State housing tenants create ‘urban farms’
Lower Hutt’s Naenae has long been a hotbed for state housing experimentation and Tracy Johnson is proud to be the latest guinea pig in a green thumbed pilot project.
The back lawn of Johnson’s state home has given way to neat rows of overturned soil in preparation for a new vegetable garden. She is the first person signed up to a programme which will have Housing New Zealand tenants growing vegetables in their backyards for themselves and others as part of the Urban Kai Network.
Run by the Common Unity Project, Urban Kai seeks to facilitate ‘‘intensive urban agriculture’’ in the Hutt Valley. Growers keep a portion of what they produce in their ‘‘urban farms’’ and the rest goes to feeding the community.
Johnson said she ‘‘jumped at the chance’’ to host an urban farm.
She recalled her grandmother’s state house in Napier had a small vegetable garden and fruit trees, and said it was a shame many HNZ tennants no longer kept gardens.
She was excited at the prospect of growing her own produce with help from the Urban Kai volunteers.
Co-ordinator Sarah Radke said it was great to have Housing New Zealand onboard with the project.
‘‘A lot of [HNZ sections] are quite large. They were originally intended to have large gardens, so it’s really satisfying to work to restore some of them.’’
Radke hoped Johnson’s urban farm was the beginning of a lasting partnership with HNZ. Some staff had even turned up to help muck in in Johnson’s garden.
Community group housing project manager Teresa Hayes said Urban Kai was great for promoting healthy eating and lifestyles.
‘‘We support tenants growing their own veges at home. We just want to see how this goes, but ultimately it would be great to see more tenants in their gardens.’’
Since Urban Kai began about four years ago at Epuni Primary School, it had expanded to 10 ‘‘units’’ across the Hutt Valley.
Common Unity also had urban farms at Rimutaka Prison, Waterloo Community Garden, and Epuni Care and Protection.
Radke said the network had taken off in the last three months and in that time had produced about 160 kilograms of fruit and vegetables. The ultimate goal was to be able to provide enough fresh produce to feed 2500 people.
Johnson’s neighbours were so impressed with her new garden they had also signed up to the Urban Kai pilot.