Beginner Gardening Session - Preparing for your Spring Garden. Homemade compost added to an existing bed at Pahīatua Community Garden.
Beginner Gardening Session - Preparing for your Spring Garden. Homemade compost added to an existing bed at Pahīatua Community Garden.
Pahīatua Community Garden on Huia St is currently gearing up for a great growing season – growing fresh organic produce and growing skills within the community.
The mara kai began its revitalisation in December 2021 and has benefited from the input of a number of committee members. Under the umbrella of Explore Pahīatua, Pahīatua Community Garden has sourced funding and flourished.
It’s important to let the vegetables mature and grow to full size. The gate sign at Pahīatua Community Garden.
Spring working bees are well under way; come rain or shine. These are held on the first and third Saturdays in September, October and November.
On the day, a job list is written on the noticeboard and people are encouraged to do what they can to help. There is often produce, harvested during the working bee, to share.
Volunteer work is also rewarded with a cuppa and cake afterwards. Pahīatua Community Garden committee is most grateful to those who have committed their time and effort to the garden to date.
New volunteers are always welcome, whatever their skill level. On November 16 this year, there will be a barbecue for volunteers as well as the usual cuppa.
Working bee facilitator Emma Elliott says, “It’s a great place to grow together. We are incredibly lucky to have the vision of Alaina Sims, the building skills of Rhys Punler and the commitment of the current committee who meet monthly to plan and organise.”
Beginner Gardening Session - Preparing your Spring Garden. Creating a new growing bed by layering resources in no dig method or double digging at Pahīatua Community Garden.
This year, a series of four beginner gardening sessions at the garden have been fully funded by Wairarapa REAP. These are held on the last Sunday of the month.
The August session was well attended; learners went home with potatoes and yams to chit (sprout before planting), spring seedlings to plant out and herbs to pot on. They had hands-on experience in preparing new growing beds and improving existing ones.
Members of the Pahīatua community can enrol online at www.reapwairarapa.co.nz for sessions on Sunday, September 29 (Spring Gardening and Planting), Sunday, October 27 (Preparing for Summer Gardening) and Sunday, November 24 (Summer Gardening, Maintenance and Harvesting).
The tutor is Emma who leads the committee and facilitates the working bees.
One previous attendee says, “It was great being out in the garden and learning all about planning, preparing, sowing and planting. Emma’s passion for gardening and teaching is real. She has such positive energy that sparks great motivation to apply the learning at home.”
Another says, “I got several ideas about starting my own garden. It was great interactive learning.”
Pahīatua Community Garden is open to Pahīatua residents and users are asked to pay attention to the harvesting rules on the gate.
