Gardening course needs new home
A new location is needed for an organic gardening course once held in Paremoremo. Run through NorthTec, the 30-week course used to take place on Sanders Reserve. However starting from February next year, students will need a new garden to tend to.
Course tutor Ruth Wood says she’s looking for property owners who need some help tending to their vegetable garden and orchard, and are willing to let students in for the duration of the course. She says she’d love for it to be a ‘‘reciprocal relationship’’.
‘‘They provide us with space, and we actually help them,’’ she says. ‘‘If I’ve got 10 or 12 students, it’s amazing what they can achieve in a very short space of time.’’
Wood says a location with good road access in the Albany, Coatesville or Paremoremo area would be ideal. A covered area is also needed for the indoor teaching component, as are basic kitchen and bathroom facilities. The course runs four days a week and covers topics such as vegetable growing for all seasons, composting and liquid teas. She says a lot of the learning is really about reconnecting.
‘‘If you’re growing organically, then you’re not consuming large quantities of chemicals. You’re actually going to get your hands dirty, you’re actually going to connect back with the earth.’’