10 natural health boosters

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With seasonal flu, colds and Covid-19 circulating, maintaining optimum health for you and your family is more important than ever.  Natural health practitioners gave us their top tips on getting organised, staying well and looking after yourself if you do get sick. 

1. Be prepared

Rongoā Māori healer Donna Kerridge (Ngāti Tahinga, Ngāti Mahuta) says that preparation is key right now. “When we look at the Māori way of living in harmony with our environment, it’s really important that we’re not just thinking about now but we’re doing what is required for three months’ time.” She advises doing practical things like making sure firewood is chopped and ready so people’s houses can be drier and warmer when illness is circulating and it’s cold, and airing bedding while it’s sunny. “Some of the best sanitisers in the world are the wind and the sun. Air your blankets so you’re clearing out the dust and sanitise the things you don’t wash every week.” She also recommends taking advantage of the season’s bounty by preserving food, making stocks out of fish remnants and freezing them, and harvesting herbal medicines. “By preserving the excess that we have available to us now we can build immunity and have nourishing options when we least feel like cooking because we’re unwell.”

“Preserve the excess now, so we have nourishing options available when we’re unwell ”, says Donna Kerridge, Rongoā Māori healer
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2. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food

Hippocrates’ words still ring true today. Eating a well-balanced nutritious diet is one of the best things you can do for your health. Wanaka Health Bridge (wanakahealthbridge.co.nz) is a website created by a collective of health practitioners in Wānaka to meet the needs of the local community during Covid. Various early action protocols covered on the site provide information on the stages of the virus, hygiene and immune-supporting minerals and vitamins.

When it comes to kai, naturopath, herbalist and nutritionist Kaz von Heraud-Parker, who led the initiative says, “If you can eat organic, where possible, you’re going to reduce the strain on your system,” but generally she advises eating a diet that targets core nutrients. This includes vitamin C-rich foods like blackcurrants, red peppers, kiwifruit, oranges, broccoli and parsley; foods rich in zinc such as meat, seafood, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, lentils and cashew nuts (it’s best to soak plant-based sources of zinc prior to eating to remove acids that can block absorption); and also probiotic foods like natural yoghurt, sauerkraut, kefir, kimchi, miso and tempeh. Don’t forget about foods rich in quercetin either. This natural antioxidant and anti-inflammatory may  also act as a ‘zinc ionophore’ (helping zinc to get into your cells where it works best). It’s abundant in red onions, red grapes, honey, citrus fruits and capers. 

3. Lower your viral load

“Reducing your viral load is a key thing to be doing now that the virus is out and about in the community,” says Kaz. “If you’ve been around areas where you know the virus has been, you can either do a nasal spray, a gargle, or suck on a propolis or mānuka lozenge.”
Donna says the best way to irrigate your nasal passages and make oxygen absorption more efficient is to swim in the sea. If  taking a dip is out of the question, she recommends buying a ready-made nasal rinse rather than making your own as people sometimes burn their sinuses with overly salty homemade rinses. 

4. Stay active

Science has shown us for some time now that people who are aerobically active are less likely to get sick from colds or infections and that they recover more quickly. A 2021 study of 50,000 Californians who were infected with Covid found that those who were the most active before they were ill were the least likely to be hospitalised or die of the illness. Try and do 150–300 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous-intensity exercise per week (or 30 minutes a day). As well as formal exercise, remember that activities like cleaning and gardening also count and will help you move more and sit less.  

5. Stock your cupboards

Wanaka Health Bridge recommends adding these foods to your shopping list:

Herbs  

  • Fresh ginger root  
  • Fresh garlic bulbs  
  • Thyme 
  • Elderberries 
  • Echinacea  
  • Turmeric root  

Key nutrients  

  • Shiitake mushrooms  
  • Reishi mushrooms  
  • Lemons  
  • Kiwi fruit 
  • Berries  
  • Leafy greens  
  • Broccoli  
  • Sardines  
  • Pumpkin seeds  
  • Flax seeds  
  • In-season fresh fruit and vegetables  
  • Miso  
  • Organic vegetable broth 

6. DIY natural remedies

We’ve been using our gardens and pantries to heal ourselves since forever. Try some of these to boost your immunity and soothe mild illness.

Onions and honey 

Chop up an onion and put it in a jar with a tablespoon of honey. Leave overnight, then take spoonfuls of the liquid a couple of times a day. Donna says she also likes to add angiangi (the green woolly lichen from the uznea species, which you often find on old stonefruit trees). Or skip the onion and take 1 teaspoon of honey a day for gut health.

Herbal infusions and decoctions 

To make an infusion, which is like a herbal tea, simply pour boiling water over the dried leaves, steep for five minutes then drink. To make a decoction, which is the best way to access the properties of woody plants with thick leaves, gently simmer the plant material in water before cooling and drinking. Herb specialist Minette Tonoli (meadowsweet.co.nz) recommends good old lemon, ginger and honey tea, but also makes a tea out of 1 teaspoon each of dried yarrow, peppermint and elderflowers to bring down fevers. Donna’s top three plants for decoctions, which can be harvested and dried now, are kūmarahou and kānuka leaves and the leaves and flowers of mullein. 

Tomato tea 

Or try Minette’s tomato tea. Combine 1 litre of tomato juice (juice your own or buy it ready-made), 4–6 cloves of garlic, the juice of 2 lemons and half a teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a saucepan, bring to the boil then drink it as hot as you can manage. She advises drinking another cup four to six hours later. 

Sage gargle 

Make a sage tea by pouring boiling water over 2 tablespoons fresh or 1 tablespoon dried sage leaves. Steep for about 10 minutes, add a teaspoon of honey or cider vinegar, then once it’s cool enough, use it as  
a gargle. The good thing about this tea is that you can also drink the leftovers. 

Herbal inhaler 

Instead of buying a nasal decongestant, Donna says it’s easy to make your own. Put cotton buds inside an empty medicine bottle, add 20 drops of eucalyptus or kānuka oil and sniff as needed to clear your sinuses. 

7. Let nature nurture you

Any gardener will tell you how good being outdoors makes them feel. But visiting a beach or even a local park will improve your sense of well-being. Being in natural spaces also significantly decreases our stress levels, which in turn reduces blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension and the production of stress hormones. Plus being outdoors is a fantastic way to stay connected with people while reducing the chances of transmitting the virus.

8. Get a decent night’s sleep

“There isn’t one facet of our mental or physical performance that isn’t affected by the quality of your sleep,” says sleep specialist Jane Wrigglesworth (howtosleepwell.org). She recommends seven to eight hours of sleep a night. And says if you’re having trouble sleeping, you should find out why. “A cup of chamomile tea using a standard tea bag is unlikely to help, for example, if your problem with sleep is caused by a thyroid imbalance. Combined valerian and passiflora is a time-honoured treatment for insomnia, but it depends on the individual.” 

9. Grow fast food

It doesn’t get fresher and more convenient than being able to eat food you’ve grown yourself, especially if you’re isolating at home. Sow or plant salad greens every couple of weeks so you’ve always got fresh veges ready to harvest. Or for really speedy fare, sow microgreens. Simply press seed into a container of moist potting mix, lightly cover with soil and spritz daily. They’ll be ready to harvest in as little as a week. Or sow bean sprouts in a jar. Place a couple of tablespoons of your favourite sprout seeds in a jar, cover with 5cm water, leave to sit overnight, then cover with muslin or a mesh lid (available at garden centres or health stores), rinse out the excess water, then rinse and drain again. Repeat this a couple of times a day for several days, by which time your sprouts will have tails and be ready to eat.

10. Monitor your health if you do get sick

If you do get sick, make sure you get tested. Have a thermometer handy so you can take your temperature (normal is around 36.5–37.5oC) and record it along with your other symptoms.

Donna advises, “If you have other conditions like asthma or diabetes or take more than three types of medications, get a second opinion about whether you should be isolating at home or whether you should see a doctor face to face.” 

The advice in this story is in addition to the government’s advice and isn’t intended to replace standard medical treatment for Covid-19. Visit covid19.govt.nz for the government’s latest health advice.  

Nurturing resilience at Awatea Organics

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Awatea Organics is a research and training farm in Whangārei specialising in heritage organic food, seed and medicine. Its founder, Tui Shortland, talked to us about food sovereignty, saving heritage seed and her work supporting indigenous communities internationally. 

Photography: Jacob Leaf

Video: Tui Shortland spoke to Organic NZ about the kaupapa of Awatea Organics

Tui Shortland spoke to Organic NZ about the kaupapa of Awatea Organics

I’ve been gardening here at Te Rewarewa for four years now, opening up the māra as a way to reconnect our whānau back to the land and writing our food sovereignty kaupapa. Our business, Awatea Organics, specialises in growing heritage organic food, seed, and medicine, as well as cultivating farmers. We believe that sharing knowledge about growing heritage food is going to help our people to reclaim our culture, reconnect to the land and be healthy.  

Te Rewarewa was the traditional area of our tūpuna, but after colonisation, most of the land was confiscated. So pretty much, we’ve been squeezed down to this 165 acre block. A lot of things have happened in terms of illegal use of the land, pushing the family off and alienation but we’ve been fortunate to have a legal incorporation for a long time, so we have meetings – and every year more families come back and talk about our vision for the land.  

  • Tui has installed a solar-powered cabin at the māra, which provides a place to relax and is a retreat from the sun and rain.
  • Mānuka stakes provide support for plants to climb up.

My father ran a traditional medicine clinic in Whangārei. He taught me how to harvest and prepare plant medicines. I get my love of the forest from him. 

At Awatea Organics, we believe the future of food is culture. We follow the ancient principles of mimicking nature, establishing biodiverse resilient ecosystems of nutritious food. Hand-raised and hand-harvested heritage produce reconnects people to their ancestors and follows indigenous practices with an intergenerational focus. Traditional superfoods we grow here include Māori potatoes like kōwinini as well as taro, kūmara and pūha, the native brassica – ruruhau, and we also grow medicinal plants like kūmarahou and karamū. 

There’s a famine when it comes to Māori seed, so growing out seed is really important. Sometimes we’ll get given a little handful of old seed and we grow the crop until we get to a point that we have enough to eat and also some seed to save. We’re constantly looking at how we can improve the resilience of our seed. We grew some plants through the seven-year drought in 2020 and it’s our favourite seed because it’s so hardy. Once we’ve grown a crop for 20 cycles, the seed has adapted to our microclimate and soil. 

We plant using indigenous methodologies. Our water conservation, terracing, companion planting, all of it is very much about tried and true ways of growing our food according to principles of our ancestors – principles around biodiversity, understanding your microclimate and fostering soil. As soon as we cleared the tobacco weed, privet and kikuyu away and opened up the māra, straight away we had birds coming in like riroriro (grey warbler) and tūi, and there’s a resident ruru here and a resident kāhu (hawk).  

Soil health is very important to us. Our indigenous ways of growing food are very much around soil regeneration and the ethics of returning life to that which gives you life. It’s about putting the breath or the mauri back into the plants because they’ve given it to us. We have some big old critters here – there’s a huge centipede that we try not to think about too much because otherwise you get put off putting your hands in the soil. But all of the life that is in the soil is supporting all of the plants that we’re bringing through. We try not to let the soil get too dry or too bare. We believe that if we follow our principles of fostering the soil, then we can grow food here for the next 100 years. We eat seafood regularly so use the leftovers as fertiliser.  

Kōwiniwini are a favourite heritage crop

This is an educational māra at the moment. We grow plants that generally you might not find in a cultivation in a traditional mara, like tī kōuka (cabbage trees). We are trialling species that are generally found in the forest, and native flowers that are vulnerable or threatened. There’s a yellow daisy that the caterpillar of the kahukura (red admiral) butterfly eats. We observe it here and collect the seed and distribute it, and are about to launch a range of seed we’ve gathered from native flowering plants. 

Food is related to land, and rights to land is an issue. I’ve been working in biodiversity for 25 years now.  It’s something I wanted to do since I was very young. There are many barriers to going back to land and growing food. I was generating a database of sacred places and cultural water indicators for my father’s people – Ngāti Hine – and back then there wasn’t a lot of traditional-knowledge work going on. We were all trying to be pseudoscientists and went around measuring faecal coliforms and e. coli. But when you go to court and you try to oppose a big discharge into a river, the developer always has a better scientist and so we decided that we would come from a strength-based approach and put forward our traditional knowledge around issues.  

Our elders said, “Go overseas and talk to other indigenous peoples and see how they are doing it.” We raised funds and went to India and then stopped in Malaysia on the way back and worked with the Orang Asli people there, and ever since then I have worked overseas teaching governments about what traditional knowledge is because there are UN treaties that require protection of traditional knowledge and customary sustainable use of biodiversity.  We also write reports on the state of biodiversity and climate, from Pasifika peoples’ perspectives, and find them partners to help with things like technological transfer, or investing in more monitoring. So a lot of the work that Awatea does is bridging and connecting and translating and mentoring. 

  • A large part of Awatea Organics’ work is saving indigenous seed.
  • Awatea Organics is collecting the seed of a yellow daisy in the garden that is a host plant for the kahukura (red admiral butterfly) caterpillar.

After the COP26 climate summit, we saw that there was more of a global commitment to changing the way that we live. We saw a lot of the private sector and some governments wanting to change, which gave us a lot of hope. But in the transition to achieve net-zero emissions, we need to ensure there are safeguards in place so indigenous peoples and vulnerable communities are not impacted by the new developments and new technologies. So that’s a big thing we’re doing at the moment – working with industries on shaping their sustainability frameworks to include indigenous safeguards. 

We’ve been part of the GE-free movement in the north since the beginning. A regional policy statement that came out said that GE was a major issue for the tangata whenua of Te Tai Tokerau. Because of that we ended up in the high court with Federated Farmers. All we were saying in the policy was that we wanted Northlanders to have a right to say around GE, but Federated Farmers said that they thought it should be the EPA instead of Northlanders. They lost but we’re back in it now because there’s new language around synthetic biology and things like that. So for me, organics is not only about following the principles of our ancestors in terms of how we grow and how we manaaki people, but it’s also about the political side of it and ensuring that these big industries and also industrial agriculture are ramped down. I believe we need to come together a lot more too. The organics community has so much to give to the industrial agriculture community – they need to open up because everybody needs to change within the next 10 years we’ve got – or less now we’ve been told by the scientists 

Kahu Armstrong (left), one of the Awatea Organics team, waters the garden while Tui’s daughter Hinetaekura (centre) plants orange cosmos in the garden to attract pollinators. Tui (right) has found pampas grass to be an effective mulch during Northland’s hot, dry summers.

We see ourselves as guardians of the community and have plans to open up parts of the māra. The garden teaches us so many things: about abundance and community, and we hope that in the future people will eventually come and experience it and be inspired by it.    

Find out more about Awatea Organics, their indigenous consultancy work, heritage native plants and the maramataka on their website: awateaorganics.nz. They also sell a range of products including a harvest-succession calendar. 

Blooming beautiful flowers with Organic Blooms

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Flower farming wasn’t in the plan for Craig and Mandy Purvis, but grew out of a shift away from the corporate world and towards organics. 
Theresa Sjöquist traces the couple’s journey to becoming one of the few certified organic flower growers in New Zealand. 

Photography: Tony Brownjohn and Theresa Sjöquist
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Growing together with Common Unity

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Common Unity’s roots are deeply set in its community in the Hutt Valley,
25 km north of Wellington. In 2018, ONZ visited and marvelled at everything
this not-for-profit organisation was achieving: growing and distributing food,
sharing knowledge and building its own solutions to the challenges faced in its community. Rachel Rose takes another look at what’s happening now.

Photography: Kristi Scott
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Organics around the world

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The demand for New Zealand organic produce is growing, reflecting the global trend. Local experts share their thoughts with Melissa Reid on how the sector can scale up to meet domestic and export demands. 

There is an ever-increasing number of people who are becoming more attuned to where their food comes from. The demand for products that meet the health, environmental and ethical demands of conscious consumers is on the rise. Nowhere is this better reflected than in the global increase in demand for organic produce. 

With a focus on protecting waterways, biodiversity, communities and helping to fight climate change, organic regenerative agriculture is recognised as a way of farming that offers solutions to these problems, and meets consumer demand for more environmentally friendly practices. 

The growing global organics market

For over a decade, global sales of organic products have shown consistent year-on-year growth. In 2019, global sales of certified organic products reached €106.4 billion (NZ$187.26 billion). 

Around the world, just 1.5 percent of all farmland is certified organic, but the total area looks set to increase because of government policies in a number of countries. Japan, for example, has a target of 25% of agricultural land to be organic by 2050 and some states in India are aiming to be 100% organic in the coming years. 

In 2019, 72.3 million hectares globally were organically managed, up 1.6 percent or 1.1 million ha from 2018. New Zealand’s 5849 ha under organic certification is down 3.41% (3029 hectares) since 2017, but is set to increase again with approximately 6000 ha in conversion to organic. 

Taking our products to the world

Aotearoa New Zealand is in a different situation from most other countries in terms of our agricultural focus.  

“The New Zealand organic sector is targeted and designed for export, just like the rest of the agricultural sector,” said Rick Carmont, executive director of the Organic Exporters Association. “At 58%, New Zealand is the only country that exports most of its organic production. By contrast, Australia exports 26%, Denmark 19%, Sweden 10%, and the US less than 2%.” 

The 2020/21 Organic Sector Market Report commissioned by Organics Aotearoa New Zealand (OANZ), shows that our organic agriculture sector’s value has increased by 20% since 2017 to $723 million, with market value split between exports at 58% ($421 million) and domestic market at 42% ($302 million).  

There is significant demand for New Zealand’s organic products worldwide, with 81% sold into five markets in 2020: USA, China, Europe, Australia and Japan (see graph).  

Top 3 countries (number of hectares)
  1. Australia: 35.7 million
  2. Argentina: 3.7 million
  3. Spain: 2.4 million

The global total is 72.3 million hectares, and New Zealand currently has 85,849 hectares.

Top 3 countries (organic producers)
  1. India: 1.3 million
  2. Uganda: 210,000
  3. Ethiopia: 204,000
Top 3 countries
(% of organic land)
  1. Lichtenstein: 41%
  2. Austria: 26.1%
  3. São Tomé and Príncipe: 24.9%

Top 3 regions
  1. Oceania: 36 million ha
  2. Europe: 16.5 million ha
  3. Latin America: 8.3 million ha

Half the world’s organic agricultural land is in Oceania due to Australia’s large area of organic pastoral farmland.

Supporting the growth of organics in Aotearoa 

Meeting an ever-increasing demand for both domestic and export markets will require government support and a robust action plan.  

Fortunately, two pieces of work can help make this happen: the Organic Products Bill and the Organic Sector Strategy Taking Action for a Better New Zealand. 

Viv Williams, chief executive of OANZ, spearheaded the Organic Sector Strategy with input from a wider sector leadership group, stakeholders from across the local organic sector, and the assistance of MPI funding. 

The sector strategy’s vision is to enable producers, communities and the environment to thrive through organics. The strategy outlines a roadmap that will contribute a cumulative $4.7 billion to New Zealand’s GDP by 2030 while reducing climate change and environmental pollution. 

“Organics provides an established international market and brand,” said Williams. “When combined with the energy and vitality coming from the regenerative agriculture movement, organic regenerative can make a strong contribution to the future of farming as outlined in the government’s Fit for a Better World strategy. A future that is better for our environment, our farmers, and our communities.” 

Pete Huggins, general manager of the Soil & Health Association, agrees that placing organics within government strategies would be a good start to strengthening the sector. 

“Government acknowledgment of organics, like we’ve seen overseas, can open up new possibilities,” said Huggins. “Hopefully, a positive outcome of the Organic Products Bill process will be increased awareness and understanding of organics amongst decision-makers.” 

Similarly, Rick Carmont wants to ensure the Bill is an advantage and not an obstacle for market growth. 

“It will be an important instrument in continuing to grow and maintain our organic trade arrangements, and the Organic Exporters Association is a big supporter of it,” said Carmont. 

Top 5 organic export markets

USACHINAEUROPE (EXCL UK)AUSTRALIAJAPAN
Value $86.8 MILLION $81.8 MILLION $73.4 MILLION 66.4 MILLION $31.5 MILLION
% of NZ organic exports 20.6% 19.5% 17.5% 15.8% 7.5%

At over USD55.1 billion, the US organic market is the largest destination (both current and potential) for NZ organics.

Hua Parakore: indigenous organics 

Active support for indigenous food and growing knowledge is also key to sector growth. Aotearoa’s unique indigenous verification and validation system for food production – the National Māori Organics Authority of Aotearoa (Te Waka Kai Ora) – supports Māori organic growers and protects Māori food sovereignty. Te Waka Kai Ora has developed and implemented the Hua Parakore system, an indigenous validation and verification system for kai atua (Māori organic products).  

“Māori food sovereignty is about returning to eat our cultural landscapes as food producers, kaitiaki and mana whenua,” said Dr Jessica Hutchings, Te Waka Kai Ora member and part of the Sector Strategy Leadership Team.  

“It is imperative that Māori communities grow Māori food producers and food farmers to not only increase organic food production by Māori, but to place Māori at the centre of the food system as producers.” 

Encouraging a clean, green future

Consumers around the world want to know where their food comes from are increasingly looking for cleaner and greener products. Converting more farms to organic is desirable from both a sustainability and financial perspective. But with the EU’s target of 30% of agricultural farmland organic by 2030, New Zealand exporters should expect increasing competition in organic supply. 

“The key for New Zealand exporters will be to differentiate and create value through innovation and leveraging our premium ‘pure NZ’ brand position,” said Andrew Henderson, general manager of Fonterra Organic. “Having the infrastructure, legislation and incentives in place will also be critical to ensure the simplicity and efficiency needed to be competitive globally, and to incentivise more farmers to convert to organic.” 

More info

Download these reports from Organics Aotearoa New Zealand: oanz.org  

  • Time for Action: The New Zealand Organic Sector Market Report 2020/21 
  • Taking Action for a Better New Zealand: 2022 Aotearoa New Zealand Organic Sector Strategy 

Read the Organic Products Bill on the parliament.nz website, or via bit.ly/31fpuTa.  

A path forward for farmers 

Organic regenerative agriculture is both an important pillar to Aotearoa’s sustainability story and, importantly, can provide a path forward for farmers. According to the OANZ market report, there are approximately 6000 hectares in conversion to organic. 

“Some farmers are moving towards regenerative practice by themselves, but to get a step change we need to see national leadership,” said Pete Huggins. 

“Government funding for extension services which support a shift to organics would help, especially if joined with transition support for farmers undertaking the three-year switch to organic certification. Underwriting this transition would reduce the risk for farmers and show that the government means business.” 

The sector strategy focuses on extension services to support more growers to innovate on-farm and convert to organic farm practices, alongside collaboration with regenerative growers and scientists to deliver the best of both worlds.  

“This strategy, built by the organics sector, provides valuable information on how we can address current challenges and tap into opportunities,” Williams concluded. “It’s a pathway forward for the growth of the sector.” 

Viv Williams
Pete Huggins
Dr Jessica Hutchings
Andrew Henderson

Melissa Reid is a freelance writer who lives in Auckland, and works for OANZ.

Meet our new editor: Rachel Clare

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A warm welcome to the new editor of Organic NZ, Rachel Clare, who brings 20 years of magazine and book publishing experience to the role. 

A passionate gardener, she is the former deputy editor of NZ Gardener magazine and former editor of its weekly digital magazine Get Growing. She has written articles on all aspects of gardening, from kōwhai to community gardens and composting.  

“I care deeply about systems that benefit the planet and people and am thrilled to be joining an organisation that has been championing oranga nuku, oranga kai, oranga tāngata (healthy soil, healthy food, healthy people) for 80 years.”  

Rachel has taught gardening through the Garden to Table programme, where school children learn how to grow, cook and harvest their own kai. “Everyone should have the opportunity to learn these essential life skills, and getting our hands in the dirt is so important for our physical and mental wellbeing.”  

As our new editor, Rachel is looking forward to investigating ways to make organics more affordable and will continue to showcase the diverse range of organic businesses in Aoteaora.  

“I grew up in Napier where Chantal Organics is an institution. I loved going in there – just the smell of it was exciting – but I enjoyed browsing through the bins of dried goods, and if I was lucky my mum would buy me a bag of squirrel mix – Chantal’s cute name for scroggin.”  

Rachel lives with her partner, Jacob, and two sons in West Auckland where they keep bees, harvest rainwater, grow flowers and vegetables and raise seedlings in a glasshouse made from upcycled windows.  

“Philippa has done a wonderful job as editor over the last 13 years, and I’m looking forward to continuing her great work, connecting with readers and keeping up Organic NZ’s commitment to thoroughly researched journalism that celebrates our organic community and sustainable living, and is filled with practical ideas to inspire positive change. See you in 2022!” 

Stitching a fabric of support with Nisa

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Social enterprise Nisa employs former refugees and migrants to make underwear from organic cotton and recycled materials. Siti Hajjar Sulaiman visits the Wellington workshop to meet founder Elisha Watson and the team. 

Photography: Nisa
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On the first floor of an unremarkable Wellington building is a busy sewing workshop where a remarkable social enterprise is being nurtured. 

Not every company can say they make underwear and clothing from organic and recycled materials, much less offer jobs that prioritise women from refugee and migrant backgrounds. But this is what Nisa is all about. 

The birth of a social enterprise   

Nisa, which means woman in Arabic, is the brainchild of Elisha Watson, the company’s chief executive officer. Elisha says it was “definitely the staff” who first influenced her to establish Nisa. 

While living in Germany a decade ago, Elisha saw firsthand the effects of anti-migrant and anti-refugee sentiments. “That scared me.” Elisha wanted things to be different in New Zealand and to be part of a welcoming society. 

Years later, having returned home to work as a litigation lawyer at a Wellington law firm, Elisha spotted an opportunity to do more than just advocate for the wellbeing of refugees and migrants. She was volunteering with a community law centre in its refugee and immigration legal team, as well as doing resettlement work with Red Cross. Consequently, she became close to several families whom she helped resettle in New Zealand, noticing their struggles in trying to find jobs and the despair they felt when their efforts failed. 

Elisha believed she could help the refugee and migrant communities more by providing them with the opportunities to shine and “really show what they’re made of.” 

“And so I decided to start a social enterprise, to do something about that and provide those opportunities,” she says. 

Intimate beginnings 

In September 2017, Elisha quit her job to focus on Nisa full-time. But the business really kicked off following a crowdfunding campaign that led to the creation of its online store in March 2018. Nisa now consists of an all-women team of 10. To date, Nisa has employed 19 people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, and seven New Zealand-born staff. Its goal is to build an alumni of 100 former staff who go on to inspire their own communities and set up their own businesses. 

“Our [employment] purpose isn’t really to hang onto people forever. It’s really to, I guess, upskill people. We view success as both people staying with us and people leaving,” said Elisha. 

Fun and a better future

It’s often been said that it’s not quite work if you’re having fun, and at Nisa it sure
looks that way. But this is not at all bad for the intimates maker, as its business –
designing, sorting, sewing, marketing,
packing and dispatching of organic
cotton underwear – still gets underway
seamlessly. The work is largely
accompanied by laughter and quiet
confident smiles amid the frequent
whirring and thumping of sewing
machines.
Indeed, some of the staff at Nisa
from refugee and migrant backgrounds,
including Queen Elizabeth Sudagar and
Gioryanni Ortega Ramirez, hadn’t known
fun and a better future
such work conditions would be the norm
before their arrival in New Zealand.
Absolute peace of mind was an alien
concept to Queen and Gioryanni, who
both experienced trauma and uncertainty
in their respective former homelands.

Queen, 38, worked at a toy factory
in Sri Lanka before leaving the country
nine years ago for Malaysia because of
“ethnic problems”. There, she found work
for several years at a factory that made
use of her sewing skills. Subsequently,
a meeting with officers from the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
in Kuala Lumpur led to Queen, her mother
and daughter, beginning new lives in
Wellington.
A year ago, through the Red Cross
Pathways to Employment programme,
Queen’s good sewing skills caught the
attention of Nisa. Gioryanni, too, found
work at Nisa from the same programme,
starting as a dispatcher, but she has now
moved on to sewing.
Gioryanni, 24, says the situation in
Colombia was very different compared
to New Zealand. She and her family
face a better future here as they can
earn a fair wage rate and explore study
opportunities. She says her English has
also improved significantly while working
at dispatch in Nisa. Her long-term goal is
to become a dentist.
Asked how they felt coming to work
to Nisa every day, Gioryanni and Queen’s
answers were immediate and empathic.
“I feel very good. I like to work here
because Nisa is like my second home,”
says Gioryanni, likening her present life
in New Zealand to a gift. “We can live in
peace [in New Zealand],” she adds. Queen
nods in agreement, the joy evident in her
eyes and smile.

Organic cotton: good all the way through 

It was a no-brainer for Nisa to use organic cotton fabrics and regenerated textiles, many of which are custom-coloured to specifications, in sewing its underwear, loungewear and swimwear products. 

Using organic cotton was a matter of principle and it’s practical, too, Elisha says. She knew the company could not be a responsible employer and producer if it had a product that would harm the planet. 

“We knew we had to be ahead of the curve there and we couldn’t just do one good thing at the same time as doing one not-so-good thing. It had to be kinda good all the way through,” says Elisha. People who gave pledges to Nisa’s crowdfunding campaign shared its environmental sustainability values. 

The first product Nisa sewed was organic cotton women’s briefs. Its line has now expanded into briefs for men, bralettes, camisoles, tops and pants, using organic cotton that was knitted in a Melbourne mill, and which has ACO (Australian Certified Organic) certification. The factory sources yarns from farms in India that are certified with the Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS). GOTS is the world’s leading standard of textile production in organic fibres. 

Meanwhile, Nisa’s swimwear is made from ECONYL, which is regenerated polyamide consisting of recycled ‘ghost’ fishing nets (nets that have been lost or abandoned at sea) and carpet waste. 

The Nisa team, from left to right: Queen, Stef, Luisa (at the back),
Elisha (front), Olivia, Lydia, Emily, Gioryanni and Pam.

Organic cotton growing uses 91% less water than conventional cotton growing.

Where next for Nisa?

Nisa was preparing to show its new collection at the New Zealand Fashion Week (NZFW) in Auckland when the country went into a lockdown prompted by New Zealand’s first cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant. The fashion week was one of the major casualties of Alert Level 4. But Nisa hasn’t fared too badly this time around, having learned what to do after the first lockdown in 2020. 

Elisha says that while the lockdown was hard for production, sales have been amazing as people are increasingly turning to buying online. During lockdown in 2020, their customers supported them with onlines sales with more orders coming from outside of Wellington, such as the rest of New Zealand, Australia, the US and the UK. It was the same this time around. 

Moreover, the lockdown has not slowed down Nisa’s creativity. At the time of writing, Nisa introduced a new print to its wide-ranging intimates collection that was designed by Brisbane artist Claire Ritchie. The company was also planning to introduce a few items from its new activewear range at NZFW. This new range includes leggings and tops made from recycled nylon. 

Nisa in brief

If something’s not sitting right with you, chances are you’ve yet to try on a pair of Nisa’s organic cotton undies. The company makes briefs for men and women, bralettes, loungewear, camisoles and pants, swimwear and a new activewear range at its Wellington workshop. The merino socks are all made in a factory in Norsewood.

Nisa Shop and Studio, Level 1, 99 Willis Street, Wellington
Open Monday–Friday 9 am – 5.30 pm,
Saturday 10 am – 4 pm
Contact: Emily Partridge, brand and content
manager, emily@nisa.co.nz, 04 390 6472
www.nisa.co.nz

The team is clearly excited about the product expansion, but would this mean Nisa could no longer call itself an intimates label? Elisha laughs and admits it’s a conundrum. “There is no real word that describes us – as we expand our product range – that really encapsulates what we offer.” 

For now, Nisa is content to be known as an underwear label, which Elisha points out is still its mainstay. 

Siti Hajjar Sulaiman is a Wellington-based freelance writer.

Weaving together strands of the organic world

/in ,

Bridget Freeman-Rock interviews former Soil & Health co-chair Marion Thomson, an active collaborator in the organic and biodynamic movement.

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Over the hedge at Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae

/in ,

Taylor Aumua discovers what makes the māra kai at this marae so special.

Photography: Taylor Aumua
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Homemade compost

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Good compost grows healthy plants, and you can never have too much of it! Homemade compost is ideal if you can make it – here are a few tips from Wellington blogger, baker and gardener Elien Lewis, selected from her new book Homegrown Happiness. 

Photography: Elien Lewis

Homemade compost is the best thing for your garden. That sounds like a bold statement, but it’s true. Whether it’s compost in a bin, or you’re directly letting plants and organic matter decompose in your garden, it’s all about creating a nutrient-rich layer for the soil. A good quality compost only needs to be applied once or twice a year, and it will supply your soil and plants with the nutrients they need without the need for any added fertilisers.  

Composting at home can seem daunting. There are many books on composting methods that require precise layers, temperatures and amounts. In reality, nature is creating compost non-stop without being exact about it, so it doesn’t need to be that precise. A compost pile can give clear signs when something is lacking and, once you recognise these signs, it’s easy to make the necessary tweaks. 

I want to cover a few different composting options, because there is one for each and every home and section, no matter where you live. As well as feeding your garden, any organic material that you can save from landfill is a bonus. [Elien’s book also covers worm farming and bokashi – Ed.] 

A custom-made wooden compost bin
Elien Lewis and her garden

Composting basics 

Composting is how nature recycles organic materials. That includes all plant and animal matter. Composting is an aerobic decomposition method, which means it needs air and relies on aerobic organisms to break material down.  

A compost pile needs four things to work efficiently: 

  1. Carbon – the carbon component is made up of dry materials such as brown leaves, twigs, cardboard, straw and hay. It’s what gives the soil organisms the energy to work hard. The soil organisms oxidise the carbon, which generates heat in the pile. The carbon component of the compost pile is known colloquially as the ‘browns’. 
  1. Nitrogen – the nitrogen component is made of fresh organic material. This includes all fresh plant and food scraps, coffee grounds, fresh seaweed and grass clippings. Nitrogen encourages the organisms to reproduce. The nitrogen component is known colloquially as the ‘greens’.  
  1. Oxygen – this is a necessary component for the carbon to oxidise and is crucial for aerobic organism survival. 
  1. Water – this is needed in small amounts to assist the aerobic organisms with decomposition. 

A very rough ratio I follow for my compost is one part green to two parts brown, though I don’t get hung up on working out the exact amounts. If the balance is wrong, my compost pile will let me know.  

The exact ratio of carbon to nitrogen required for a well-balanced compost pile is a hot topic among gardeners. You may read about 25:1, 30:1 or even 50:1 carbon to nitrogen. Don’t worry – this doesn’t mean 50 parts of browns to one part greens. All organic material contains carbon, even the fresh green stuff, so a ratio of 50:1 is talking about the carbon from all the material in the heap, not just the browns.  

Making a compost pile 

A simple compost pile is easy to make. It can be made as a pile directly on the ground or in a designated compost bin. It involves layering the ingredients like a messy lasagne, alternating between browns and greens. Perfect, separate layers are not the goal here. They need to be a bit mixed. Once you’ve added in all the ingredients, give it a stir to help combine it.  

The brown component is responsible for adding carbon but also capturing air in the pile as twigs and leaves can create little air pockets. The fresh greens add nitrogen and water to the pile. Sometimes a little extra water can be added to the brown layers. A compost pile should be damp but not soaked. 

Finishing with a layer of browns on top hides the rapidly decomposing greens, which can create bad smells or attract flies.  

A compost heap like this can just sit and do its thing, and you can tip more organic material on top as you have it. Giving it a turn every few weeks will speed up the decomposition as, with each turn, you’re adding in more oxygen. For this, I love my steel compost-turning stick. It’s like a giant screw. I simply stick it into the pile and turn it, so it screws itself into the heap, then I pull it up and knock off what has been pulled up. It turns the pile without any hard work. 

A compost pile like this won’t get very hot (though turning it will generate more heat), so it can take between six months and a year to create usable compost. The bottom layer will be ready to use first. Once it’s dark brown, crumbly and sweet smelling, it is ready to use.  

A good quality compost only needs to be applied once or twice a year

How to tell if something’s wrong 

A well-balanced compost pile shouldn’t be smelly. When it’s turned, you should notice lots of worms, a bit of heat and signs it is actively breaking down.  

Photo: iStock/Annalovisa

Smells like ammonia 

This is a sign that there is too much nitrogen in the pile. The organisms in the compost pile release the excess nitrogen in the form of ammonia.  

A simple fix for this is to add more carbon-rich material, through a helping of browns. Stirring through a layer of ripped-up cardboard, shredded leaves or straw will help. 

Slimy and smells of rotten eggs 

This is a sign of a compacted or overly wet compost pile. Both can result in a pile that lacks oxygen. When there is not enough oxygen, the aerobic bacteria die, and the anaerobic ones take over. These bacteria, which survive without oxygen, are responsible for that rotting sulphur smell.  

Turn the compost to bring more air into the pile. Adding in different sized browns also helps as they create air pockets in the pile and soak up the excess moisture.  

Stagnant and doing absolutely nothing 

This is a sign of too much carbon and not enough nitrogen. Nitrogen feeds and helps reproduce more soil organisms. Without enough nitrogen, there won’t be enough organisms to break down the excess carbon.  

This can be remedied by adding more fresh greens, but they’ll need to be mixed deep into the pile. A compost turner can help do this. Fresh grass clippings or manure can add the needed nitrogen.  

Compost bin do’s and don’ts

Do add:

Greens:
Disease-free plant materials
Vegetable and fruit scraps
Coffee grounds
Seaweed
Pet hair
Horse, cow, sheep, rabbit, guinea pig or chicken manure
Grass clippings

Browns:
Cardboard and paper
Untreated sawdust or wood shavings
Straw and hay
Wood ash
Cotton rags
Home compostable packaging
Brown leaves

Don’t add:

Dog and cat waste
Plastic-coated paper or cardboard
Treated wood sawdust or shavings
Cooked food scraps
Meat or fish
Invasive weeds

Composting in-situ  

In situ means ‘on-site’ and it involves letting organic waste break down either directly on the soil surface or dug into pits and trenches. 

This method is very easy and fuss-free and, as the aim isn’t to create a working compost heap, there’s no emphasis on layers or the correct carbon and nitrogen amounts.  

Chop-and-drop composting 

Disease-free green waste such as the leaves and stems of spent plants can be chopped up and laid down right where they are. This is known as a chop-and-drop technique. They’ll provide a mulch and, once they break down, they’ll feed the soil life.  

Trench composting 

Trench composting – also known as pit composting – is a great way to dispose of organic material that you can’t put in your above-ground compost bin or on the soil surface. Cooked foods and fish scraps, for example, do well being dug into the ground. This is really an underground worm farm, so this type of compost relies on a lot of worm activity to break down and excrete the organic matter in the trench or pit.  

It does require digging, though, so I avoid doing this in my actual vegetable gardens. 
I do my trench composting around fruit trees or in places that I have yet to transform into no-dig patches.  

Simply dig a long trench or pit, at least 50–60 centimetres deep. Place your organic matter in it, then cover with soil and it’s done!  

If dogs and cats digging up the compost is an issue, lay a few rocks or untreated wood planks over the covered hole.  

This gorgeous and practical gardening book covers all the basics of establishing and planting a no-dig organic edible garden, with month-by-month gardening tasks and delicious seasonal recipes.  
Homegrown Happiness: A Kiwi guide to living off the suburban land, by Elien Lewis, photography and recipes by Elien Lewis, published by Bateman Books, $39.99, available now at all good bookshops and batemanbooks.co.nz.