BHU

02/06/2026

A big congratulations to our recent farm graduates, who just completed their Level 4 Certificate in Organics last week!

Our time with this bunch has flown by, but we’re stoked that some are staying on the farm to begin their own Stepping Stone projects, and others are returning for Level 3 later in the year.

We can’t wait to see how they continue to grow. Mā te wā 🌱

Ngā mihi nui to for supporting us to offer these courses, and to our site costs .

27/05/2026

Learn to care for your fruit trees with home orchard care professional Greg Quinn in our 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽!

Join us in the BHU organic farm orchard, where Greg will teach you the basics of winter fruit tree pruning and maintenance to support fruitful harvests.

Greg works with wood from fruit tree care to craft, and has spent many years working on commercial and private apple, pear, and citrus orchards in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Find his work at www.homeorchardcare.co.nz

Saturday 8 August, 1pm-3pm
$45
Cnr Weedons and Farm Road, Lincoln

Sign up through the link in our bio! 🍎🍎🍎

20/05/2026

Last week, Bob Crowder was awarded an honorary doctorate by Lincoln University 'in recognition of his significant contribution to organic horticulture in New Zealand.' Congratulations Bob!

This year we celebrate 50 years of the Biological Husbandry Unit (stay tuned for anniversary announcements), and honour the ongoing work that Bob pioneered.

It was so cool that last week Bob Crowder was awarded an honorary doctorate 'in recognition of his significant contribution to organic horticulture in New Zealand.' And, it was even more cool (to me) that my book on Bob was used for developing the application. Bob's pioneering work on organics in New Zealand and internationally has inspired thousands and the ripples from that incredible mahi (mainly in the 1980s) continue to flow outwards.

It is also so timely, given that this year Bob's Biological Husbandry Unit at Lincoln University turns 50! Cannot wait for the celebrations in October.... BHU

Congratulations and thanks to those involved in making this happen.

Here's a pic of Bob in the amaranth, with the BHU cat, back in the day!

14/05/2026

Did you know that we have a new BHU YouTube channel? Merf has been super busy behind the scenes sharing regular updates of his on-farm activities! (And I’ve fallen way behind on sharing them here 😅). We’re building up a range of content, including webinars and student farm work, so don’t forget to subscribe.

🎥 Check it out and see what’s going on behind the scenes here on the farm www.youtube.com/-n7c

29/04/2026

Interested in the beekeeping industry? 🌻🍯🐝💛 NMIT are running a zero fees, practical course based on the BHU farm—designed for backyard beekeepers or anyone curious about the industry and keen to gain useful general knowledge.

"In six months, you can learn the basic bee-farming knowledge and skills needed to start working in the apiculture industry or let you decide if you want to commit to further study."

www.nmit.ac.nz/study/programmes/nz-certificate-in-primary-industry-skills-apiculture

21/04/2026

Ngā mihi nui to everyone who came along to the farm for our community apple harvest!

01/04/2026

Now more than ever it feels like an important time to be learning how to grow food and farm regeneratively 🌱

Here are some of the (many) reasons why you should study organics with us this year. Thanks to our collaboration with and their Zero Fees Scheme, these courses are Fees Free. So what are you waiting for? Enrol now!

Ngā mihi to our site hosts

21/12/2025

In case you missed it—course related costs are half off until the end of the year thanks to . Enrol now in our certificates to make the most of this offer. If you have any questions about our courses, we’d love to hear from you.

We hope to see some of you on the farm in 2026!

🍎🌱🥔🐝🥕🥬🌰🧄

18/11/2025

Are you wanting to learn more about selecting crops and collecting data through your growing season? Come along to this Otago Organics online event with Penny from Untamed Earth Organic Farm🌱

Penny is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to growing vegetables and understanding her numbers. Penny will talk to us about how she collects data in her operation and how she uses that data to make good decisions about what she should be growing. We will hear about how scale and marketing affect decision making on the farm.

Penny has experience with a wide variety of scales, having started very small she now helps run a 60-hectare organic vegetable operation. She has sold at farmers markets, run CSA boxes and sold wholesale. Penny also teaches at the Biological Husbandry Unit.

Attendees of this workshop will come away with tools and metrics to collect data easily through their growing season. There will be a follow-up workshop to this in early winter where we can analyse our data together.

🗓️ Thursday 4 December, 7.30pm—9.30pm
💻 Online via Zoom
🎟️ Sliding scale from $5
➡️ Book here https://events.humanitix.com/data-collection-crop-selection-with-penny