Newsletter
April 2014
Waimarama Community Gardens in The Brook, Nelson New Zealand
Hi Everyone,
Wow what a roller coaster of a few months we have had getting started with the running of the gardens. Gardens are wonderful for reminding me that life is slow and keeps changing and the more we look after it, the more it will smile back at us with its produce and beauty.
The rain and wind and sunshine all have a place in the whole scheme of things even us, but no doubt gardens look after themselves when we don’t. They go a bit wild and we do our best to tame them.
But first up I want to make this a THANK YOU NEWS LETTER, as so many people have been so generous to us since November. The first person I want to thank is Ro Cambridge of www.greyurbanist.com who has brightened up this website for us to make it a fun place to come and visit when sitting at home; you can get inspired and see all the things we are doing in the gardens. We want you to see from here what a lovely place it is to come and be. Thanks Ro it’s bright, colourful and wonderful.
We have a regular number of volunteers turning up, some traveling, some locals from the Brook and others from around Nelson. For me it’s the spice of my life meeting new people interested in gardens or just wanting to get outside and soak up the environment a garden provides. I want to thank Ken who comes on Mondays, Lorraine on Wednesdays, I’ve had Dan from Wellington who came and went over the holidays and did lots of lawn mowing and other stuff and was passionate about the gardens, he is new to the garden world. Lately we have had Justin from Colorado and he’s on a years visa just woofing and gardening all over New Zealand. He’s taken a year learning some ‘real life’ skills after years at university. What a wise young man.
We also have ‘Wonder Woman’ Karen who lives close by and comes nearly everyday, she hasn’t gardened before and is turning into a passionate gardener, just by being there so much. The gardens are teaching her and she is giving back her love and hard work.
Next we have Nicholas and Jade and their little Ava, who live close by and come most days, even if for a wander, Nicholas is our wonder ‘weed-eating’ man and Jade is his right or left hand super-duper helper and child runner. They have cleaned up all around the fruit trees and lots of over grown areas. They are a blessing as the summer growth was getting the better of me.
We have had lots of others doing bits when they can, there was Chris and by many other names he tells me who one day said he had half and hour and he mowed some lawns and disappeared and then next day appeared and fixed some of our tools. Thanks Chris where ever you are. Also we have Stephen who has his own garden and is looking after the ‘forest garden’ that is being developed under the orchard. Thanks Stephen and to everyone, it doesn’t happen without you.
MONEY: It’s said that money makes the world go round, I say it’s people who make money and the world goes round anyway. But we have had it coming our way, we were able to keep some funding for running costs. We have had $400 donated to us by the Herb Society of Nelson who have closed and kindly donated their remaining money to different community gardens around Nelson. So thank you to all those that made that decision. We have received our first lot of funding this year to put in a water tank and collect water from the Tantragee stream. That will save us a lot on our cost of water each year. Rob our wonder man is overseeing this project, he’s been wanting to do this since a permit was obtained some years ago. He’s a happy man!!
Also we have regular money come in through our Kiosk, so thank you to everyone who buys things from us. It all helps to keep the garden.
TRUSTEES
Rob is a trustee along with his wife Anne who is looking after the Medicinal and Culinary Herb gardens. Also we have Justine who is our Secretary and our Chook lady and does many other things to add to the gardens. Then we have Sally who I think of as a quiet garden ‘elf’ as she quietly potters about planting things all over the place and doing little projects. She’s building a ‘Bug Hotel’ at the moment and is also making her own garden on the principles found in the documentary which you can watch for free at ‘Back to Eden’ Come and check it out sometime. It'sa very easy care method, elimiating digging, makes very friable soil so that plants develop a great root system, doesn't blow away in the wind, cannot be compacted by walking/standing on it and relies on the waste from mulching green tree waste from pruning. As the years progress maintaining this way of gradening the yield increases as does the quality of the produce grown.
AUTUMN
Yes it has arrived thank goodness. I love Autumn and Spring my favourite times of the year in the gardens, mostly it’s not too hot or cold, just perfect to stay outside for as long as I want.
The gardens are looking wonderful with the new growth of things we planted for winter, it’s still very dry and we have to water a lot. But the seeds are popping their little leaves up out of the ground and going to supply us and our ‘Food for Families,’ that we give a lot of our vegies to, with lots of good nourishing food. We have planted Broad beans, beetroot, silver beet, carrots, parsnips, winter lettuce, lots of parsley, kale and green cover crops to feed some of the beds over winter.
It’s a lovely time now and I can potter about and do some of the things I’ve been itching to do, like get some garden seats around the place and get a working kitchen in place. We have had Malcolm a neighbour fix a gutter in the potting shed so it doesn’t rain inside anymore. Thanks Malcolm. There a few more fix it jobs, but mostly Autumn is going to be a slower time to potter about.
That’s it from me; check in regularly as I’ll be adding my bit every week to keep you updated at what’s happening at the gardens and with all of us who play and work there.
Sincerely
Helen
Guardian of Waimarama Community Gardens
2016 Update: We no longer have a manager, instead the Gardens are managed by a small group of Trustees.
April 2014
Waimarama Community Gardens in The Brook, Nelson New Zealand
Hi Everyone,
Wow what a roller coaster of a few months we have had getting started with the running of the gardens. Gardens are wonderful for reminding me that life is slow and keeps changing and the more we look after it, the more it will smile back at us with its produce and beauty.
The rain and wind and sunshine all have a place in the whole scheme of things even us, but no doubt gardens look after themselves when we don’t. They go a bit wild and we do our best to tame them.
But first up I want to make this a THANK YOU NEWS LETTER, as so many people have been so generous to us since November. The first person I want to thank is Ro Cambridge of www.greyurbanist.com who has brightened up this website for us to make it a fun place to come and visit when sitting at home; you can get inspired and see all the things we are doing in the gardens. We want you to see from here what a lovely place it is to come and be. Thanks Ro it’s bright, colourful and wonderful.
We have a regular number of volunteers turning up, some traveling, some locals from the Brook and others from around Nelson. For me it’s the spice of my life meeting new people interested in gardens or just wanting to get outside and soak up the environment a garden provides. I want to thank Ken who comes on Mondays, Lorraine on Wednesdays, I’ve had Dan from Wellington who came and went over the holidays and did lots of lawn mowing and other stuff and was passionate about the gardens, he is new to the garden world. Lately we have had Justin from Colorado and he’s on a years visa just woofing and gardening all over New Zealand. He’s taken a year learning some ‘real life’ skills after years at university. What a wise young man.
We also have ‘Wonder Woman’ Karen who lives close by and comes nearly everyday, she hasn’t gardened before and is turning into a passionate gardener, just by being there so much. The gardens are teaching her and she is giving back her love and hard work.
Next we have Nicholas and Jade and their little Ava, who live close by and come most days, even if for a wander, Nicholas is our wonder ‘weed-eating’ man and Jade is his right or left hand super-duper helper and child runner. They have cleaned up all around the fruit trees and lots of over grown areas. They are a blessing as the summer growth was getting the better of me.
We have had lots of others doing bits when they can, there was Chris and by many other names he tells me who one day said he had half and hour and he mowed some lawns and disappeared and then next day appeared and fixed some of our tools. Thanks Chris where ever you are. Also we have Stephen who has his own garden and is looking after the ‘forest garden’ that is being developed under the orchard. Thanks Stephen and to everyone, it doesn’t happen without you.
MONEY: It’s said that money makes the world go round, I say it’s people who make money and the world goes round anyway. But we have had it coming our way, we were able to keep some funding for running costs. We have had $400 donated to us by the Herb Society of Nelson who have closed and kindly donated their remaining money to different community gardens around Nelson. So thank you to all those that made that decision. We have received our first lot of funding this year to put in a water tank and collect water from the Tantragee stream. That will save us a lot on our cost of water each year. Rob our wonder man is overseeing this project, he’s been wanting to do this since a permit was obtained some years ago. He’s a happy man!!
Also we have regular money come in through our Kiosk, so thank you to everyone who buys things from us. It all helps to keep the garden.
TRUSTEES
Rob is a trustee along with his wife Anne who is looking after the Medicinal and Culinary Herb gardens. Also we have Justine who is our Secretary and our Chook lady and does many other things to add to the gardens. Then we have Sally who I think of as a quiet garden ‘elf’ as she quietly potters about planting things all over the place and doing little projects. She’s building a ‘Bug Hotel’ at the moment and is also making her own garden on the principles found in the documentary which you can watch for free at ‘Back to Eden’ Come and check it out sometime. It'sa very easy care method, elimiating digging, makes very friable soil so that plants develop a great root system, doesn't blow away in the wind, cannot be compacted by walking/standing on it and relies on the waste from mulching green tree waste from pruning. As the years progress maintaining this way of gradening the yield increases as does the quality of the produce grown.
AUTUMN
Yes it has arrived thank goodness. I love Autumn and Spring my favourite times of the year in the gardens, mostly it’s not too hot or cold, just perfect to stay outside for as long as I want.
The gardens are looking wonderful with the new growth of things we planted for winter, it’s still very dry and we have to water a lot. But the seeds are popping their little leaves up out of the ground and going to supply us and our ‘Food for Families,’ that we give a lot of our vegies to, with lots of good nourishing food. We have planted Broad beans, beetroot, silver beet, carrots, parsnips, winter lettuce, lots of parsley, kale and green cover crops to feed some of the beds over winter.
It’s a lovely time now and I can potter about and do some of the things I’ve been itching to do, like get some garden seats around the place and get a working kitchen in place. We have had Malcolm a neighbour fix a gutter in the potting shed so it doesn’t rain inside anymore. Thanks Malcolm. There a few more fix it jobs, but mostly Autumn is going to be a slower time to potter about.
That’s it from me; check in regularly as I’ll be adding my bit every week to keep you updated at what’s happening at the gardens and with all of us who play and work there.
Sincerely
Helen
Guardian of Waimarama Community Gardens
2016 Update: We no longer have a manager, instead the Gardens are managed by a small group of Trustees.