Ezra Alexander aka DIY Plantman is using social media and podcasting to share the joys and challenges of growing an urban organic vegetable garden.
Ezra, who was a Young Achiever finalist this year, lives in Hobsonville, Auckland with his wife Ina and baby Bella. His business hours are filled up with being a plant technician for Ambius while in his spare time he’s busy developing his 6 x 4 metre plot into a highly productive organic fruit and vegetable garden.
Ezra has been involved in horticulture for seven years. He worked at Nga-Rakau Nurseries for most of that time, starting as a general nursery worker before gaining his apprenticeship and working his way up to being a head grower. He recently moved to Ambius, a company which designs, installs and services office plants for Auckland commercial businesses.
Ezra is very passionate about horticulture and his using his social media profile to educate people about plants, in particular food plants.
“I really like the organic approach and incorporating practices that will help the ecology and biodiversity in my garden. I’m trying to use the whole space with different species, being creative and teaching others along the way.”
Ezra became gardening advocate on social media when he realised that there was no-one hugely active in the space in New Zealand. He was following gardeners in the US, UK and Australia and listening to their podcasts but many aspects were not relevant to gardening in New Zealand. He decided to create that content himself.
In April 2019, he launched his Instagram page @diyplantman, where he posts gardening tips and advice and answers questions from his 3700 followers. In November 2019 he created the DIY Plantman Facebook page then in March this year he launched the Kiwi Gardening podcast with his friend Nick.
Ezra enjoys regularly documenting his gardening adventures and progress, which hasn’t been without its difficulties.
“For the first year in my garden, I really struggled with plants being under a lot of pest pressure. I got to the stage of thinking that I might have to spray but I really didn’t want to. I don’t think it is safe to put sprayed food in our mouths. I want my garden to be safe for me to grow, for us to eat and to know exactly what is in it.
“After that first year, the garden came right with ladybirds and other beneficial insects and it’s been a lot better. It showed me the importance of being patient. Patience is crucial in trying to grow organically. You have to give nature the time to find its way forward.”
Next on Ezra’s communication wishlist is to produce videos of staff working in nurseries, horticulture farms and orchards to show consumers what goes into producing plant food.
“Most people don’t actually know about the many services and people involved in getting fruit and vegetables onto supermarket shelves. I want to show people what goes into growing these products.”
These videos will also show young people about the diverse and rewarding career paths that horticulture offers.
“I loved the variety of work on offer at a nursery as you do so much different stuff throughout the year. I loved the diversity of what I was doing.”
This passion for change led to Ezra trying something new by moving to Ambius where he is responsible for the care and maintenance of indoor plants, living walls and outside garden areas at commercial premises throughout Auckland. He calls it ‘plantscaping’.
Ezra visits around eight clients each day, ensuring the plants are healthy and suit that particular office’s and has developed great relationships with them so he was able to maintain plants during lockdown when people were working from home.
“There is a such a wide number of roles in horticulture, and you develop a really wide set of skills. I loved working in the nursery and I love my current role. I’d encourage young people to look closely at horticulture as a career. It’s so rewarding.”