TFE JUNE ONLINE

ALL
THINGS
PROPERTY
OUR VILLAGE GARDEN - TE KETE O TE AROHA
WELCOME TO
THE GARDEN
Tucked between the police station and the old
Courthouse in Te Aroha is a small green oasis: the
community garden, or to give it its full name,
Our Village Garden: Te Kete o Te Aroha.
Here, volunteers grow vegetables, herbs and fruit to share.
Here too, anyone can come to learn how to grow their
own food – and on Sunday afternoons, the humungous
picnic table becomes a resource for the whole town, as
fruit and vegetables from gardens around the district join
produce from the community garden, in our Free Fruit for All
initiative.
The garden sprang to life after a public meeting in 2009,
when a group of keen and green-fingered individuals
committed to providing this resource to the local community.
Eight years on it is going strong, today’s burgeoning garden
plots a far cry from the barren sea of kikuyu grass that once
graced the site.
Over the course of a year we harvest copious bags of sprayfree,
sustainably grown tomatoes, courgettes, beetroot,
cabbages, kumara, lettuces, broad beans, green beans,
pumpkin and silver beet, to name just a few, which we take
to the Food Bank and the local hospital.
This column is your privileged insider’s look into the ups
and downs of a community garden, with side-long glances
at exotic vegetables, mini-beast menageries, along with the
occasional monologue from one of our three scarecrows,
Myrtle Moptop, Ruby Raggletag and Sam Carecrow. We
hope that you enjoy the view.
Come and visit us at the community garden in Rewi Street,
Te Aroha, on Sunday afternoons from 1pm – 4pm.
You can share produce on the giant picnic table, sign up for
your own private plot, or just come along for a chat and a
look around.
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