Riley watering plants after the wind whipped off with his tunnel-house.
Riley watering plants after the wind whipped off with his tunnel-house.
A nine-year-old Central Hawke's Bay boy is showing many others in the community how it's done, spending hours a week in his garden growing vegetables to donate to the CHB Food Basket.
Riley Walton - who is quick to explain he turns 10 this month - started out growing a garden for his family.
"I had planted lettuce, cabbage, rhubarb, corn, carrots and spinach. The rhubarb was for Dad because he likes it."
But in June, with food security highlighted by the Covid pandemic, Riley began to extend his garden with a view to growing vegetables to donate to the CHB Food Basket, a non-profit organisation that rescues food that would otherwise go to waste, and re-distributes it throughout the CHB community.
Riley with one of the planter boxes he makes and will be donating.
The expanded - and still expanding - garden includes a new plot and the addition of red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, purple carrots, beetroot and silverbeet.
For a while it also included a tunnel-house but the wind a few days ago had other ideas and it was whipped away.
Riley made the first delivery of vegetables to the Food Basket six weeks ago and is averaging about one delivery a week, depending on what's ready for harvest.
To help keep up with the hard work he has added some new tools and a cart for transporting his compost and vege mix, seedlings and produce.
As more people heard of Riley's mission to help feed the community, they pitched in. New World Waipukurau donated more than 200 "Little Garden" starter pots, Mike at Mitre 10 Waipukurau provided vegetable raising mix, compost and strawberry mix, fertiliser, seedlings and gardening gloves.
Local sustainability group "The Sustainable Ewe" joined the effort, giving advice and donating more "Little Garden" packs.
One of the people Riley met at the Food Basket donated a cloche for growing seedlings. Neen Kennedy, founder of The Sustainable Ewe, says Riley is a "gardening superstar" and she is proud of what he is achieving.
The support encouraged Riley still further and he began making planter boxes from recycled pallet wood, filling them with herb and vegetable seedlings and will be dropping them off to the Food Basket to be given away. His efforts now include raising seedlings which he delivers along with his produce, to encourage others to start vegetable gardens.
A load of vegetables and seedlings ready to take to the CHB Food Basket.
Riley's mother Cheryl says home-schooling gives Riley the flexibility to indulge in his love of gardening, which in itself encompasses maths, science, reading and technology.
"Once Riley's gardening was shared on The Sustainable Ewe Facebook page other parents and children started to do it as well. All the support has been local, the community has helped a lot and Riley has gained a lot of confidence through doing this."
Riley thinks he will continue gardening for the community for at least another couple of years but wants to focus on the study and care of reptiles as a career. He says he will always garden in his spare time though.
Riley wants to thank his supporters New World Waipukurau, Mike from Mitre 10 Waipukurau, Glen from Tui Garden Products, Neen Kennedy and his mum and dad and his sister Teagan who helped him make up the Little Garden kits.
