Garden with Us - Thursday & Saturday 10:30 am to 2:30 pm - BYO Gloves, Lunch Provided
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Garden with Us - Thursday & Saturday 10:30 am to 2:30 pm - BYO Gloves, Lunch Provided ***
Our mission is to support neighbourhood sustainability by building community and sharing skills across three key areas: crop production, skill development, and community wellbeing.
Core Work
Crop Production
We grow vegetable and orchard crops with a focus on using naturally derived fertilisers and inputs, including compost, manure, seaweed, and bone/blood meal. The liquid (leachate) produced from our warm farm is also used as a natural fertiliser. Liquid worm tea increases microbial activity in plant soil by increasing the number of good bacteria that help break down organic matter, thereby increasing the amount of nutrients in the soil that are available for plants. We avoid the use of synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fungicides by using effective, natural biological sprays, including our own home-made insecticides.
Neighbourhood Sustainability & Education
Improving local knowledge from the school to PHD
We work with a number of local schools and community organisations, teaching essential horticultural and crop production skills across a range of topics. Our Schools Programme focuses on teaching tamariki the basics of crop production, waste minimisation and composting. Signage around our site is designed to be engaging and informative. With signs near our composting system with information about the composting cycle and signs near our outdoor sink depicting water-saving strategies.
Community Development & Social Wellbeing
Working with the community to address local issues & improve wellbeing
We work with a number of agencies and community groups to support community development and social wellbeing in our area. Volunteers and community supporters are given first access to plants and produce in exchange for labour and materials for our resource centre. Current organisations we work with include Retirement Housing (Tea for 10), Refugee & Migrant Services (Gardening in a Temperate Climate).
Also working with WINZ, supporting individuals on ‘Job Connects’, helping them build confidence in a structured work environment while sharing valuable horticultural skills. Read our Social Services Policy here.
Waste Minimisation
Helping to reduce community waste through smart resource use
On average, our Christchurch South Waste Minimisation Project, process 30 tonnes of waste a year. We collect community food waste that is processed through our multi-stage composting system. The compost produced is used for crop production, sold as a fundraiser or donated to other community organisations and residents on a needs basis. We source recycled materials as needed and produce a Waste Audit each year. We have participated in waste minimisation programmes offered by Para Kore, that focuses on reducing waste and carbon emissions using a Maori world view of sustainability.
Beautification of the Environment
Beautifying our site
We work hard to beautify the site through the selective use of ornamental plants in between our fruit trees and vegetable crops. Such as angelica and phacelia when flowering attract beneficial insects like ladybirds and hoverflies. These predator insects feed aphids, whitefly and mites that can damage crops. We spend a significant amount of time manually weeding to remove invasive weeds that smother desirable plants and produce seeds that are easily spread by wind and animals like birds.
