Volunteer Days - Thursday @ Saturday 10 am to 2 pm
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Volunteer Days - Thursday @ Saturday 10 am to 2 pm ***
Early days & site establishment
Our History
Post-earthquake Recovery
Pandemic gardening
Community engagement video & future plans
1999 - 2006
Early Days
The Christchurch South Community Gardens began in 1999 as a University of Canterbury post-graduate project on Social Impact Assessment (SIA). Located on a bare Christchurch City Council (CCC) site on Strickland Street, Sydenham the project investigated the methodology of investigating the social impact of such a project on the local community. The gardens are the principal project of the Christchurch South Community Gardens Trust and operate a resource centre out of a 1905 building previously owned by Geoffrey Few. In 1999, the gardening group working onsite received funding from the council and other funders to develop half an acre of gardens, a multi-stage composting system and a trial of composting household kitchen waste using the EM (effective micro-organisms) Bokashi composting system. During this trial period, the developer of the Bokahi system, Dr. Teruo Higa visited us and provided feedback on our initial setup. Initially, construction materials were sourced through the Recovered Materials Foundation (RMF) Waste Exchange Service. From 1999 to 2006, over 40 businesses contributed recycled materials to the operations including up to 10 tonnes of concrete fire hydrants, timber, paint, plastic plant pots etc.
Building Continues, Resource Consent & CSCGT joins the CHS
From June 2003 to November 2003, we partnered with Christchurch City Council, the RMF and other community groups to engage a group of men in the Enable Works (an ACC rehabilitation programme for Brain Injury clients) to build wooden planter boxes and seating. A carpenter from Tas-Tech tutored the men over 6 months in building 17 pieces of furniture that were used for a CCC staff roof top garden. Men from the Salisbury St Foundation helped offload the massive, over-sized ex-gib timber pallets that the furniture was constructed with. In 2004, CCC voted to retain the use of the site as a community garden with the regional council granting the site a commercial resource consent later that year. In 2006, the Christchurch South Community Gardens Trust was formed to independently manage and lease the land from CCC. In 2006, we were one of the first community gardens to sign up to the Canterbury Horticultural Society and compete in their seasonal garden competitions.
2010-2011
Post-earthquake Recovery
After the 2010-11 earthquakes, our resource centre desperately needed repairs to all the windows and sills that were rotting from exposure to the elements. The repair was funded by The William Toomey Trust and The Sargood Bequest and carried out by Cricklewood Contractors. The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) funded the purchase of paint with volunteers from Holcrim Cement painting the building. Whakaraupō Lyttleton artist, Lily Duval, painted the sign above the front door of the resource center. Former board member Peter initiated the installation of a camera security system which was funded through a Pub Charity grant.
2020-2022
Gardening During a Pandemic
During the COVID pandemic, social isolation restrictions required creative solutions for us to continue our mahi and continue productivity during isolation. General Manager, Christine, improved her home propagation facility in order to ensure a constant supply of plants for our shade house.
While we missed our March autumn market due to lockdown, our community continued to support us through generous donations made via our on-site koha box.
In 2020, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with a hangi led by community garden colleagues Nick and Loretta Te Paa and whanau for 60 volunteers and community supporters. Despite the Antarctic like conditions, delicious kai was shared by all and included chicken, lamb chops, stuffing, cabbage, carrots, kumara and potato. Our hangi baskets were woven using traditional raranga (weaving) techniques with each basket holding enough food for 50 people. Nick and Loretta continue to run the Riccarton Community Garden and Pātaka Trust at 18 Dilworth Street, Riccarton.
2023 - Onwards
The Gardens are Featured in an Engagement Video
In 2023, the gardens were featured in the Huihui Mai Engagement video by the Whakawhanake Kāinga Committee (Urban Growth Partnership for Greater Christchurch). You can learn more about the committee’s findings here.
MORE TO COME…
