First visit was cancelled today with a sick child needing picking up and Marsha also wasn’t able to meet today, so I went straight to the next appointment to *Sally. She is lovely and has a large grassy space in her backyard. We chose a space handy to her kitchen so it doesn’t get forgotten about. *Sally talked about the price of kai right now and wanting to teach her moko more about where food comes from. Access is fairly easy thru a gate.
Kiani is a homeschooling Mum and her garden was in tubs due to their very steep drive and difficult access. This was a second visit. The family had a new baby just before Xmas, and after Xmas they went North to whanau for two months so nothing stood much of a chance and had almost all bolted to seed. They still had cherry toms, strawberries and lots of basil, which Kiani had planted from a supermarket plant which is awesome. We talked about why things go to seed and how to save that seed so all is not lost. The family is vegan so the plants they grow are even more important and she’s keen to get another round in. She feels she’s learned a lot and I agreed what might be perceived as failures, are often great learning curves. We looked over the strawberries she grew in pallets and she is going to add to that with another couple of pallets. She’s looking to add another couple of pallets to use on another fence line to grow lettuce and bok choi in. This will leave the deeper beds for things needing more depth. This is a great use of space. Her compost pile has dog poo added when her parents are there, so thinking about ways around that. She still hasn’t had a go at the bokashi but hasn’t been home so that’s her next focus. I gave her seeds and gloves but didn’t give her another bin. Will see how this goes. Kiani is really keen to come to workshops and hopes that the messages filter through the homeschool network via Kirsty.
Talk soon,
Tricia
Rākau Tautoko 