Sustenance & sustainability

Community gardens and edible plantings are definitely de rigeur. Sarah Foy talked to two Taranaki groups - one new, one a year old - about getting their hands dirty for the sake of neighbourhood relations.

Taranaki Daily News

Sometimes Marfell hits the news for the wrong reasons: chemicals found in a children's playground that was once a city dump, a school sports field ripped up by vandals, the dodgy connections of some residents.

But it leads the pack in other respects. Last June, Marfell was the first New Plymouth suburb to plant a community garden. A year on, things are flourishing.

Opunake has attracted less controversy over the years, but environmentally minded residents there have kicked off the same sort of initiative. Last spring, a vege garden was laid out on a patch of ground owned by Opunake High School and, this winter, work began on clearing and planting up land in readiness for a community orchard.

The Marfell garden was the brainchild of a group of people including those who sit on the board of the community house, run by the Combined Culture Trust. Treasurer Michelle Ross was one; so was current garden spokeswoman Beth Caughley and former coordinator Janeen Page.

Michelle lived in Marfell, on and off, for about 40 years and remembers her dad's great garden on the family's Cook Street property. Now an accountant, she worked at Egmont Roses and Westown Garden Centre (in the Wallath Road premises) as well as doing farmwork and horticulture training.

These days she lives outside the neighbourhood, but keeps a garden in a series of pots and a firm interest in her old home turf. Her interest in community gardens was piqued about the same time fruit and vege prices started to skyrocket.

"I thought it was a good idea, particularly because a lot of people have no idea how to set up a garden, or know what to grow.

"I'm quite an environmentalist as well and getting back to basics seems to me a good idea."

Marfell's stock of state housing makes some residents transient and means they are reluctant to put down roots, literally, Beth points out.

"A lot of it was showing people what could be done in a short time with good results and not a lot of effort.

"We sat down, we had a piece of paper and wrote down what we wanted in a community garden. For some people, it was social; for most, it was to learn so they could do it themselves."

The garden was laid out and digging began just two weeks after the initial meetings last winter. There were about 20 participants, representing 10 cultures, Beth says.

Over the past year, at least six garden beds have gone into the back lawn behind the community house at 56 Cook Street. Another two consist of raised timber beds at the front.

Beth says different beds were prepared using different methods. One garden was formed after working-bee participants laid newspaper on top of the grass, covered the paper with sawdust and poured compost on top.

Several other garden beds were double dug, which means the soil was cultivated to a depth of two spade blades. It's a technique used on land being cultivated for the first time; it helps aerate or fluff up soil, giving roots room to spread.

Colour was added with a graffiti mural and a scarecrow the local kids dubbed Mr Bob.

Much of the hard toil was undertaken at working bees before a variety of free workshops got under way on subjects like seed raising, composting, indigenous crops, fermented foods and graffiti art.

The list of veg grown in the last year is impressive. Beth reels off everything from berries, beans and beetroot to swedes, strawberries and sweet corn. There are also herbs, some fruit trees and flowers.

Marfell Kindergarten donated trees, as did Wanganui grower Mark Christensen, renowned for his breeding of the Monty's Surprise apple.

Colson Road Nursery fronted up with seedlings while other businesses and organisations provided funds and goods. Two grants, each totalling $5000, came from two national initiatives: Feeding Our Futures and He Ha (Healthy Eating Healthy Action).

One grant helped pay for equipment like garden tools and a glasshouse (yet to be erected) and the other paid for the workshop tutors, the associated resources and lunch for participants.

Fish manure comes courtesy of a neighbour and horse manure from local miniature horse Crackerjack.

There are plans to build more raised beds and install the greenhouse and a water tank.

Since the garden's inception, Beth has noticed more private gardens springing up. She's expanded her own circle of friends and says, sometimes, it's hard to get keen workers to down tools. On occasion, ukuleles are produced and blankets thrown on the ground.

"Those are positive times. There's a really good vibe. It's brought in really good ties. Now the guy across the road mows the lawns and the people next door keep an eye on the place. "

When produce was abundant, it was put in a box out front so passer-bys could help themselves. But, laughs Beth, everyone was too polite to take without first asking.

Garden helper Judith McEwen lives across the road from the community centre and says all age groups are represented on garden open days.

"I would not say that it's just women of a certain age - there's a whole bunch of kids.

"It would be nice to see more progress with some of the people who have been here for a long time. I think the knowledge could be beneficial for a lot of people - even to get some silverbeet out back.

"This place has been known for having fabulous gardens back in the day."

Michelle judges the garden's success by the fact that people remain enthusiastic and by anecdotal comments from those who marvel at how easy gardening can be. "It's a slow process, but it's starting to have a flow-on effect," she says.

The garden pioneers only wanted to start small and demonstrate how much could grow in a small area without the need of backbreaking work.

"We do expect, though, that as more and more people become involved, they will want to have their own bits. One thing I would like to see in the future is an allotment-type system," Michelle says.

And producing fresh food has not just buoyed the community, it's earnt it a Taranaki Regional Council environment award. In May, the garden was applauded by TRC for promoting and facilitating community sustainability.

An hour south, an Opunake community garden was kickstarted by members of the town's Sustainability Group. The 20-strong group came together last year after word-of-mouth talk about a farmers' market and other related projects.

"The interest was out there and no doubt it was fuelled with concern for the planet and peak oil issues," says member Peter Clement, an Opunake High School teacher.

Their first project was an edible garden on land owned by the high school. Planting began last October and over summer, tons of seasonal veg including artichokes, tomatoes, lettuce, capsicums and beans were harvested. As in the Marfell garden, helpers share the tasty rewards.

Some is also used in high school cooking classes and extra produce has been taken to a local rest home. Lawn clippings and horse manure add to the garden's organic goodness. The garden workers oversee the high school's worm farm, which sits near the garden.

In June this year, a second Opunake project run by the Sustainability Group got under way on waste land owned by the South Taranaki District Council. Not visible from the road, the land bordering Te Namu Pa sits beside a stream and is accessed from a track off Hickey Place.

"We live above it and look down upon it," explains Sarah Edwards, another Sustainability Group member. The initial idea was to get some natives planted and a shelter belt established. Last month, school students and other volunteers helped the group plant 400 juvenile trees donated by the Taranaki Tree Trust. Phase two will be the orchard. The group is aiming for a scrummy range that would include feijoas, apples and plums. Sarah is hoping to source heritage seeds or plants.

The group is leasing the land from STDC over the next five years for the peppercorn rental of $1 a year. "Initially we were overwhelmed when we thought about taking over the lease," she says. "We just wanted to get some trees in the ground. But once the excitement of knowing we had the certainty of five years sunk in, the group decided there was enough of us to make a commitment."