COMMONSENSE ORGANICS NEWSLETTER - SUMMER/AUTUMN 2008
WELCOME
What a fantastic summer we’ve been having. Even if we have a sprinkler ban in Wellington it’s worth it. Everyone who comes into our shops seems to have had a wonderful holiday and a good rest and there’s lots of good energy around. But our poor growers are struggling with the lack of water – the produce we have is sweet and tasty, but some of it doesn’t hold so well at the moment due to lack of water during the growing process.
SHOP TALK
We have a new manager in our Kapiti store. Louise Hammond is a qualified homeopath, has her own organic property in Te Horo and even has experience in managing and trouble shooting IT systems – a real all-rounder.
The Kilbirnie store is benefiting from installing new shelves late last year, so the variety offered in the store has increased considerably. The Hutt store is completely overflowing with stock, with new bulk bins and reconfigurations of shelves to squeeze just a bit more in!
Have you seen our new-look product guides – we’re very proud of them. We’ve updated most of the old guides and also introduced a new one, which gives information on sugars and sweeteners. And it has the most beautiful honeycomb photo on the front. Talking of photos – check out the lovely new photos on the wall of the Wellington store. The echinacea and lavender photos in the health section were taken in my garden!
GLUTEN FREE OR LOW GLUTEN – WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
The newly packaged cereals from Nature’s Path and Envirokidz now state that the products are ‘low gluten’. This has caused some concern among our gluten-free customers, but it is a legal issue, rather than a health one.
US and Canadian law states that the term ‘gluten-free’ means 0 to 20 parts per million, but the New Zealand law is stricter; ‘gluten-free’ means 0 ppm. As the Natures Path cereals are only tested to their legal requirements, they have decided to label their cereals in New Zealand ‘low gluten’. They are exactly the same cereals and if you have been eating them up to now, you should not worry about the changes.
WHAT’S NEW
- We have dried broad beans. We haven’t been able to get these for the last 10 years! And what’s more they’re from New Zealand.
- Cedarlife rooibos is a really cheap organic red bush tea – and they also do an unfermented rooibos, which is called greenbosch.
- And we finally have bulk decaf coffee beans – also roasted by Coffee Supreme and of course they are organic and fair trade.
- Bakeworks have produced a new range of gluten-free gourmet cookies. They include blueberry and white chocolate, pecan and cranberry and chocolate and brazil nut. We also have a new range from Venerdi – apple, almond and sultana – also gluten-free.
- While we’re talking sweet things – we have a new range of chocolate in. Loving Earth chocolate is made from raw chocolate and is sugar-free.
- We have a new range of therapeutic teas from Plantsong. They have an ayurvedic focus and are quite different from our other therapeutic tea blends.
- We’re now stocking frozen petfood made from chicken
- Tallking of frozen goods, have you tried the expanded range of Indian and Italian instant meals – made with organic lamb and chicken. Really useful for those days when you just want to blob out after a long day’s work.
- Pitango have produced a whole new range of instant meals – 3 types of risotto, 2 curries and a tagine – it’s really good to see New Zealand processors coming through with greater variety.
- And have you noticed that we’re building up our cheese range. We now stock a fabulous range of feta, and we’ve finally got organic parmesan, which is just delicious. And taste our Gold Award winning organic Aroha goat cheese.
- We always have new skincare products coming in. Antipodes have extended their range with a body cream, facial exfoliator and treatment mask. And we have a new Australian range – Sukin which is really well priced.
- Our naturopaths and herbalists are constantly assessing new healthcare products as well. We have a new source of Omega 3,6 and 9 from vegetarian sources and it’s 99% organic – Udo’s Oil. It’s kept in the fridge. We also have a new high quality fish oil – Clincicals benefishoil.
- We have sourced a new eczema and psoriasis cream and skin oil – by Nourish. Nature’s Nurse is another new range – including treatment shampoo for lice based on neem oil.
- We also have some useful additions to some of the familiar brands. Comvita have brought out a new olive leaf complex, Floradix have a new liquid multivitamin, liquid magnesium and liquid calcium magnesium – great for those who have problems swallowing pills. And Lifestream have added a natural selenium to their range.
WHAT’S IN
- Easter eggs which are dairy free, gluten free and nut free
- Prune plums – which I thought would be quite sour – but they’re deliciously sweet with a really strong flavour. The omega plums are great too.
- We currently have 7 varieties of apples – and more coming in all the time.
WHAT’S OUT
- Green and Black have decided to discontinue most of their range to the Australian and New Zealand market. So no more ginger chocolate – sob, sob – or cherry.. But we do still have dark, maya and milk chocolate.
- The heat of the summer has had an effect on our organic egg supply. The hens are wilting in the heat and going off the lay. But this problem should be short lived.
EAT TO LIVE..LIVE TO EAT
Two recipes this time and both from current staff members. Kris is the Produce Manager in our Wellington store – and a chef. Here’s his recipe for kamokamo – try it with other squash or pumpkin as well
STUFFED KAMOKAMO
- 1 large kamo kamo
- olive oil
- fresh herbs – marjoram, oregano, rosemary – or whatever’s in your garden and is strong
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 3 mushrooms
- 200g aubergine (you can substitute other veg for the mushrooms and aubergine)
- 150g feta, crumbled
- 100g pine nuts
- 1 bag of spinach, washed and torn up into small pieces
- Salt and pepper
- 150g breadcrumbs - optional
Cut kamokamo in half, scoop out flesh and leave aside. Rub the 2 halves with olive oil and fresh herbs. Prebake for 10 minutes at 180°C
Meanwhile fry the flesh of the kamokamo in 4 tablespoons of olive oil, with the onion, garlic, vegetables. Take off heat and stir through feta, pinenuts and spinach. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. If you want to be really decadent, add a glug of white wine and a glug of cream).
Stuff the kamokamo halves with the mixture and sprinkle breadcrumbs and olive oil over the top if you want a crispy topping
Bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes or until kamokamo skin is easily pierced. Serve on a bed of brown rice with the rest of the stuffing stirred through the rice.
The second recipe comes from Angela in our accounts department – her recipe for salsa comes from her native Colombia.
AJI
- 3 Tbs fresh coriander, finely chopped
- 3 Tbs spring onions, finely chopped
- ¼ cup fresh chilli, finely chopped
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water
Mix all ingredients. Use in the same way as other salsas or with this potato recipe. Gently fry one onion, one tomato and one garlic clove (all finely chopped) Cut up 1kg potatoes (pink fur would be good for this) and add to pan. Add water so potatoes are ¾ covered and boil until soft.
WHATS BEHIND THE LABEL? ....by Anya Nidd ND (Naturopath & Medical Herbalist)
As consumers, we are becoming increasingly discerning in regard to what products and ingredients we are prepared to consume or use on our bodies. Many people are now realising the importance of checking the fine print on skincare products, so as to avoid chemical additives and pick-up on false claims and tricky wording.
Unfortunately this trend has led some manufacturers to use some dubious methods to try and convince the buyer of their products’ so-called purity. By using branding with words such as ‘organic’ or ‘natural’, products immediately appear more wholesome than their conventional alternatives. There is also a tendency to include a symbol which seems to indicate that the product is 'certified'. The problem is that there is no regulation system in place which assesses this type of labeling. In many cases the product will contain only a tiny fraction of ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ ingredients, while the base and preservatives may be entirely synthetic. We are noticing more and more symbols and stamps on new skincare products, which at first glance look like an organic certification. On closer viewing, they may in fact say ‘100% pure oils’ or something similar. Most of these symbols are created by a marketing team and are not indicative of a product's genuine purity.
There has also been some recent controversy regarding the so-called source of ingredients. For example, the commonly used detergent, sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS), which can come under many different names, is derived from coconut or palm oil. Sulfuric acid is added to this and it becomes a harsh soap which adds lather to everything from dish-washing liquid and shampoo to toothpaste. The concern is that often these ‘natural ingredients’ go through a chemical process which turns them into a synthetic chemical with the potential for significant adverse reactions.
Another factor to be aware of is the order of ingredients listed on a label. As a rule, ingredients are listed in order of quantity, meaning that the first thing listed is at the greatest concentration, while the last ingredients will be at a much smaller percentage. Preservatives should always be among the last few ingredients, otherwise one can assume there is a high concentration of these chemicals in the finished product.
We encourage you to look carefully at the ingredient lists on products you buy for yourself and your family. Question anything which looks unusual (i.e long chemical names, abbreviations or numbers), but keep an open mind, as sometimes what sounds like a chemical is in fact the botanical name of a plant. At Commonsense we have reference books which can help you to decode these ingredients and you are welcome to check these at any time.
We try to carefully monitor the ingredients in every product we sell and we make every attempt to keep items containing harmful ingredients off our shelves. In saying this, from time to time manufacturers will change a product’s formula and we may not be aware of this. We appreciate any feedback you have regarding these ingredients or product alterations.
There are some products in our stores containing some synthetic ingredients, but we do our utmost to check the concentration and safety of these chemicals and the clarity of their labeling.
There are a large number of entirely plant-derived skincare products available now. Some of these are certified organic and will carry a symbol to prove this. Others have the internationally recognized BDIH symbol which denotes the highest level of purity in skincare. Some smaller ranges are not certified but are still free from added chemicals or synthetic preservatives. Please feel free to inquire with our naturopaths for more information on these products.
COMMONSENSE GARDENING..... by Catherine Collins
I hope you are enjoying this harvest time in the garden, there is still plenty to harvest in my garden, but the fejioas are getting fatter which to me, along with the onset of tamarillos means that Autumn is fast approaching.
As I look around the garden I can see that it is time for a good clean up, the sunflowers are all coming to an end, as are most of the summer flowers, I will be using all the waste to fuel my compost and leaving some plants to go to seed for next season.
This time of year the insects are looking harder for food, so to attract the good ones, leave your lettuce, parsley, and silverbeet to go to seed as this attracts them, and they will carry on their good work in your garden, and also lay their eggs to hatch in spring, and so the cycle goes on.
The summer heat and lack of rain means that the soil is drying out fast, and now sprinklers are banned so this is where mulch comes into its own as a great water saver. You can use all sorts of material as a mulch layer, but if you haven’t got any mulch on your garden now and you decide to put it on, make sure you give the garden a good water, otherwise the soil will stay dry for a lot longer. The little rain we have had is not enough to penetrate a good thick layer of mulch.
Mulch is our way of emulating nature, like a forest floor. It keeps the soil cool and moist in the summer, and in the winter, protects it from the bitter cold. I like to put in a good layer of paper under any mulch I use, as this attracts the worms, they love to eat paper. I use pea straw, bark pieces, and cocoa beans, laid over the top of shredded paper from the office paper shredder or carpet, old blankets, sacks, cardboard, sawdust, seaweed and probably much more if I thought about it. Not only does it protect the soil it also feeds it as it breaks down and attracts all sorts of soil life that helps to keep the garden alive.
Autumn is a great time to note what has grown well during the season and plan what changes you might like to make for next spring. If any plants have not performed well, it might pay to move them to a different area, and note where all the vegetables have grown so you can rotate them next season.
Happy gardening.
This newsletter is written by Marion Wood with named articles and ideas and input from staff.
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