Project sows seeds of success

A new social enterprise has seen a 2.5 acre garden established in Kerikeri with help from five former NorthTec students.

The partnership between NorthTec and the Ngati Rangi Development Society has resulted in the students, who studied horticulture and sustainable rural development, gaining employment and a productive vegetable garden being developed near the Old Packhouse Market.

Produce from the garden will be sold at the market every Saturday morning for the next few months. The wide range of vegetables grown for sale includes potatoes, kumara, peruperu [Maori potatoes], carrots and broccoli.

The project, which started last July, now aims to develop a further plot of 20 acres in the area.

The first five employees studied at NorthTec’s Kaikohe and Kerikeri campuses, gaining the National Certificate in Horticulture (Level 3), or the level 4 Certificate in Sustainable Rural Development (SRD).

‘‘This is an ideal employment opportunity for post-tertiary students who have a real will to learn,’’ project manager Rob Downing says.

‘‘They will be involved in the full spectrum of working the land; planning, preparing sites, sowing seeds, nurturing plants, preparing fertilisers, weeding, harvesting and presenting produce at the markets.’’