Troppo Edible Jungle: Urban Food Forest in Action

Troppo is the hands-on, muddy-boots side of Vector Group — a living urban food forest in Te Puke where theory meets practice. We grow and trial subtropical edibles that show what is possible in warm Bay of Plenty conditions.

Explore our food forest articles and the national Kai Resilience network.

Theory Meets the Dirt: Planning Your Tropical Escape

If you’ve ever stepped into Troppo, you know that we live and breathe the “edible jungle” lifestyle. We are the hands-on, muddy-boots side of the Vector Group family, serving as a living laboratory for what’s possible in an urban food forest. Today, we’re bringing that experience to your screen with the New Zealand Orchard Planner. https://orchardplanner.troppo.nz/

Hosted right here on the Troppo platform, the planner is designed to help you visualize your space before you ever dig a hole. We specialize in the “functional forest”—the idea that every plant, from a subtropical banana to a simple sprig of rosemary, has a job to do. The planner helps you navigate these relationships, showing you how to use syntropic successions to create a low-maintenance, high-yielding paradise.

Whether you’re looking to propagate your own nursery stock or design a full-scale community orchard, this tool is your digital companion. It’s time to stop dreaming about a food forest and start mapping it out.

Want to collaborate? Reach out to us through the planner site to get involved: 

Kai Resilience & food security

• Kai Resilience — all programme posts
• Kai Resilience network — national food-resilience hub
• Free NZ grower tools — planting calendar & food-forest planner
• Food forests — design, tours and community stories
• Community & Te Puke — local BOP initiatives
• Vector Group Charitable Trust (CC45966)