelia, Common vetch, Buckwheat
Untreated seeds!

Benefits of the diverse mix
* Nitrogen fixation by beneficial microbes within the nodules of legumes (lupin, tick bean, vetch)
* Support mycorrhizal fungi (oats)
* buckwheat roots release acids that solubilise ‘locked up’ soil phosphorous to increase plant available phosphorous
* Improves soil structure
* Living roots hold soil together and feed soil microbes
* Increases water holding capacity of soil
* Plants feed microbes by supplying them with sugars made through photosynthesis. Great mix of plants = greater mix of beneficial fungi and bacteria
* Deals with compaction
* Prevents damage from the sun, wind and rain
* Suppresses w**ds
* Attracts and feeds beneficial insects who control pests
* Increases the fertility of the soil and enhances nutrient cycling

This diverse mix has been blended to achieve maximum benefit. It can help with common challenges such as compaction, w**d pressure, pests and diseases, low fertility, leaching and erosion. This cover crop / green manure mix maintains living soil cover in areas that would otherwise be bare. This mix....

19/08/2023

We have a new blog post about worm leachate and the difference between worm tea and extract. Head over to this page to learn more about these confusing terms.

Worm Tea, often sold in small water bottles by keen gardeners on the front gate or as part of community fund raisers, are often not what they seem to be. Most of them contain the diluted liquid draining out of a worm farm and do not have anything to do with worm tea. Soil microbiologist Dr Elaine In...

26/07/2023

A great conversation to listen to.

Dr. Mary Lucero has over 30 years of experience in scientific research and education in agriculture. Her research examines the microbial relationships between plants and soil health and proves that the regenerative approach offers a way forward for growers and consumers. As Co-founder and Systems Bi...

22/06/2023

I believe the best compost is made by worms. Worm p**p is the "Elixir of Life" and we witness the magic that it does every day on our farm. Through our gardening workshops we have talked to a lot of gardeners and have discovered that there is a huge need to learn the right techniques to keep worms happy and healthy. There is a lot of misinformation out there about worm farming in books as well as the internet that's why we have sat down to write down our way of worm farming so you can maintain a worm farm successfully.

We believe that worms not only reduce waste going to landfill, but that they can transform poor soils and improve nutrient cycling as well as plant immunity and growth. We have seen it again and again over the last 12 years working with worms.

In this eguide you will learn how to turn food scraps and farm waste into rich compost and fertiliser to regenerate soil and bring back life force to the below ground livestock - the microbes.

12/06/2023

Worm Supplement, Fungal Enhancer and Worm Farm Conditioner
This blend provides essential nutrients, grit, calcium, carbon and trace elements to get your worm farm humming.
Our special blend contains lime, humates, seaw**d and biochar to boost your worm farm’s productivity, enhance fungi, balance pH and provide a valuable carbon source to maximise nutrient retention.

Available in 500g and 1kg bags.

Worm Supplement, Fungal Enhancer and Worm Farm Conditioner This blend provides essential nutrients, grit, calcium, carbon and trace elements to get your worm farm humming. Our special blend contains lime, humates, seaw**d and biochar to boost your worm farm’s productivity, enhance fungi, balance p...

09/05/2023

Super excited to now offer the TeaLab Compost extract and tea bags for New Zealanders to regenerate their soil, increase farm profitabily by boosting soil health.

Strong and Durable Nylon Fabric and Binding. 400 Micro Mesh is the ideal sized for making compost extract. With carabiner clip to suspend in a tea brewer.

08/11/2022

After our last video we had heaps of questions about how to make a compost extract. So here another video showing you how we make it.

At KoruKai Herb Farm we use a compost extract as a liquid fertliser.It contains plant available nutrients, plant growth promoting hormones and billions of mi...

12/10/2022

Our latest blog is about plantain, because right now is the best time to harvest it. It is found throughout both islands and it may even be in your very own backyard.
Please read below for more info about harvesting, internal and external uses and nutritional value.
It will bring Health from the Ground Up :-)

Plantain has a tremendous folk-history as a first aid herb to use ‘on the spot’. Its nickname "green bandage" refers to its great quality as a first aid plant.