As a keen gardener, I am well aware of how much money it takes to garden individually -- and why I only started gardening seriously when I had job security and my own house. But I also love the mara kai way of collective gardening that Tina Ngata presented yesterday at the Economy for Public Good conference: one plant for harvest for the grower, one plant for Papatūānuku and one plant for giving away harvest. She talked about the tightly interconnected communities around traditional mara kai in Te Tai Rawhiti, and how people mourned its loss as a way of providing for whānau in need collectively.
Similarly, in our research with Cultivate Christchurch, young people living in poverty with disabilities such as ADHD, diabetes, long term mental health issues and chronic illness found gardening with others meaningful and in some cases, transformative. They were paid to be there by MSD, however, and not just in vegetables, so that is different from suggesting people volunteer at a community garden.
Gardening shouldn't be a solution to food insecurity and people shouldn't be made to feel like they have to garden, especially as overwhelmed individuals. But gardening collectively can also be empowering, gives a vision for a different food system and a different vision of ourselves as producers not only consumers.
Thanks Kelly. I love both of these ideas - the collective approach, the care, the connection. The garden is the form but the function is that wider connection with others/community. Ahh language hey - love your last two sentences so very much
I think these solutions (home & community gardens) are a 'head nod' to a different way of having food, without having the language to explain what that might look like. They all take food out of the traditional transaction economy, and imagine other ways of sharing it.
Your point about the cows and chickens is a good one. Food security is so much more than fruit and vegetables, and sometimes we get stuck in this place.
Perhaps an answer could be pooling resources (energy, food, time, space) as communities to feed ourselves in a mana-centered way?
Yes, reframing and rethinking! I like Kelly's comments on the same, this moving away from individualised penalties into something more collective and caring
If I remember correctly, wasn't the reason for the traditional quarter-acre section of days gone by so that each household could have a home vegetable garden?
If so, and growing your own food is seen as a solution, then I assume all community houses in future will be on 1000m2 sections? I think not!
I understand your frustration. These suggestions just sound like lazy, if not flippant, solutions from "experts" who should know better and seem completely out of touch.
If a household is going to grow its own produce, it not only needs space and resources to grow it. It also needs funds, room and resources to have freezers and/or storage space and equipment for preserves. In an urban environment, for people struggling to find any sort of suitable home, this is a completely impractical and heartless answer, especially when such people are frequently faced with housing insecurity as well, never knowing when the landlord is going to move them on from their home and garden.
Hi Bex, love your comments on this, and agree gardening is not a viable path to food security in many situations. I garden, but nothing ever grows fast enough ( or too fast! LBH), and when veges are in season it is often cheaper to buy them than try and grow them. Gardening is more therapeutic than sustaining. community gardens can have a place, but as a vehicle for community, and as you say more ableist as I don't know of any accessible ones? putting aside costs it is also tentative living situations, where tenants cant invest in putting in a garden if they are only going to be there for one season. Pourewa Māra Kai for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei whānau is an example of near commercial production that is available, but the costs are borne by the Iwi.
I live in a KO apartment complex. Last August a local service club asked KO if they could install a garden on the grounds between the apartment blocks. KO agreed. Several large areas of lawn were overlaid with cardboard and mulch over a two week period and some veggies were grown. I watched from my apartment window, then decided to become involved at the beginning of the 2024 year.
I'm underemployed so I have lots of time to spare. The service club comes fortnightly (occasionally with a church group) with seedlings to plant out. They bring in more mulch, and have brought in two loads of compost. I enjoy my time with them fortnightly, and that has evolved over time to me doing most of the work in the garden in-between times.
The tenants are a mix of a small group of elderly Chinese, Maori/PI/Pakeha with varying degrees of mental health or health issues. The remaining few Pakeha work. The service club has taken a long view of getting people involved in the garden, and over time I've got two additional people involved, both of whom have bad backs, so one is very happy to do the watering (KO bought a hose for us to use which has been a boon), the other is happy to potter - plant seedling out, tie up tomatoes etc but I need to badger him to come help.
We have grown lots of perpetual spinach, broad beans, and brassicas. There are some tenants that harvest from the garden, so the spinach was harvested, but it turned out the broad beans weren't. I wound up eating a *lot* of broad beans for a few months there. Brassicas were harvested. A mixed bed of lettuces were planted, and these are not being touched except by myself and one other (a man who knows how to cook good food).
We have potatoes on the way. We've planted out a good lot of tomato plants (that I'll need to tie up tomorrow!). We have capsicum. Corn. I think people will harvest the tomatoes and corn. They know how to 'cook' them. We will share out the potatoes - people will take those. The capsicum I don't think will be harvested much, so I'll be eating a lot next year.
I'm slowly learning what to grow so that people will enjoy them - which is related to what they've had in their pasts - so for example, the lettuces are cos and miners lettuces, but I suspect people are more familiar with the iceberg lettuces so I'll grow those next. I've asked tenants what they want to see; taro, chilli, kamokamo, so the service club will bring seeds for those.
I've found that I really enjoy gardening, mostly because I get food out of it. I spend usually an hour a day planting things out, doing the compost etc. It soaks up a lot of my time which is helpful. I get to be in nature for a good period of time.
Overall the garden is a positive to the tenants. Consistently I've asked people about them, and they love them, even if they don't contribute or take from it. Things are a little more relaxed / peaceful. I've met quite a few of my neighbouring tenants which has been great.
What has helped is a) the consistent presence of the service club. They are here for at least the next two years. I've learnt heaps from them, and they provide the muscle power needed sometimes b) the fact that it's a large garden so there's more veggies grown - it feels like a 'proper' garden not a playtoy thing and c) the support of KO.
Over time I think the garden can support more veggies out of the space that is there, and I'll need to do a 'bag' system i.e. harvest stuff, do mixed bags and deliver them to tenants that want them.
Thank you so much for sharing. I love this! Practical support, ongoing input, community connection, and a long term view of making it work for everyone. This approach makes me most hopeful indeed 💕
Yes, and yes. I am quite fond of my plant covered deck, it brings me great joy to sit outside and appreciate the flowers and foliage (and the mint is wonderful in a mojito!)
As a keen gardener, I am well aware of how much money it takes to garden individually -- and why I only started gardening seriously when I had job security and my own house. But I also love the mara kai way of collective gardening that Tina Ngata presented yesterday at the Economy for Public Good conference: one plant for harvest for the grower, one plant for Papatūānuku and one plant for giving away harvest. She talked about the tightly interconnected communities around traditional mara kai in Te Tai Rawhiti, and how people mourned its loss as a way of providing for whānau in need collectively.
Similarly, in our research with Cultivate Christchurch, young people living in poverty with disabilities such as ADHD, diabetes, long term mental health issues and chronic illness found gardening with others meaningful and in some cases, transformative. They were paid to be there by MSD, however, and not just in vegetables, so that is different from suggesting people volunteer at a community garden.
Gardening shouldn't be a solution to food insecurity and people shouldn't be made to feel like they have to garden, especially as overwhelmed individuals. But gardening collectively can also be empowering, gives a vision for a different food system and a different vision of ourselves as producers not only consumers.
Thanks Kelly. I love both of these ideas - the collective approach, the care, the connection. The garden is the form but the function is that wider connection with others/community. Ahh language hey - love your last two sentences so very much
I think these solutions (home & community gardens) are a 'head nod' to a different way of having food, without having the language to explain what that might look like. They all take food out of the traditional transaction economy, and imagine other ways of sharing it.
Your point about the cows and chickens is a good one. Food security is so much more than fruit and vegetables, and sometimes we get stuck in this place.
Perhaps an answer could be pooling resources (energy, food, time, space) as communities to feed ourselves in a mana-centered way?
Yes, reframing and rethinking! I like Kelly's comments on the same, this moving away from individualised penalties into something more collective and caring
If I remember correctly, wasn't the reason for the traditional quarter-acre section of days gone by so that each household could have a home vegetable garden?
If so, and growing your own food is seen as a solution, then I assume all community houses in future will be on 1000m2 sections? I think not!
I understand your frustration. These suggestions just sound like lazy, if not flippant, solutions from "experts" who should know better and seem completely out of touch.
If a household is going to grow its own produce, it not only needs space and resources to grow it. It also needs funds, room and resources to have freezers and/or storage space and equipment for preserves. In an urban environment, for people struggling to find any sort of suitable home, this is a completely impractical and heartless answer, especially when such people are frequently faced with housing insecurity as well, never knowing when the landlord is going to move them on from their home and garden.
Hi Bex, love your comments on this, and agree gardening is not a viable path to food security in many situations. I garden, but nothing ever grows fast enough ( or too fast! LBH), and when veges are in season it is often cheaper to buy them than try and grow them. Gardening is more therapeutic than sustaining. community gardens can have a place, but as a vehicle for community, and as you say more ableist as I don't know of any accessible ones? putting aside costs it is also tentative living situations, where tenants cant invest in putting in a garden if they are only going to be there for one season. Pourewa Māra Kai for Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei whānau is an example of near commercial production that is available, but the costs are borne by the Iwi.
Thanks for your thoughts.
I live in a KO apartment complex. Last August a local service club asked KO if they could install a garden on the grounds between the apartment blocks. KO agreed. Several large areas of lawn were overlaid with cardboard and mulch over a two week period and some veggies were grown. I watched from my apartment window, then decided to become involved at the beginning of the 2024 year.
I'm underemployed so I have lots of time to spare. The service club comes fortnightly (occasionally with a church group) with seedlings to plant out. They bring in more mulch, and have brought in two loads of compost. I enjoy my time with them fortnightly, and that has evolved over time to me doing most of the work in the garden in-between times.
The tenants are a mix of a small group of elderly Chinese, Maori/PI/Pakeha with varying degrees of mental health or health issues. The remaining few Pakeha work. The service club has taken a long view of getting people involved in the garden, and over time I've got two additional people involved, both of whom have bad backs, so one is very happy to do the watering (KO bought a hose for us to use which has been a boon), the other is happy to potter - plant seedling out, tie up tomatoes etc but I need to badger him to come help.
We have grown lots of perpetual spinach, broad beans, and brassicas. There are some tenants that harvest from the garden, so the spinach was harvested, but it turned out the broad beans weren't. I wound up eating a *lot* of broad beans for a few months there. Brassicas were harvested. A mixed bed of lettuces were planted, and these are not being touched except by myself and one other (a man who knows how to cook good food).
We have potatoes on the way. We've planted out a good lot of tomato plants (that I'll need to tie up tomorrow!). We have capsicum. Corn. I think people will harvest the tomatoes and corn. They know how to 'cook' them. We will share out the potatoes - people will take those. The capsicum I don't think will be harvested much, so I'll be eating a lot next year.
I'm slowly learning what to grow so that people will enjoy them - which is related to what they've had in their pasts - so for example, the lettuces are cos and miners lettuces, but I suspect people are more familiar with the iceberg lettuces so I'll grow those next. I've asked tenants what they want to see; taro, chilli, kamokamo, so the service club will bring seeds for those.
I've found that I really enjoy gardening, mostly because I get food out of it. I spend usually an hour a day planting things out, doing the compost etc. It soaks up a lot of my time which is helpful. I get to be in nature for a good period of time.
Overall the garden is a positive to the tenants. Consistently I've asked people about them, and they love them, even if they don't contribute or take from it. Things are a little more relaxed / peaceful. I've met quite a few of my neighbouring tenants which has been great.
What has helped is a) the consistent presence of the service club. They are here for at least the next two years. I've learnt heaps from them, and they provide the muscle power needed sometimes b) the fact that it's a large garden so there's more veggies grown - it feels like a 'proper' garden not a playtoy thing and c) the support of KO.
Over time I think the garden can support more veggies out of the space that is there, and I'll need to do a 'bag' system i.e. harvest stuff, do mixed bags and deliver them to tenants that want them.
Thank you so much for sharing. I love this! Practical support, ongoing input, community connection, and a long term view of making it work for everyone. This approach makes me most hopeful indeed 💕
Absolutely agree - don’t add a burden on those already taking the shaft.
Gardening would do us all good, though: it’s quite re-humanizing, at least when you speak with plants…
https://open.substack.com/pub/heyslick/p/speaking-with-plants?r=4t921l&utm_medium=ios
Yes, and yes. I am quite fond of my plant covered deck, it brings me great joy to sit outside and appreciate the flowers and foliage (and the mint is wonderful in a mojito!)