First stop was in newish apartments to see Rachel. She has a shared space outside her home in a block of apartment type housing and is renting to buy. She has spoken to others and has generated some interest which is great. She spoke as if whatever goes in she will share. On her balcony type space we talked about what else she can plant and I will support her with this space as well. So this will be one bed in the shared space for Rachel to look after.
Next I phoned Joe Florian as he was close to Rachel but he asked me to meet him at Glen Innes Primary for a chat about the school beds he has been invigorating. Short story is he has a lawn mowing business contracted to TRC so is moving around lots of the housing projects and while he knows little about gardening he saw lots of whanau struggling and lots of bare land. He wanted to set up gardens but didn’t know where to start, when the school 8-10 bare beds were suggested, and with the Principals sign off, he started to plant seedlings, not really knowing anything about gardening. He’s done well and is supplying food parcels with harvests going out to the neediest whanau in the school. He’s enjoyed the children’s input and really wants to make a difference, but feels hampered by his lack of knowledge.
He is now dreaming of taking the school gardens further, of setting up gardens in transitional housing spaces and is encouraging whanau in the apartments that surround him. He is excited and passionate about the potential and what can be achieved.
So firstly I told him the school program “garden to table’ is what they need for the school and this is much bigger than I can fit into my day. So will connect him to Candace for that. As he’s keen to learn as much as possible that he can apply for a bed at his house to set a garden up in his space so I can mentor him there.
I also suggested he attend our next workshops coming up and he’s very keen. He doesn’t care what it is, he just wants to learn. He’s particularly keen to learn about maramataka and seed raising, to save money and stay with our heritage seeds after reading lots about Koanga gardens, but also so he can teach others. Genuine nice guy with lots of energy and passion.
The Ghul whānau parents have no English so Miriam called them to explain what I can do, but the daughter was home and the son also, both with excellent English so I managed fine. They have several beds already, but the daughter said they weren’t that successful with the soil being waterlogged so they are keen to see what I can do. We decided to place one of our beds on top of one of theirs and fill with soil and we’ll plant up. They’re very keen to have capsicums and tomatoes and chilies of course, but I explained we are a few months off that time to plant so will be starting with the usual winter crops. They seem nice people so hopefully we can teach bokashi and maybe some composting techniques to enrich their soil and they’ll be away.
Last visit was to a maybe 80 year old who almost pulled me inside telling me this was the way to get to her garden space. Then she showed me around her lounge and kitchen area as if I was a prospective buyer and she was the land agent, before telling me to sit down and she’d get me something to eat and drink. I realised I was in trouble when I went to open the back door which didn’t open and she said I couldn’t get out that way! She said we had to go out the front door again and I said I had to keep moving as I had other appointments so started back out where she very reluctantly followed and her old legs struggled to move with two walking sticks… so we had to renegotiate the piles of books etc and several cats, and wait as she relocked each door as she went through it. It was hard to stay on track as she recounted her last 70 odd years finishing with her white cat just had $801 spent on it. That was the one I kicked as it ran screaming round the lounge and got caught up in my legs. Ummmm….
We looked at the space she was thinking of placing tipu tubs. She then desperately wanted me to look at her hens which are no longer laying but she can’t bear to dispatch. Their space is beautifully clean and they look well fed and happy. No concerns here. I will broach the subject of rehoming through SPCA if she’s interested at the next visit, in case they are a burden to her. Fortunately it started to rain heavily, so I saw her to her door and dashed to my ‘next appt’.
Talk soon.
Rākau Tautoko 