Today Thursday 4th August the Harinui Syndicate went for a visit to the Papatoetoe Teaching Gardens in Cambridge Terrace.
Mrs de Koning’s group walked down first. We wore our ‘Warriors’ jackets to keep us warm and dry and our fluro vests to keep us safe. We were allowed to wear mufti clothes because we were having a ‘hands on’ day in the dirt! Some clever people even wore their gumboots….
As we walked we looked at the gardens on the way. Most people had flowering plants in the front of their gardens and vegetable gardens at the back. We wondered if it was so they had something pretty to look at out their windows at the front? And if they wanted the vegetable garden at the back near the kitchen so they could quickly go out and harvest plants to cook with?
Adele Foster told us all about the Food Bank that her husband established. They collect food for people who need support. Some people are sick, or have lost their jobs, or just need a bit of extra help.
Business, factories, Churches and other people donate food to the Food Bank. Some is frozen and some comes in packets or cans. The Food Bank also has a gardening plot here at the teaching Gardens where they grow fresh vegetables to put into the food packs. Adele showed us photos of the warehouse where the food is stored and distributed, and the special Christmas Dinner that they hold every year.
Some people planted various seedlings that we brought to the gardens and some people planted seeds in straight rows. Then we swapped over. It was great fun and we were very careful with the little plants, treating them gently and looking after them so they could grow!
We had a great time and learned a lot! Thank you to Jenny, Adele and Eileen who volunteered to teach us about the Papatoetoe Teaching Gardens and showed us how to plant our little vegetable plants and seeds! We loved it!
