Community gardening soars in popularity

hurrah! new Zealand is seeing demand soar for more communal growing spaces. This is driven by the cost-of-living crises and a global pandemic of loneliness that is pushing demand for spaces to grow food and connect with others. existing community gardens, like the one at al noor mosque, are thriving, which is impressive. and more are popping up all over the country, which is so heartening to see.

Covid 19, too, was a major contributor to the growing-your-own movement. Suddenly, carving up the back lawn to grow food wasn’t as silly as it sounded.

But with the increasing demand, the downside is that already stretched resources are under even more pressure. Feeding people is what we communal gardeners do; it is in our DNA. Many gardens have pantries or pātaka, where the garden may share excess produce, and these are also often places where residents can leave excess produce from their home gardens for others.

waste not, want not

at this time of the year, excess produce can easily go to waste in the garden. i am very guilty of this and i have promised myself ‘i will not waste’ this season, so the team at Kiwi Gardener and i want to encourage you to share your excess homegrown goodies with your wider community. Take it to work, find a food bank or support a community pantry.

it is promising to see various local governments and residential developers setting aside space for designated communal growing areas in new subdivisions, as well as more and more schools creating communal growing spaces for families and children. residents are starting to look at empty sections or local parks and open spaces differently, wondering if what seems like unused land could be used to grow food and connect with neighbours. my advice is to ask the local authorities and make it happen – knock on a few doors. everyone has the right to grow their own food!

Many community gardens offer workshops on how to make compost, grow seeds, plant fruit trees etc. our members hold preserving workshops most weekends in march. There is plenty to learn and hundreds of people are willing to share their experiences.

First community garden tour

This month will see what’s thought to be the country’s first-ever community garden bus tour, marking 25 years of the CCGA in canterbury. nine diverse gardens will open their gates on 2 march to those with a passion for community gardening. Peggy Kelly, the Patron of the ccga, has wanted to do such a tour for years. This year she and the ccga team are making it happen in partnership with another charity Peggy enjoys fundraising for, the St albans Pavilion and Pool rebuilding project. it’s an opportunity for ccga to better appreciate some of the gardens that comprise its amazing network, she says.

“as Patron of ccga, i do what i can to support its extraordinary growth spurt,” says Peggy. “everybody else on the board has day jobs whereas i, on the pension, have the luxury of disposable time.

“community gardens meet many needs across the motu as our society shifts to keep pace with modern technological demands. In some respects, they have become significant places of replenishment and purpose. Each one is different because it’s shaped by its own setting. That’s part of the joy of them.

“it’s always powerful when two lively entities come together to support each other. That’s what this bus tour will do, it’ll be interesting to see what new energy comes out of it. energy is the key. Community energy naturally ebbs and flows. Creating opportunities to boost energy is a tonic to any enterprise. This bus tour is going to be a high-energy day!”

Healthy competition

The ccga, along with the richmond community Garden in christchurch, are holding a Pickles and Preserves competition on 23 march. anyone is welcome to enter.

how are your pickles, jams and jellies looking? do you think your concoction of preserves could be award winners? many community gardens have taken out the top awards over the years in this event now run by ccga, with many still displaying certificates from previous years on their walls.

i was a judge last year and boy the competition was tough! Such a fun event.