Building a Resilient, Sustainable, and Thriving Community for the Future
Kia ora koutou,
The māra is alive with busy spring energy — from trailer-loads of manure for our bananas, kūmara stirring in their tāpapa beds, to new seedlings emerging in the greenhouse. Read on for this week’s story, upcoming events, and the mahi ahead.
Kia ora koutou,
Arohamai – there’s lots of rain due tomorrow morning in Tāmaki Makaurau so we’re cancelling both our Ostara Equinox and Tuesday Working Bee. We hope you stay warm and dry at home, and find a special way to reflect on the equinox for you and your whānau.
Here’s to longer, brighter days ahead, fresh new growth and the waking up of the more-than-human world this Kõanga/Spring.
Kia ora koutou,
What a week! The māra has been buzzing with energy — from a massive community effort preparing our kūmara beds, to sharing kai straight from the pizza oven. Read on for the story of today’s kūmara puke mounding, details on seed saving in the māra, and the mahi ahead this week.
Kia ora koutou,
Scroll on for details and how to be part of it all.
This week is all about listening, learning, and planting seeds for the future. We’re opening a survey for our garden members and wider community, sharing kai together at our reo Māori parakuihi, and joining Matua Rob to mound kūmara puke in the māra.
Kia ora koutou,
Nau mai, haere mai ki Kõanga 🌸 The greenhouse and seedling shed are filling with life, our kūmara beds are being prepared, and new ideas are taking root. Today also happens to be Father’s Day — from the quintessential Kiwi dads and grandads tending veggie patches, to the father-figures in our lives who show patience, kindness, and wisdom, we carry their lessons with us in the māra and beyond.
This week we’re trialling something exciting with turmeric, looking ahead to a reo Māori breakfast in the māra, and as always, welcoming everyone for our regular garden sessions.
Kia ora koutou,
Spring is well and truly here, and signs of its arrival are everywhere — from the delicate blossoms on our dwarf peach tree to the rich, warming soil in the garden. The kūmara patch has been buzzing with incredible work digging up paths to increase our growing space, and the greenhouse is ready for a giant crop of turmeric!
We’re sending this email a little early to let you know that tomorrow’s seed sowing and pizza event has been cancelled due to rain. But don’t worry — we’ll still continue our seed sowing mission this week.
Kia ora koutou,
Life is quietly at work all around us, from the billions of microbes turning yacon into kimchi to the fungal networks holding our soil together. This week we celebrate these invisible helpers and invite you to notice the rhythms of growth, renewal, and connection in your own corner of Aotearoa. If you want to get hands-on, join us next Sunday for our spring seed-sowing workshop followed by woodfired pizza — a chance to plant something new and soak up beautiful vibes!
Kia ora koutou,
A quick pānui this week: you may notice subtle changes to our weekly newsletters over the coming months – a spring cleaning of sorts! We want to make sure that these emails are useful and relevant to as wide an audience as possible. This means inspiring stories, learning material and practical tips from Growing Point will appear up top, and job lists for Dignan Street Community Garden will be further down for the loyal readers who read right to the bottom (we see you, we love you 💚).
As always, we’re want to ensure this is useful for you so simply reply to this email if you have any feedback!
Kia ora koutou,
Nau mai, haere ma ki Tama-nui-te-rā – we welcome in a week of clearer skies and bright light, helping both us humans and the more-than-human world gently wake from the winter slumber. While the sun is out the southerly winds remain, so stay cozy and let the changing season begin to defrost those parts of your māra that need a little love.
