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I Tēnei Wiki at
Dignan Street Community Garden

Ata mārie e te whānau,


This is our final newsletter for the year, so it’s only fitting to celebrate the mahi we’ve done together over the last 12 months! Read on for an incredible list of joyful achievements.


First, here’s what’s coming up i tenei wiki:

  • FINAL 2024 TUESDAY WORKING BEE with Rob & Bex
    Tuesday morning 9.30am - 12.30pm

  • FINAL 2024 THURSDAY EVENING WORKING BEE with Bex & Luke

    Thursday evening 5pm - 7pm

UPCOMING MAHI I TENEI WIKI

The priority activities for this week are:

  • moving in grass clipping pile when it arrives i tenei wiki

  • planting out kamokamo into new bed by rhubarb

  • planting out lettuce, sunflowers and climbing beans

  • plenty more to do, see mahi list on whiteboard

  • mesh bags on figs to keep the birds at bay

WHAT A YEAR!


Let’s begin this reflection with a truly heartfelt NGĀ MIHI NUI to all of you. Your time in the māra, your generosity of spirit, your willingness to kōrero and to learn, your passion for community and for kai, your humour, your joyful belief in a better future, and your sheer love for one another and our shared space - many of these intagible but vital contributions are what make our māra thrive.


Here’s a summary from Bex highlighting just how much has happened over the last 12 months.


In addition to our regular two garden sessions each week, this is what Growing Point has been up to: busy growing soil, food and community, actioning joyful solutions - it’s our buzz!

  • Luke and Aram joining the GP team in January, contributing so much.

  • Luke we so appreciate your big brain and heart contributing to everything and anything that needs doing, particularly joyful informative coms, plant planning, tracking and preserving the whakapapa of seeds, researching innovations and trying stuff out, doing little joyful dances in the māra.

  • Wishing Aram well in his next adventures. Aram, you are always welcome, especially if you’re here to share in the joy of taewa harvest time. We want to thank you particularly for the invitation to Puanga kai rau at Parihaka, initiating the taewa project, donating our garden produce to Fairfood and your contributions with Treaty Training. There is always a space at our garden table for you.

  • Matariki in the māra, the highlight of the garden calendar, massive thanks to Rob for creating this very special ceremony that keeps growing every year.

  • GP completing the Centres of Regenerative Learning program- acknowledging FtLOB’s and 5 other growing projects; Pourewa, Ihumātao, Kelmarna, OMG, TUMG.

  • Glowing visit from Kai Whakahaere of Te Waka Kai Ora, Pounamu Skelton, and graduating to our final year within Hua Parakore (here’s a link for any home gardeners interested in Hua Parakore 6 module course)

  • 2 x microscopy & composting courses delivered in June and October (our next one is coming up in Feb 2025 with regos open now)

  • Rob delivering 4 incredible workshops: pruning, propagation, kūmara tāpapa, and tipu.

  • Di and Aussies running their much-loved yacon kimchi workshop and nourishing our collective microbiome

  • Te Reo parakuihi in the māra

  • Matua Rob speaking at (and Luke, Bex & Aram attending) He Whenua Rongo - Seed, Soil & Food Sovereignty Symposium

  • Regular yoga classes with Meg taking care of our tinana.

  • Spring seedling sale sharing the vegetable love with the wider community

  • 3 x school holiday session getting tamariki pumped to be in the garden

  • Monthly pizza sessions sharing kai and kōrero

  • Planting days at Te Mahurehure and Pourewa

  • Signing a lease with the Bowling Club and contributing to their garden maintenance (FYI their nectarine tree is absolutely popping off!)

  • Rob’s Hua Parakore whakamana at Pourewa including him showcasing the very special collection of 50 harakeke varieties

  • Garden To Table end of year event (carrying on the connection between GP and GTT that Ange started)

  • Working bee with Havana Coffee, building a relationship with an awesome business and getting them excited about sustainability in action (discussions underway for another working bee next year)

  • Ceres Organics visit with 40 folk from the AUS and NZ companies

  • Establishing a weekly donation to the Pataka Kai

  • Becoming the kaitiaki of a taonga being gifted hue seeds with an 80 yr old whakapapa from Waikato by Wendy Apaapa

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE & OUR NEXT YEAR TOGETHER


Next year will be incredibly special with two major milestones coming together - our 10 year anniversary in the māra, as well as reaching the end of our Hua Parakore verification. We’re gonna have a giant celebration to mark these incredible moments!


We’re also relaunching our YouTube channel with a range of beautiful video content telling the stories of the māra, capturing Rob’s mātauranga, Luke’s nerdy obsession with seed, and Bex’s passion for mauri and microbes. These videos will be released as full length on youtube and also shorter clips across our socials to get the joyful message spread far and wide. Keep an eye out for these releases and also a subtle re-brand with an updated logo and visuals.


Finally, we’ll be rolling out a membership plan for you - our garden’s biggest supporters - to bring us together over shared values and be really transparent about how and why we love working together. Stay tuned for more info on this early next year.

Seeking volunteers to help Luke cook some kai to share with the Festival of Sumūd. This is a three day arts festival that strengthens solidarity, and continues to foster relationships amongst those of us who care deeply for Palestine.


Dignan St will be providing fresh kai and a few cooked meals for this Friday 20th December to share wil festival goers- and in exchange we can visit and attend any parts of the festival for free! We’re only asked to prepare enough kai to share with 10 people (many local restaurants are also donating) so we only need 2 or 3 other people to help out. If you’d like to join Luke in cooking up a storm then get in touch at lucascbaker@gmail.com


Please refrain from picking and vegetables or plants marked out with a red stake or ribbon. These are plants being set aside for seed saving and we’d love them to grow to their fullest and largest so we can enjoy the crops again next year. Thanks!

🌑 🌒 🌓 🌔 🌕 🌖 🌗 🌘 🌑

Here’s to a vibrant, connected week and Summer break!


Mauri ora,

The Growing Point Team

Actioning joyful solutions