There is a growing awareness of the advantages of growing your own food, and if you know where to look, initiatives to make it easier and cheaper.

From next week, Commerce Lane in Te Puke will be one of those places.

As part of the Mana Kai Mana Ora Western Bay Kai Resilience project, a seed trolley will be outside Arohanui Art and Education Trust building three days a week.

The trust offers community participation and activities for people with a disability, and clients will help with the initiative by ensuring the trolley is kept stocked and packing seeds that are donated.

Regional kai resilience network co-ordinator Amy Board said the purpose of the seed trolley was to encourage people to grow their own food and to be able to access at no, or very little, cost seeds to make a start.

“We are going to have a koha box on the stand, but there’s no expectation [for people to pay],” she said.

Seed packets would include instructions for planting.

The trolley would also provide somewhere for people to leave seeds they have harvested to be redistributed.

Accessible gardening

Board said it’s a perfect location and providing the trolley was a way to make gardening more accessible.

The trolley, paid for by COLAB and built at Te Puke Menz Shed, would be “open” Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 1pm-3pm from next week.

In conjunction with the seed trolley, there are plans to create a seed library.

Regional kai resilience network co-ordinator Amy Board.

Board said seed harvesting was relatively straight forward and there were resources available online or in the library.

“I’d also encourage people to volunteer at the community garden as there will be people there with the knowledge.”

The Mana Kai Mana Ora WBOP Kai Resilience project covers the whole of the Western Bay of Plenty and has its roots in the Food Sovereignty and Security Plan commissioned by Poutiri Trust.

The plan’s vision is that by 2030 the Western Bay of Plenty will be a kai-secure and well-connected community with a more robust local food system.

Initiatives

Another recent initiative is the creation of a kai activity sharing map that Amy describes as “a bit win”.

The map showed the location of pataka kai, community meals, community gardens, food banks, public food trees and other resources across the region and is online at manakaimanaora.nz

Community involvement

“I am focusing on pataka kai right now, ensuring every pataka kai is shown on that map.”

Board said pataka kai was for everyone.

“I am encouraging people to find where their local pataka kai is and put something in there once a week. You might have excess plums and someone else may have excess rhubarb – a pataka kai is an excellent place to swap and to share.”

Various other initiatives, including Poutiri’s māra kai (vegetable gardens) programme that offers resources and advice, are available.

“It’s really encouraging to see so many young families growing food,” said Board.

“And the more people do, the more they will connect with and support other people. We are stronger together, it’s all about collaboration.”

Board took a display, a range of various seeds and some kai along to a recent Summer in the Park family event in Te Puke that proved to be a success.

“We had a big rush. It was about instilling an interest in growing in kids.”