BLUE PETAL UPCOMING EVENTS
No-Culture, No-Fuss CHEESEMAKING with Brigitte
Saturday 30 August, 1:00pm – Blue Petal HQ
We’re thrilled to welcome Brigitte to Blue Petal for the first time! A lifelong foodie and wellness guide, Brigitte brings a warm and practical approach to everything she does—from natural food and herbal preserving to yoga, hypnotherapy, and healing arts.
In this relaxed, hands-on demonstration, Brigitte will guide us through the process of making delicious, nourishing dairy creations at home—no fancy cultures or specialised equipment required. It’s cheesemaking made simple and joyful.
You’ll learn how to make:
🧀 Homemade Cream Cheese
🧀 Mascarpone
🧀 Mozzarella
🧈 Fresh Butter
As we watch, taste, and learn together, you'll gain confidence and practical tips to create these staples in your own kitchen—whatever your lifestyle. Expect a session full of laughter, inspiration, and a celebration of real food.
Spaces are limited, bookings essential through martina@bluepetalnz.com
PANCAKES & PESTO - A Herb Workshop for Young Foodies
We’re delighted to be part of Feastival Taranaki 2025, a celebration of local flavours, creativity, and connection. This September, Blue Petal brings you two unique workshop experiences crafted with herbs, heart, and hands-on fun.
📅 Wednesday 3 September | 🕓 4:30–6:30pm | 📍 Blue Petal HQ
A fun, flavour-filled session designed to spark herb-loving curiosity in younger cooks and food explorers.
This hands-on, herb-packed workshop is ideal for kids aged 9+ and their caregivers. Together, you’ll roll, taste, mix and create:
- Plaited bread with garden-fresh herbs
- Herby hummus & pesto
- Mini pancakes with sweet herbal toppings
- DIY tea infusions from seasonal plants
🫙 All ingredients are provided, and everything made can be tasted or taken home!
🎟️ $55 per ticket — includes one child and a complimentary pass for a parent or caregiver.
🌿 Come hungry, leave inspired. A delicious afternoon of creativity, connection, and seasonal herbal magic.
🍸 INFUSED & DISTILLED - From Fruit Mash to Cocktail Glass
📅 Friday 5 September | 🕔 5:00–8:00pm | 📍 Blue Petal HQ
Join us for an immersive evening exploring the transformation of late-season fruit into something truly spirited.
While the still gently works its magic in the background, we’ll dive into the art of crafting beautiful botanical drinks. Enjoy hands-on fun with:
- Garden-to-glass cocktails & mocktails
- Shrub-style infusions using fresh herbs
- Sips, stories, and seasonal tasting inspiration
This warm, relaxed gathering is perfect for curious palates and herbal enthusiasts who love flavour experimentation. You’ll leave with recipes, ideas, and a deeper understanding of herbal mixology and small-batch distilling.
🎟️ $75 per person — includes all tastings, activities, and take-home inspiration.
🌿 Come curious, leave spirited.
BLUE PETAL previous workshops and events
Fresh & Simple Cheesemaking – Learn to Make Cheese at Home
TBA
Join us for a rich, hands-on cheesemaking demo and tasting led by Elizabeth from Drury Church Organic Shop—a passionate advocate for wholesome living and daily cheesemaker on their farm. Together, we’ll create and taste a beautiful variety of handcrafted cheeses:
✨ What we'll make and taste:
- Colomniere (a creamy Brie-style cheese
- Traditional Feta
- Labneh with unique spiced blends, including charcoal
- Soft cheeses with herbs, olives, nuts, and seeds
- Fermented cottage chees
You'll learn about the craft, cultures, and creativity behind making delicious, nourishing cheeses at home. Expect a relaxed, nourishing afternoon filled with flavour, connection, and real food wisdom.
Bookings essential. Spaces are limited.
All ingredients included. Tastings provided.
Cost: $80 per person
Hosted at Blue Petal, where we bring together people, plants and traditions in celebration of natural wellness.
Herbal Support for INFLAMMATION and IMMUNITY
TBA
In this hands-on, seasonal workshop, we’ll explore how herbs, food, and gentle practices have traditionally been used to support comfort, balance, and vitality.
Rooted in themes from our recent Herbal Wisdom episode, the session offers practical tools, time-honoured plant allies, and a nourishing space to reconnect with your body’s rhythms.
You’ll learn how to:
– Get to know herbs with a long history of use for tension, resilience, and seasonal care
– Explore the roles of stress, sleep, and seasonal imbalance
– Prepare simple herbal infusions and blends to take home
– Develop daily rituals for warmth and wellbeing through the winter
Leave with a deeper appreciation of plant-based support, delicious remedies, and a renewed connection to self, season, and nature.
Wellness from your Pantry: Herbal Support
Discover how everyday pantry staples like ginger, garlic, lemon, and honey can become your go-to winter wellness allies.
In this hands-on, 2.5-hour workshop, we’ll explore simple, time-honoured herbal preparations traditionally used to support resilience and comfort through the colder months — using ingredients you likely already have at home.
You’ll learn how to:
🌿 Create warming herbal infusions and oxymels
🍯 Prepare herbal honeys and syrups inspired by traditional seasonal care
🌬️ Use kitchen herbs to support respiratory ease and balance during winter
📦 Store and enjoy your remedies safely and effectively
You’ll leave with your own handcrafted remedy — plus the confidence to care for yourself and your whānau naturally and gently this winter.
Learn, Taste, Nourish -Herbal Support for Digestion
This hands-on workshop explores the deep connection between gut health and immune resilience — and how herbs have traditionally been used to support both.
Together, we’ll explore why digestion can feel different in autumn and how to care for it using time-honoured plant allies.
We'll look at herbs such as ginger, turmeric, astragalus, marshmallow, and slippery elm — all known for their traditional uses in supporting digestive comfort and overall wellbeing.
You’ll gain practical guidance on crafting warming herbal tonics, teas, and remedies that help nourish the gut through the colder months.
✨ This interactive session includes tastings, take-home herbal blends, and printed workshop notes to continue your herbal exploration at home.
Fermented Foods with Ruth - Saurkraut Style
Blue Petal is thrilled to host a hands-on fermentation experience with Ruth — Taranaki’s very own fermentation guru!
In this fun and interactive workshop, we’ll begin with an engaging introduction to the basics of fermentation: how it works, why it’s been valued for generations, and how to achieve the best results at home.
Then we’ll roll up our sleeves and get fermenting! Each participant will take home a jar of their own fermenting creation — along with the knowledge and confidence to keep experimenting in their own kitchen.🔗 To learn more about Ruth’s work, visit https://thrivewithruth.org/food/
Create & Celebrate with Herbs
by appointment
Looking for a memorable, hands-on experience in a relaxed rural setting?
At Blue Petal, we offer custom herbal workshops perfect for friends, family, hen parties, festive gatherings, or team events.
Enjoy a creative, seasonal activity where you’ll make your own culinary or botanical creations — all inspired by nature and made with care.
🌿 Choose from a variety of themed experiences:
– Culinary herb infusions: oils, vinegars, honeys & more
– Herbal crackers & antipasti boards
– Honey blends for self-care and gifting
– Festive herbal gifts & teas
– Shrubs, mocktails & botanical cocktails
📍 Hosted at Blue Petal HQ
✨ A joyful way to gather, learn, and create something special to take home.
We’re Going to the NZ House & Garden Tours!
We’re excited to announce that Blue Petal will be showcasing our handcrafted herbal products at the NZ House & Garden Tours event in New Plymouth!
Join us for an inspiring two-day celebration of beautiful homes, local artisans, and seasonal lifestyle inspiration.
📅 When: Friday 7 & Saturday 8 March | 🕘 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
📍 Where: Plymouth International Hotel, New Plymouth
🌿 Explore Blue Petal’s range of thoughtfully crafted herbal infusions, oxymels, seasonings, and more — all made with care using locally grown ingredients.
🎗️ Supporting a Cause: A portion of proceeds will be donated to the Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, supporting their vital work.
Come discover our offerings, connect with the world of herbs, and soak in the creative atmosphere of the tour!
HONEY for Wellbeing and Beauty
Explore the many traditional uses of honey — from nourishing kitchen remedies to natural skincare blends — in this sweet and sensory hands-on workshop.
We’ll begin with a gentle overview of how honey has been used in both culinary and wellness traditions to support seasonal comfort and everyday care. Then, we’ll roll up our sleeves and make a range of preparations that showcase honey’s versatility and charm.
🧴 Make & take your own samples, including:
– Golden turmeric milk with honey and spices
– A traditional oxymel blend with honey and herbs
– Gentle honey facial cleanser & exfoliator
– Honey-infused botanical face oil
– Rich and soothing honey lip balm
✨ All ingredients provided. You’ll leave with your own handcrafted creations and inspiration to continue the rituals at home.
Forage & Infuse: A Seasonal Herb Workshop
Join us for a hands-on workshop where you’ll forage for fresh herbs and learn how to infuse them into oils, vinegars, wine, and honey.
Connect with nature, expand your culinary creativity, and savour vibrant, garden-fresh flavours in this unique sensory experience.
Enjoy a guided tour of the expansive Blue Petal herb field, where herbalist Martina Murray will share her insights and practical tips in a relaxed, boutique-style session.
🌿 A nourishing afternoon of exploration, flavour, and inspiration — rooted in nature’s seasonal gifts.
Flavours Across Borders: An Ukrainian–Croatian Summer Workshop
🌿 Part of Feastival Taranaki – Summer Edition
Join Olena Williams (Ukraine) and Martina Murray (Croatia) at Blue Petal for a hands-on cultural cooking experience set in a lush herb garden.
✨ Learn to make traditional Ukrainian Vareniki (dumplings)
✨ Brew a refreshing Croatian shrub (herbal elixir)
✨ Enjoy garden walks, seasonal tastings, and shared stories
🎟 $89.66 | Complimentary transport available | Limited spaces
🎗 A portion of proceeds supports a community kitchen in Kharkiv, Ukraine
Book now and taste the flavours of summer with purpose!
BE REFRESHED!
🌿 Part of Feastival Taranaki – Summer Edition
Join us in the peaceful Ōkoki Valley for a hands-on, seasonal experience celebrating summer abundance.
Enjoy:
– A guided herb and garden harvest
– Preserving masterclass with Maria (jams, syrups, ferments & more)
– Shrub-making workshop with Martina
– Alfresco lunch on the verandah
🎟 $80 per person | Includes all materials and lunch
🚌 Complimentary transport available on request
Spaces are limited — book your place today!
Herbal Christmas Gifts
Celebrate the season with creativity, flavour, and herbal charm!
Join us for a joyful afternoon of crafting handmade gifts using fresh herbs and seasonal ingredients — perfect for sharing or savouring.
🎁 You’ll learn to make:
– Mulled wine spice packs
– Herb-infused honey
– Apricot surprise preserves
– Rosemary-infused wine
– Herb-marinated feta
This hands-on workshop is a perfect way to slow down, connect with nature’s bounty, and create meaningful gifts with a personal touch.
🎟️ Spaces are limited — book now and get ready to celebrate the holidays with delicious, homemade inspiration!
Taranaki Taste and Tales Discover Blue Petal: From Garden to Remedy
With the help of our diligent bees, Blue Petal grows a wide variety of fresh herbs in a dedicated herb field. These vibrant botanicals are carefully harvested and transformed into small-batch infused oils, tonics, seasonings, and more.
🌿 Come visit us to explore the world of herbs — wander through our seasonal herbal workshops, breathe in the aromas of our drying room, and peek into the still room where distillations and infusions take shape.
Learn about the plants we grow, the remedies we make, and the ways herbs can enrich everyday life — naturally, locally, and with care.
Blue Petal at "Winter Warmers": Mulled Wine and Herbs For Winter
The Grand Tasting Food Show - The Mayfair 69 Devon St West
Learning to make mulled wine is a delightful journey into the art of blending rich, fruity flavours with the aromatic and flavourful fresh herbs and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, star anis, nutmeg, lemon verbena, lemon balm.... Lets see which herbs and spices we need in winter!
A Flavourful Hands-On Workshop: Bread, Crackers and Antipasti
Join us for a deliciously creative session where you’ll learn to make — and take home — a selection of handcrafted favourites, perfect for entertaining or gifting:
🍷 Spiced mulled wine
🍞 Plaited herb bread
🌱 Seed crackers
🌿 Dukkah spice blend
🥣 Herb-packed hummus
All ingredients are provided, and you’ll leave with your own creations plus the know-how to recreate them at home.