Foodbank volunteers pick up fresh produce from the garden every Tuesday. Pictured are volunteer drivers Rob Wakelin (far left) and Andrea Coe (far right) with garden volunteers Ken Street and Ian Armstong. Photo / Mead Norton
Foodbank volunteers pick up fresh produce from the garden every Tuesday. Pictured are volunteer drivers Rob Wakelin (far left) and Andrea Coe (far right) with garden volunteers Ken Street and Ian Armstong. Photo / Mead Norton
An organic community garden with the sole purpose of growing vegetables for Tauranga’s foodbank is in need of more volunteers.
The Bayfair Gardens - about 700 square metres in size - grows enough to donate hundreds of banana boxes filled with vegetables to the foodbank every year.
Exactly 507 boxes were sent to the foodbank in the year to May 2022.
About nine volunteers ranging in age from 45 to 81 turn up twice a week on Tuesday and Friday mornings to tend the gardens, turn soil and harvest vegetables.
The operation runs all year round, with those helping braving all weather conditions.
Volunteer Ian Armstrong, 69, told the Bay of Plenty Times they were looking for about five more volunteers to fill the gaps - and would ideally like to see more young people join.
“We used to have 15 people here, now we have nine,” he said.
He said it was a “rewarding” job making a difference in the lives of people who needed food.
“It’s just being able to get your hands dirty and give back,” he said.
The garden was “very well-run”, as co-ordinator Jo Stock had a wealth of knowledge about planting, he said.
Ken Street, a volunteer of four years, said it was important to grow vegetables that were easy to use in cooking and “very much part of the staple diet”.
Volunteers Pat Pamment and Minako Greet preparing vegetables for the foodbank. Photo / Mead Norton
The last of the cauliflower, broccoli and cabbages were now being harvested, with volunteers now focusing on summer vegetables like beans, corn, zucchini and an “awful lot of lettuce,” he said.
78-year-old Street, who retired as a farmer five years ago, said one of his main jobs was to manage compost for the garden.
It was a “vital” part of the organic garden’s success, with a group of men dedicated to “constantly turning compost over”.
Horse manure, untreated sawdust, grass clippings, coffee grinds and vegetable scraps were just some of the things that went into it, he said.
Asked why he got involved with the garden, Street said he loved doing physical work, as well as the “good spirit and comradery” among volunteers.
“Rather than giving money to the foodbank directly, it’s nice to be able to do it with our time,” he said.
“We are a diverse group, but we all have the same aim. We work hard, but also have a lot of fun - it’s just something I really enjoy.”
Stock, who had been managing the garden for the past 26 years, said she was always looking for new volunteers as there was turnover when people moved away or were no longer able to do the physical work.
She was also looking for someone she could train to eventually take over her role as co-ordinator.
“I am 81 now - but I will do it ‘til I get somebody, because I don’t want to see it fold.”
She put up brochures at the local libraries, retirement villages and community centres about six weeks ago, but so far had no responses from people interested.
