Kia ora Aro Valley,
Winter's arrived (my mum
blames my birthday for the
arrival of winter every year!). We've planted broadbeans and lupins to feed our soil, pruned
the fruit trees so they'll prosper next spring, and we've harvested
lots of cauliflowers and
coriander.
In our potluck before last, we had a visioning session which
was inspiring for the group and led us to ask, what do we like about the Kai o Te Aro community gardens? Why are
we each involved? And what's our vision for the future?
So I thought I would share with you my very own personal perspective on why Kai o Te Aro (and community gardens in general) are so phenomenal.
I grew up in Auckland and my parents have always grown fruit trees, but we only ever had a short stint with vegetables when I was young. The taste of my first home-grown fresh peas direct from the garden still lingers in my memory. After leaving home, I travelled and was blessed to WWOOF on a few farms in France and Argentina, for a few weeks each (that is, "Willing Workers on Organic Farms"). I was amazed at how easy and fulfil
ling it was to grow my own food and eat each meal according the seasons and whatever was growing in the backyard (I also learnt to milk goats but that's another story!). Coming back to New Zealand, I wanted to make sure that this new-found love of growing food became part of my everyday life.
So I made veggie plots in my back garden. But being a renter meant that I was moving flats often, leaving behind pumpkins that would be ready in a month, green tomatoes and soil I'd carefully composted. Community gardens were the answer!
Kai o te Aro sprung up three years ago and I heard how it was going through a few friends of friends. So I braved it one Sunday, and joined in at a working bee. What I found was an easy going bunch of people, lots of laughter and people all learning from each other. If I don't know if a little sprout is a weed or a vegetable, I ask and someone will know. If someone has a great idea, we all listen, chip in and run with it. We're a collaborative group that is non-hierarchical which is pretty amazing to see in action.
And aside from the pure joy of watching food grow on trees and appear out of the ground,
we garden organic so I know there's no nasties when I eat it. Eating local food means not eating so much oil - no transport over roads or across oceans. I haven't done the sums, but it feels good to know I'm part of something that is a tiny wee baby step towards reducing climate change.
Anyway, I'm sure there's more or different things others in the group would say, but that's my personal story of why I keep coming back each month or fortnight to the working bees and potluck planning meetings (did I mention that there are some incredible cooks in the group...?).
We welcome new gardeners and passionate Aro Valleyites to join in our monthly w
orking bees. We meet at 10am outside the Aro Valley Community Centre, 48 Aro St, on the first and third Sunday of the month. Just show up to join in! To get on our contact list or find out more about this project please email us at arogardener@gmail.com. You can also find us on our ooooby page www.ooooby.ning.com/group/kai_o_te_aro
Have a good one,
Lillian.
PS. Here's a before and after shot of The Orchard after a recent working bee (and I'm holding a proud potato!)
