Jizzy Green in the Grow On Katikati shed beside Katikati Community Centre. Photos / Rebecca Mauger
Jizzy Green in the Grow On Katikati shed beside Katikati Community Centre. Photos / Rebecca Mauger
The price of fresh produce has gone through the roof and many families are struggling to put healthy, nutritious food on the table.
Alongside foodbank and food rescue services, Grow On Katikati advocates for a resilient community model where a hand-up is extended to those in need, showing them how to create their own food supply by growing fresh food in their backyard.
In only two generations we have lost connection to the land and our food supply. It used to be normal to grow some of our own food, but for many that’s no longer the norm. Let’s reconnect people to food production, to resources, to knowledge, skills and one another.
Food resilience is ensuring people have access to a sufficient supply of safe, nutritious and affordable food. It’s about empowering communities to produce food locally and reduce reliance on a global food supply chain with a centralised distribution system.
Fresh produce can be expensive. A lettuce costs up to $7 in a supermarket, depending on the season. A packet of seeds can cost only $3 and you could potentially grow 1000 lettuces at 3¢ a lettuce.
A kilogram of tomatoes can cost $5.49 in the supermarket. A packet of tomato seeds costs $4. You could potentially grow 30 tomato plants at 13¢ a plant, each producing between 2.5-4kg of tomatoes.
Simple economics. Growing your own food will save you money. Each dollar you save by bringing food in from the garden is another dollar to spend on other things.
Beginners
Are you afraid you don’t know enough about growing? Is it stopping you from starting?
Speak to neighbours, especially elderly folk who grow their own food and find out if they can teach you – a connected community is a resilient community. When you are successful, you can share produce. They share their tomatoes, you share your beans. Soon, your whole street can start swapping and supplying one another’s needs.
Jess Moir from Grow On Katikati.
Not enough garden to grow in?
You would be surprised to know how much food can be grown in a converted kiwifruit bin (1m x 1m). Food can be grown vertically too (beans, cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes and so on) and support one another – think the native American “three sisters” method of growing corn, then planting beans among the stalks. The beans can grow up using the corn for support, and then plant squashes at the base to provide shade and reduce moisture evaporation and conserve water.
● Sow seeds in trays and then when grown, plant out seedlings: beans, pumpkin, courgettes, carrots, beetroot, radish, capsicum, eggplant, melons, spring onions, tomatoes and spinach.
● Plant fruiting crops: grapes, tamarillos, rhubarb, passionfruit, strawberries and so on, adding compost to the soil. Adapt planting to suit your needs and space.
● Sow a little beetroot, rocket, coriander, radish and basil every month
● Once a month until January plant one zucchini, one cucumber, a dozen salad greens, a few tomatoes and a row of dwarf beans to ensure successive crops.
Chores
● Take a daily stroll through your garden, squashing pests as you go and pulling weeds to keep everything in check.
● Let some crops go to seed. The blossoms are great for feeding pollinators and you can collect seeds for next season.
● Protect any summer brassicas from white butterflies with mesh or netting.
● Set up frames and stakes for tomatoes and beans before planting the seedlings out to avoid damaging those fragile roots. When planting out seedlings make sure they are a decent size. Ensure they are strong and have spent a few days acclimatising before planting.
Grow On Katikati
Grow On Katikati is a community-led organisation that focuses on increasing food resilience in the community, one backyard at a time.
