Transition Town Point Chevalier

Kia ora e hoa mā,

Thanks so much to everyone who gave extra time last week to help shift the grass clippings and get the beds mulched! We managed to cover all the puke with the magical grass compost slurry, and all of our long beds too. It’s such a relief knowing the soil is primed and ready to accept all of this rain, with heaps of moisture held right where it’s needed.

Speaking of rain, we’re cancelling tomorrow morning’s session as the forecast looks wet, wet, wet. Stay home and enjoy a morning off, especially under the force of the new moon, Whiro. There’s still plenty to do in the māra though, so if you’re available on Thursday arvo, join us from 5pm to 7pm (or a little earlier if you’re keen).

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

Kōanga is full steam ahead in our māra! Despite the pressure to get everything planted out at once, we’re taking our time, knowing that preparing our soil properly will set us up for the hot, dry season ahead (read on for our top tip for transforming hard, dry soil into something magical). Here in Tāmaki summer also seems to go on for a long time, so we know there are many months of warmth to come.

If you’re free this week, we’d really appreciate some extra hands shifting in several cubic metres of grass clippings to mulch our veggie beds and kūmara patch. Join our Thursday working bee from 5pm to 7pm, or let us know if you’re able to pop in during Thursday daytime. Any and all assistance is welcome.

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Sunday’s seedling sale was a hit! We sold hundreds of tomatoes, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers and zucchini, bringing in over $1500 and making it Dignan Street Community Garden’s busiest sale to date.

Thank you to everyone who came along to support the kaupapa and pick up a few seedlings (or fill a whole tray). It was delightful to see so many new faces, including neighbours who’d never been into the garden before. There was a real buzz around the table as Luke, Bex and Rob did their best to speak to each variety and get people excited about the different types. Our pizza chefs were working overtime, slinging out piping hot slices as fast as they could. Old gardeners and new ones, green thumbs young and old, all getting their summer gardens ready and excited to try out new plants.

Enjoy some photos of the day below. To all of those who worked behind the scenes to make the day a success, thank you – we see you, we appreciate you, we coudn’t do it without you.

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

We’re all ready to go for our seedling sale this coming weekend! We have hundreds (literally hundreds) of incredible quality tomato seedlings growing healthily in the greenhouse, ready for a new home. We’re expecting fine weather, but we’ve set a rain date for the following day, Monday 26 October. If we need to postpone, we’ll send an email out on Saturday evening. See you there!

Well done to everyone who worked so hard on Tuesday getting loads of the kūmara puke formed. We really appreciate your energy for these big jobs. As always, the thriving of our māra is deeply interwined with the love and energy you all share with the space and each other.

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

Thank you for all the hard, focused work so many of you have put in over the last few weeks. There have been hours of seed sowing and patient pricking out of tomato seedlings, a job that calls for an attentive and steady hand. We really appreciate everything you’ve put into our upcoming seedling sale. There are now hundreds of gorgeous tomato seedlings growing and ready to find their new homes in less than two weeks.

Make sure you’ve saved the date: Sunday 25 October, 11am–1pm. More info below.

We also have a correction from last week. Now that we’re in daylight saving, our Thursday sessions run from 5pm to 7pm. Apologies for the confusion!

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

Tomorrow’s working bee is turning into a kid-friendly event for our school holiday session! Bring along your smallest gardeners for a snail hunt, leaf foraging, seed ball making and more. Kids’ session runs 10am–12pm, tamariki must be accompanied by an adult. Hope to see you there.

Read on for an update on our composting adventures, plus save the date for our upcoming seedling sale.

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

Hopefully you’re enjoying the strong pull of Hina as we farewell Te Rākaunui, the full moon.

It’s definitely been a wet start to kōanga. Not ideal for our events, but great for the māra as we get our crops established. The soil moisture is staying consistent and the soil’s water “bank” is filling up, which we can preserve with thick layers of mulch before the dry season kicks off later this year.

We hope to see many of you tomorrow for our biocomplete compost build! The working bee starts at 9.30am, and Luke will kick off the compost making around 10am. More on that below.

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Kia ora e hoa mā

Just a reminder we’re cancelling tomorrow’s composting session and pizza due to the forecast rain. Instead, we’re building our biocomplete compost on Tuesday morning during our normal volunteer session. Come along and join us!

Tuesday’s session starts at 9.30, and we’ll get composting from about 10-12. We’re really excited about this compost pile – we’ve been soaking our woodchip and chopping up green materials so we’re all ready to go. This style of composting is the foundation of Dignan Street Community Garden’s fertility, and a great way to learn more about how soil microbes are essential to a healthy māra. Plus, learn tips and tricks to use for your own at-home composting set up.

Enjoy a cozy weekend inside, look forward to seeing those that can make it on Tuesday!

Ngā mihi,

The Growing Point team

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

Flowers are a-bloomin’! Broad beans are a-swayin’! Hoping you’re each enjoying the tohu of kōanga around you every day: the flowering of the kōwhai, increased bee activity, asparagus stretching out of its winter slumber. We even have the first tupu appearing in our kūmara tāpapa, wahoo!

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Kia ora e hoa mā,

We were so proud of Matua Rob’s talk at the Point Chev Library last week. Not only was there a great turnout, but it was really cool to see such broad interest in the kūmara project and the mātauranga Rob’s been gathering.

Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks, our focus turns to seed sowing and compost making. Read on for a seed sowing update, plus dates and times for our end of month compost build and pizza event.

Also, a quick reminder that Di has about 20 jars of kimchi (380g) to sell at $15 each. She’ll keep a few jars in the fridge at the Bowling Club to sell, and bring the rest in as needed, so flick her an email if you’d like to reserve a jar (bozndi@gmail.com).

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