Month: September 2026

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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Kia ora e hoa mā,

This spring rain is doing a wonderful job softening the soil ahead of our upcoming busy planting period. If you’re around tomorrow, we’d love for you to join Matua Rob for his talk at the Point Chev Library about our book, Te Taonga o Ngā Kūmara. Come along after our Tuesday volunteer session to support him and hear more about the process of making the book, plus what he’s been learning through his research into kūmara. That’s Tuesday 8 September, 2pm, at Point Chev Library.

Read on for an upcoming compost build, an update on the situation with the bowling club land, and this week’s jobs in the māra.

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