The Garden Oasis project at Te Kura o Otangarei (TKO) continues to blossom with the recent addition of some new fruit trees.
The Dreamers and TKO community welcomed back the team from local accounting firm Sudburys, who once again gave up their time to volunteer at the school for a working bee.
The full Sudbury’s team from Whangarei, Auckland & Christchurch came together to help plant 23 fruit trees, valued at over $2,000 in order to create an orchard for the school. The orchard now contains a variety of trees, the aim of which being that tamariki will be able to be pick fruit from the trees all year round.
The addition of fruit trees expands the visionary Garden Oasis project, adding to the existing vegetable garden and grape vine pergola.
This joint initiative between I Have a Dream and Te Kura o Otangarei aims to empower tamariki to whanake (grow), hauhake (harvest), whakarite (prepare), and whāngai (share) fresh, seasonal, and affordable kai (food).
The program is curriculum-linked, meaning kids are learning core subjects while getting their hands dirty in the garden and kitchen. We were fortunate to secure a grant from our local Whangārei Harcourts which helped with the initial setup of the gardening & kitchen equipment needed to start the programme.
The school’s previously unused garden beds have at one point been overflowing with team members making up food parcels to distribute to the local community, with some pickling and bottling skills picked up along the way.
There has been a flow on effect from this school based project with Whānau of the Dreamers planting their own gardens because their kids were coming home with new knowledge and excitement around gardening. Elders in the community have also been in to impart their knowledge and a local mirimiri practitioner (Māori massage) has visited the school to teach the kids about and teaching them about rongoā (traditional Māori medicine).
Sudbury’s have previously contributed to the project with a Christmas party working bee where they helped restructure previously unused garden beds, undertook weeding and mulching and construction of the grape pergola, finishing weeks of work in a mere few hours through sheer power of numbers.
It is exciting to see the Garden Oasis project continue to grow and expand as a future food source for the local community. It is also so fantastic to have the ongoing support of a company like Sudbury’s that has invested in the project alongside us and continues to help us to bring it to life. Thanks again team for your amazing hard mahi and ongoing support as we continue to grow and evolve this important community garden to become an oasis for the community of Otangarei.
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