E Kai joins festival lineup
A garden planted to feed the needy is now part of a Taranaki-wide garden festival.
Since its inception in 2013, E Kai Community Gardens in Eltham have been supplying fresh produce for the Eltham and Kaponga Foodbanks.
The project was started by Howard Hughes and his late wife, Janice, assisted by many volunteers. About three years ago, retired farmers Malcolm and Jill Pease took over running the garden after Hughes stepped down following his wife’s death.
They spend so much time there, Jill has downsized her own vegetable garden at home.
‘‘It is a fair bit of work. Malcolm knows if I’m not at home he’ll find me here,’’ she said.
Eight raised garden beds are crammed with vegetables – silverbeet, cabbages, Asian greens, sprouting broccoli and leeks, and there’s a strawberry bed, a greenhouse, compost bins, a worm farm and rainwater storage systems off the neighbouring roof. Rhubarb flourishes and there are peas flowering against a wall.
Now, along with the work of keeping a steady supply of goodness for the Foodbanks, they’re getting the garden ready for its debut in the Sustainable Backyards Trail from October 26 to November 4.
Malcolm is hopeful the festival might flush out a fellow gardener or two willing to grow some pumpkins or corn for the Foodbanks, as the E Kai garden was already full.
Community engagement officer for Sustainable Taranaki, Lisa Kitson, said there was a lot of interest in the trail, which aims to inspire people to live more sustainably. The gardeners taking part share ideas and skills including organic gardening, keeping chickens and bees, renewable energy, recycling and other green living skills.
This year the Sustainable Backyards Trail has been included in the brochure for the Powerco Taranaki Garden Festival, which had created a lot of interest. Visit www.sustainabletaranaki.org.nz/ sustainable-backyards-taranaki/ for more information.