Community goal comes to fruition
An edible garden for the people of Woolston will educate about healthy eating while bringing the community together, its organiser says. Green thumbs are getting ready for a planting day in Christchurch’s Radley Park, where more than 30 fruit trees will go into the ground tomorrow.
The project, dubbed the Roimata Food Commons, was just beginning but would likely be ‘‘ongoing for a long time’’, project coordinator Michael Reynolds said.
‘‘This is just the very first step in creating a food system in the park.
‘‘The idea is to activate as much of the space as possible, while still maintaining areas for recreation and community activities.’’
Reynolds said when he moved to the area about two-and-a-half years ago, he was attracted to the idea of his daughters attending local school Te Waka Unua for its bilingual unit.
Being engaged in his daughter’s education at the decile-two school also formed some of the inspiration for the renewable, healthy food source for the area.
‘‘I became involved with the board of trustees . . . and the reality of the food the people were having access to, and could afford, wasn’t really giving children the best chance of growing up in a healthy way.’’
He said he, along with the trust formed to get the Roimata Food Commons off the ground, would seek to change that.
Education on planting and types of trees would take place so people would know the right time to pick and eat different fruit, or which apples to take home for cooking. But that was just one of ‘‘a whole lot of spinoff benefits that come with it’’.
Buy-in from locals would be a focus and could prove effective in increasing security and residents having closer relationships, Reynolds said.
‘‘It’s a nice area to live and there are lots of nice people here, but there’s not a lot of community.
‘‘I feel like this particular project is a chance not only to educate people on how to grow food, but it’s also an opportunity to provide a place where people can get together and get to know their neighbours and form relationships.’’
More than 30 people had signed on for tomorrow’s plantings – the official beginning of a project that would continue for years to come.
‘‘We also want to undertake some activities to help regenerate the native biodiversity of the area and we want to improve the health of the Heathcote River, which runs through the park.’’
Volunteer numbers for the plantings were almost at capacity, but people were encouraged to head to Radley Park to see the project getting started, he said.
"The idea is to activate as much of the space as possible, while still maintaining areas for recreation and community activities." Michael Reynolds