Emma Sage
Hey, I’m Emma.
The camera-shy writer and founder behind Sage Journal.
Sage was born from a desire to feature real, well-loved gardens by everyday people. More than 10 years ago, when my husband and I bought our first home, I struggled to find what I needed: real, attainable and local garden inspiration; gardening advice that was relevant, engaging and easily digestible; and connections with inspiring and knowledgeable gardeners, new and old.
So 4 years ago I started collecting, documenting and featuring stories of real, hands-in-the-dirt, soil-on-the-clothes gardeners who were sometimes failing, many times succeeding and always asking questions.
I wanted to create a place to share knowledge that otherwise might be lost.
Not everyone comes from a line of avid gardeners like me (super grateful), where ringing up my mum or nana for advice on how to get rid of the aphids in the garden or find out why my buxus is turning its toes up is a regular thing.
So when I started Sage, I wanted it to be New Zealand’s go-to gardening resource. A place where you can learn, be inspired, and find a like-minded community to share our collective knowledge.
With love and dirty fingernails,
Emma Sage x
Sherwood’s trump card is its grounds. They were previously covered with bracken, wilding pines and an old abandoned car. The team has since refreshed the area. A very large vegetable garden is front and centre (which also forms a handy circuit for a bike track). Sherwood employs a full time horticulturalist to grow for the restaurant, to maximise what of their menu is grown in-house.
Heather Loughlin’s Matua garden doesn't just provide solace for herself. The site has become an intentional habitat for bugs. This is Heather’s way of recognising the vital role insects have to play in our biodiversity.
Orchids are probably the oldest cultivated flowers in the world and are used in many cultures as a flower that represents value. Green orchids symbolise good health, long life and strength, while white orchids symbolise innocence, elegance and respect. They are a flower of substance and are really long lasting.
Sumac has a long culinary history in the Middle East. Ground sumac is sprinkled over all manner of food. Olivia Sisson shares her story of finding and foraging this tart delight.
Liv Worsnop is a Hawke’s Bay born artist and passionate environmentalist. She found her way into the realm of environmentalism through her art studies and opportunities that arose during the Christchurch Earthquake recovery. Back in Hawke’s Bay now, Liv relishes gardening on her family’s property in the Tuki Tuki Valley.
Tara Morton and Nick Walbridge are the proud owners of Waikanae’s mid-century modernist retreat — Riverbank 1965. Riverbank is a renovated architectural gem, originally built in the mid 1960s in a California ranch-style. The property consists of 1.5 acres of secluded trees and landscaping, with direct access to the Waikanae River.
Harvesting your own grapes is an enticing prospect, as a multitude of growers in the Bay will endorse. Rod and Emma Easthope have been entwined with grape growing and winemaking since they were children. So they should know. Their story is one of respect for the land, their craft and family life.
Kōtare Estate lies at the very end of Lane Road in Havelock Road. Although only a stone’s throw from the heart of the Havelock North village, its setting provides a blissful disconnection from the rush of life, coupling perfectly with the vision Pip and Mathias Robbie-Gödert had to share their home with others.
Katie McHardy is on a journey to educate herself and others about the Slow Flower Movement – encouraging people to support the local economy by buying seasonal and locally grown flowers. Having recently returned to Hawke’s Bay she is tying her environmental and floristry passions together by establishing a sustainable cut flower garden on her family’s coastal farm in Aramoana.
The Hospice Holly Trail has become an institution for Hawke’s Bay locals and visitors a plenty. A wondrous tour of homes and gardens in Havelock North and surrounding areas, with its main focus on a significant charitable outcome for the local hospice.
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