Today I had a second visit with Kimiwai and her 6 week old baby. She came out smiling and keen to show me the garden and told me they had eaten out of it just last night! She was bouncy and happy when I produced the last of the lettuce seedlings from the school workshop which we tucked in every possible corner. She confirmed I had the right phone number but she sometimes doesn’t have credit, or she hadn’t been able to get to it in time. She said they love the box bin, meaning bokashi, and had even used it like compost in their back bed of potatoes. Said it was saving a lot of scraps going into the waste bag and I complimented her on doing the right thing and I’d get her a second bin and some seeds and drop them in maybe next week. She seemed really chuffed.
I was smiling from ear to ear as I got in the car. Her enthusiasm was contagious and I felt recharged, like she’d refilled my tank after a long morning.
A second visit for Mariyam, but unfortunately she returned from overseas to find their Chickens had got out and decimated the garden. She said they were supposed to get eggs but they don’t lay and asked me why. I explained there are several reasons. Are they old enough? Do they have enough water? Do they have enough nutrition? She thought water might be a problem and we talked about keeping fresh water always available. We also talked about checking all the fencing before she replants. I gave Mariyam gloves, a planting guide and will post her some seeds to get her started again, though I’m not sure she has time. She talked about one year growing so many chillies and peppers she dried and ground some into powder and froze bags and bags. She had only recently finished the last bag saying how much money she saved by doing this. She didn’t think Bokashi worked for her but said she might try again.
As Razeea has no English, Mariyam accompanied me there. We had delivered her garden but not delivered seedlings because she had started working and we couldn’t find a time to connect. I could tell by the seedlings and a few bits she was doing in tubs etc, she was going to be keen, and I wasn’t disappointed. The delivered bed was now full of plants like different types of spinach, gourds, snake beans, chillies and bitter melons. I complimented her growing skills and it was great to see the bed fully utilised while the vertical climbers scrambled up fruit trees and any bit of trellising she could tie up to aid its ascent. She asked if I was able to bring her some seedlings and I said I would drop some in one day, She is keen to get a choko plant which I will happily drop off to her from my stash, but she needs no further help from me and is well on her way to being self-sufficient in greens.
Next stop for today was Lorraine who had a bed delivered a while ago but as she started work, could only meet me after 5 or a Saturday. She was pretty excited at her bed getting planted and thrilled with the plants. We discussed using bokashi and she’s keen to give that a go. Her bed sits a little under an eave and was incredibly dry, so we spent time talking about how to water and how to know when it’s too much or not enough, what’s the point of mulch etc. Lorraine was nearly jumping out of her skin after we finished planting and couldn’t wait to show her only child, a 16 yr old daughter. I couldn’t help but smile as I heard her calling excitedly to her daughter to check it out as I walked back up the drive.
Last visit was a second visit to Ashley whose garden was in full flush. She had just returned from collecting her kids from a school meeting for her older boy. She’s struggling with her sister’s dog digging but so very proud. I asked her what was the best thing about having a garden and she said ‘it’s saved my arse some nights when there was little to eat’ and one of her boys particularly loved the green silverbeet, spinach and especially loved the strawberries. This is cool to hear. I asked her how the bokashi was going and she said the kids took it down the back and emptied it and the smell nearly killed her. I re-explained how this works. She might try again. I gave her gloves, a planting guide and seeds. She was pretty stoked but seemed a bit quieter than last time we met.
I asked her how she was finding it here in this new place. When I asked her last time she was very happy, but today she said life is pretty hard. She’s just applied to be moved. It’s an OK place but the housing is pretty dense there and moving to a lesser built up space would be better for her family.
Rākau Tautoko 