275 Times May 2017

Growing gardeners: Four-year-old Tristan Helleur-Tafoulua (right)
and friends enjoy the garden at Papatūānuku Kōkiri Marae.
LOCAL GARDENS ON SHOW
Māngere’s hidden garden
gems had a chance to
shine during last month’s
Garden & Foraging Tour.
by Justine Skilling
Talking Rubbish
ME Family Services
Hosted by Talking Rubbish (ME
Family Services), the tour group came
from near and far to see what the
Māngere community has to offer
for people interested in growing
their own food and eating local.
First stop was Papatūānuku Kōkiri
Marae, where students from Te Whare
Wānanga o Awanuiārangi’s Kai Oranga
gardening course showed us the
fruits of their mahi so far this year.
Tutor Helen Davis took us through
the new seed house and garden
plots, where course participants
put their learning (about organic
gardening from a Māori perspective)
into practice. Places are now
open for the next free course,
which starts in September.
Next up was the Māngere College
garden. The tour group was
welcomed by volunteer garden coordinator
(and NZ Gardener of the
Year finalist) Metua Aerenga, along
with staff, and student members of the
school gardening club. The plots were
bursting with produce and included
an orchard area, compost bins and
large greenhouse. Students from a
variety of subjects spend time here
and are able to take produce home to
family, as well as selling to school staff.
Last stop before lunch was the Old
School Reserve Teaching Garden,
where co-ordinators Yvonne Thomas
and Graeme Hanson sent us out
to forage for lunch amongst the
lush vegetation. Having gathered
a large basket of produce from
the first three gardens, the group
enjoyed fresh, local fried rice and
smoothies in the sun at CIDANZ
(Cook Island Development Agency),
along with delicious homemade
pies from the CIDANZ café.
Before heading home, we stopped in
at Ngā Iwi School to see how their
recently opened garden was growing.
Teacher Kathrina McGuire and her
group of green-fingered students
gave us a guided tour, taking in the
vege plots, rainwater tanks, compost
bin, worm farm, orchard areas and
harakeke spiral. It was fantastic to
see a new generation of Māngere
gardeners getting inspired to grow.
Thanks to all the gardens that
participated in the tour. “Awesome
people. I’m inspired to muck in
more and learnt heaps too”, said
one participant. The tour reminded
us all of how amazing the soil is in
this area, and how easy it can be
to grow our own delicious, cheap,
fresh food – better for our bodies
and for better for Papatūānuku!
Useful contacts:
• yPapatūānuku Kōkiri Marae:
141R Robertson Rd, Māngere
• yTe Whare Wānanga o
Awanuiārangi: www.wananga.
ac.nz (ph. 0508 926 264)
• yOld School Reserve Teaching
Garden: 299R Kirkbride Rd, Māngere
• yCIDANZ: 283–289
Kirkbride Rd, Māngere
• yMāngere Mountain Education
Centre: 100 Coronation
Rd, Māngere Bridge
• yCompost Collective:
www.compostcollective.org.nz/
• yGardens for Health:
www.dpt.org.nz/ourprogrammes/garden-4-health
Above: Paul Lesoa encourages fellow
students to aim high, study hard and believe
in themselves.
HARD WORK MAKES A
DIFFERENCE AT SCHOOL
My name is Paul Lesoa. I’m 16
years old and currently a Year-12
student at Māngere College.
Some of us young Pasefika students
might feel as if school is just too
hard for us, that we’re not capable
of achieving an endorsement.
I believe that we’re more
than capable of achieving an
endorsement or even earning a
scholarship, but it all comes down
to one thing, and that is hard work.
Some of us can relate to the
struggles that some of our families
go through to make sure we have
a better education than what
they had. They do their best to
give us resources that weren’t
available to them, just so we can
get a good education. That’s a
beautiful act of selflessness.
The power of knowledge comes
from many things, but the most
important is hard work. Many of us
are taught to work with what we’ve
got, and that’s just how life is at
times. Every obstacle you overcome
you gain a bit of knowledge. You
will go places if you just take the
time to study and work hard.
Strive to do your best, aim for
merits and excellences because
you are more than capable,
you have the knowledge to get
those endorsements. Put your
mind to it and you’ll achieve it.
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