Burn jelly plant

Valerian Crowns (Valeriana officinalis)

Valerian is a well-known medicinal herb traditionally used to support restful sleep and help with insomnia.*

Each order includes 1 healthy valerian crown cutting with a growing tip. Plant directly into your garden over winter and it will emerge again in spring. See photos below for examples of the growing tips.

Organically grown at KoruKai Herb Farm without synthetic fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides.

Perennial Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica)
Family: Urticaceae

Stinging Nettle is one of the world's most valued medicinal and edible perennial herbs. Highly nutritious, vigorous, and remarkably versatile, it has been used for centuries as a nourishing food, traditional herbal medicine, natural fertiliser, compost activator, and livestock tonic. Once established, it forms productive patches that provide abundant harvests of tender spring shoots year after year.

Your order includes 3 dormant rhizomes (approximately 20 cm long each), ready to establish quickly and send up vigorous new growth in spring. Planting instructions, harvesting advice, medicinal uses, and processing information are provided below.

Mashua (Tropaeolum tuberosum)
Also known as Añu, Isaño or Cubio

Mashua (pronounced Mah-shwuh) is a colourful Andean tuber closely related to the garden nasturtium. Exceptionally easy to grow, highly productive, and one of the most cold-hardy Andean root crops, it produces generous harvests of delicious tubers with very little care.

The tubers range from the size of small potatoes to large yams and develop a pleasantly sweet, slightly peppery flavour that becomes milder and sweeter when cooked. Even the young leaves and flowers are edible, making Mashua a truly versatile perennial vegetable.

A valuable companion plant, Mashua is traditionally grown alongside other crops because its aromatic foliage helps deter many insect pests, nematodes, and soil-borne diseases.

Each order includes either one large tuber or two medium-sized tubers, ready to plant. Simply place them in the garden when you receive them and watch them emerge in spring.

Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and culinary uses can be found below.

Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
Family: Polygonaceae

Common names: Sorrel, Garden Sorrel, Lemon Sorrel

Sorrel is a hardy, long-lived perennial vegetable prized for its vibrant green leaves and distinctive fresh, lemony flavour. One of the first edible greens to emerge in spring, it provides an abundant harvest over many months and is delicious in salads, soups, sauces, omelettes, quiches, and pesto. Easy to grow and remarkably productive, Sorrel quickly forms generous clumps that can be divided every few years to create new plants.

Your Sorrel is supplied as a dormant root division during winter, with little or no foliage visible at the time of purchase. Simply plant it into the garden or a pot, and as the soil warms in spring it will send up vigorous new shoots.

During the first season, harvest lightly to allow the plant to establish a strong root system, and remove flower stalks as they appear to encourage continuous leaf production. After around a year, the clump can be lifted and divided to propagate additional plants and keep it growing vigorously for many years.

Yacon (Smallanthus sonchifolius)
Family: Asteraceae

Order includes 1 crown (see sample images below).

Yacon, meaning “water root” in the Inca language, has been treasured for centuries in the Andes as a refreshing, thirst-quenching food for travellers. This vigorous perennial, related to the daisy family, produces crisp, juicy tubers with a uniquely sweet flavour—often described as a blend of fresh apple, watermelon, and pear.

Traditionally grown from Colombia to northern Argentina, Yacon is prized for its delicious edible roots, which can be eaten fresh or processed into the increasingly popular Yacon syrup. Its sweet juice can be concentrated into syrup, while the crunchy tubers make a refreshing and nutritious addition to the kitchen garden.

Currently unavailable for 2026. Due to an unusually cool and marginal growing season, our turmeric crop produced very little rhizome division this year. As a result, we will not have plants available for sale in 2026.

Expected availability: July 2027. Please sign up below to join the waiting list and be notified when plants become available again.

Turmeric (Curcuma longa)
Family: Zingiberaceae

Turmeric is one of the world's most celebrated medicinal and culinary plants, prized for its vibrant golden rhizomes and long history of use in traditional herbal medicine. A close relative of ginger, it thrives in warm conditions and produces lush tropical foliage as well as highly valued underground rhizomes rich in curcuminoids—the compounds responsible for turmeric's distinctive colour and many of its researched health benefits.*

Widely used in curries, teas, tonics, and herbal preparations, turmeric has become a cornerstone of both traditional and modern wellness practices. Research continues to investigate its role in supporting healthy inflammatory responses, antioxidant activity, and overall wellbeing.

When available, each order includes one healthy turmeric crown, ready to establish and produce a new clump of rhizomes. Growing instructions, harvesting information, and culinary uses are provided below.

Yomogi (Artemisia princeps)
Family: Asteraceae

Yomogi, also known as Japanese Mugwort, is one of Japan's most treasured perennial herbs, valued for centuries as both a nourishing spring vegetable and an important medicinal plant. The tender young shoots have a pleasant, aromatic flavour and are traditionally used in herbal teas, soups, tempura, and the famous green yomogi mochi (rice cakes).

Easy to grow, hardy, and highly productive, Yomogi spreads by underground rhizomes to form lush clumps that return year after year. It thrives in full sun to partial shade and is well suited to gardens throughout New Zealand.

Yomogi dies down in winter. Your order includes one healthy bare-rooted plant with growing shoots, ready to establish quickly in your garden once temperatures warm up.

Growing instructions, harvesting advice, culinary uses, and traditional medicinal information are provided below.

Jerusalem Artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus)
Also known as Sunchoke or Sunroot

Jerusalem Artichoke is a hardy, highly productive perennial sunflower grown for its crisp, sweet, and nutritious underground tubers. Easy to grow and remarkably resilient, it produces abundant harvests year after year with very little maintenance, making it an excellent addition to kitchen gardens, food forests, and permaculture systems.

The tubers can be enjoyed raw, roasted, sautéed, mashed, or added to soups and stews. Their flavour is often described as a cross between water chestnuts, potato, and artichoke, with a pleasant nutty sweetness.

Each order contains three healthy planting tubers. Choose either three small or three large tubers using the options below.

Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and culinary uses can be found below.

Chinese Artichoke / Crosnes (Stachys affinis)
Family: Lamiaceae

Chinese Artichokes, also known as Crosnes, are a delicious and unusual perennial root vegetable grown for their crisp, spiralled white tubers. Easy to grow and highly productive, they return year after year, producing abundant harvests from late autumn through winter.

The distinctive tubers resemble tiny grubs but are a gourmet delicacy with a wonderfully unique texture. Eaten raw, they are crisp, juicy, and slightly sweet, with a flavour reminiscent of water chestnuts. Cooked, they become tender, creamy, and subtly nutty, somewhere between a young potato, kūmara, and Jerusalem artichoke. In France, where they are known as Crosnes, they are traditionally braised in butter and fresh herbs—a simple preparation that beautifully highlights their delicate flavour.

Your order includes a starter pack of approximately five healthy tubers, ready for planting. Once established, the plants gradually multiply underground, providing increasingly generous harvests each year.

Chinese Artichokes are hardy, frost tolerant, and winter dormant, making them an excellent perennial vegetable for New Zealand gardens. Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and culinary tips are provided below.

White Ginger (Hedychium coronarium)
Family: Zingiberaceae

White Ginger, also known as Butterfly Ginger or Himalayan Ginger, is a striking perennial from the ginger family grown for its lush tropical foliage and highly fragrant white flowers. The blooms resemble delicate butterflies in flight and release a rich, sweet perfume often compared to gardenias, making it one of the most aromatic ornamental gingers.

Despite sometimes being mislabelled in trade (including in New Zealand), White Ginger is distinct from culinary galangal species. While its rhizomes are edible and carry a mild, ginger-like flavour, it is primarily grown as an ornamental and fragrant garden plant.

This vigorous plant produces large clumps of upright stems and spreads gradually via underground rhizomes, forming a bold, tropical presence in the garden. It thrives in moist to boggy soils and performs best in full sun to partial shade, especially where soil moisture is consistently high.

Your order includes one healthy plant, ready to establish and grow into a lush flowering clump. Growing instructions and care details are provided below.

Multiplying Leek (Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum)
Family: Amaryllidaceae

Multiplying Leeks are one of our favourite perennial vegetables at KoruKai Herb Farm. Exceptionally easy to grow, hardy, and highly productive, they require very little care while providing a reliable harvest throughout winter and well into spring—just when annual leeks are finishing for the season.

Unlike ordinary leeks, these perennial leeks multiply naturally by forming clumps of new plants each year. Individual stems grow to around thumb thickness, with a mild, sweet leek flavour that is perfect for soups, stews, stir-fries, quiches, and countless other dishes. Harvest what you need and leave the remaining plants to continue multiplying, creating an increasingly abundant patch year after year.

Your order includes a healthy starter clump of 3–4 young multiplying leeks, ready to establish quickly in your garden. Planting instructions and growing tips are provided below.

Rosemary (Salvia rosmarinus)
Family: Lamiaceae

Rosemary is a beautiful evergreen Mediterranean herb, treasured for its fragrant, needle-like leaves, stunning blue flowers, and wide range of culinary and medicinal uses. Hardy, drought tolerant, and long-lived, it makes an attractive addition to herb gardens, food forests, edible hedges, and pollinator plantings.

Flowering from late winter through spring, Rosemary provides an important early nectar source for honeybees and other beneficial insects when few other plants are in bloom. Its aromatic foliage is indispensable in the kitchen, pairing beautifully with roasted vegetables, potatoes, breads, lamb, poultry, and many Mediterranean dishes.

Your order includes one healthy bare-rooted seedling, ready to establish quickly in your garden or a large container. Growing instructions, harvesting advice, and traditional medicinal uses are provided below.

Goldenrod (Solidago virgaurea)

Family: Asteraceae

Common names: Goldenrod, European Goldenrod, True Goldenrod, Woundwort

Goldenrod is a beautiful hardy perennial with graceful spikes of brilliant golden-yellow flowers that bloom from late summer into autumn. A favourite in cottage gardens, wildflower meadows, herb gardens, and pollinator plantings, it attracts bees, butterflies, and many other beneficial insects while adding a splash of colour late in the growing season.

Traditionally valued in European herbal medicine, goldenrod has long been used as a medicinal herb and was once applied to support wound healing. The vibrant flowers have also been used to produce a natural yellow dye.

Your plant is shipped during its winter dormancy as a bare-root crown with healthy growing buds already formed but little or no top growth (see example image below). Simply plant it into your garden over winter and it will emerge vigorously in spring, returning year after year with minimal care.

Growing instructions can be found below.

Russian Comfrey Crowns (Symphytum × uplandicum)

Russian comfrey is a highly valuable perennial for food forests, orchards, and organic garden systems. Known for its vigorous growth, deep root system, and ability to accumulate nutrients, it is widely used as a dynamic accumulator, compost ingredient, mulch plant, and natural garden fertiliser.

This hardy, low-maintenance plant produces abundant foliage that can be repeatedly harvested throughout the growing season and returned to the soil to support healthy plant growth. Once established, it forms a productive clump that returns year after year.

Each order includes 1 strong crown cutting with a growing tip. Plant directly into your garden over winter and it will emerge strongly in spring. Growing instructions and uses can be found below.

Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis)
Family: Lamiaceae
Common names: Lemon Balm, Balm Gentle

Lemon Balm is a vigorous, easy-to-grow perennial herb from the mint family, loved for its fresh citrus fragrance, soothing medicinal properties, and delicious flavour. Adaptable and generous, it thrives in a wide range of soil conditions and produces abundant growth throughout the season. With regular harvesting, we typically enjoy 3–4 cuts each year.

Lemon Balm dies down in winter. You will receive a dormant plant. 

Below you’ll find growing instructions, medicinal uses, and herbal preparation ideas.

True Peppermint Rhizomes (Mentha × piperita)

A true, high-quality peppermint selected for its strong, clean flavour and reliable vigour - distinct from common garden mints often sold under the same name. This is the same commercial strain grown at KoruKai Herb Farm and is rarely available through retail outlets.

Plants are supplied as dormant rhizomes with active growing tips, shipped nationwide during winter dormancy for easy establishment.

Frost tolerant and highly productive once established.

Peppermint dormant plant (see image below) is suitable for a 20 cm planter or pot and will have growing shoots in place.