The vision of Grow Te Puke is all about cultivating resilience and abundance, and that’s exactly what happened during a recent working bee at Giggles Early Learning. The Vector Group Charitable Trust, along with a team of passionate volunteers, came together to give the childcare centre’s mara kai edible garden a much-needed refresh for the upcoming growing season.
The mission was to set the garden up for success. We focused our efforts on two key tasks: giving the feijoa trees a heavy trim and removing an old, unproductive peach tree. The feijoas were pruned back to encourage new, vigorous growth and a bigger harvest. As any experienced grower knows, a good trim now means more fruit later!
The biggest challenge was the removal of a struggling peach tree. While it’s always sad to remove a perennial, this move was vital to create a clear space for more productive plants to thrive. With a team on the tools, we were able to get the job done efficiently.
This collaborative effort was a true community affair, and a special thank you goes out to everyone who showed up and lent a hand. Owners Shona and her husband led the way, with their whole family joining in to learn alongside the volunteers. Their commitment to teaching the tamariki about where food comes from is what makes this project so special.
We also want to give a massive shout-out to our generous local partners: AJ from Te Puke Landscape Supplies for their support and to Hireworks for providing the chipper and chainsaw that were essential to the job.
This garden is a shining example of how we can build food security and knowledge right here in Te Puke, nurturing not just plants, but also the next generation of growers.
For more photos of the day, you can visit the Vector Group Charitable Trust’s website by clicking here: Photos from the Giggles Early Learning Working Bee