This has been a great success so far, if we may be so bold as to say that before we have even harvested the crops! Our Potato Trial has only been possible with the generous donations from our members and supporters. We're aiming to improve the seed lines in our collection, to see if we can grow the viruses out of our potatoes by nourishment and careful management… rogueing, selection etc.




This year we've seen strong flowering (right), which we've not seen in previous years. There is still a lot of variation between lines, and we have had to rogue a lot from some lines but generally we can see.. all in just half a growing season;
 

Are Your Fruit Trees Happy?

Every where I go, but especially in Northland where the soils are heavy, I have people coming up to me to tell me about their Koanga Gardens fruit trees. Quite often people say that some have done well, others not. Obviously everybody wants all their trees to do well and so they want to know why they aren’t.

If you have been following the work of the Institute over the last few years, you will have noticed the ever present move to addressing the wider issues of sustainability. How do we move towards a human ecology that works – long-term. We are faced with the question of re-design.  Doing nothing is not an option, the industrial society we have is on a collision course which will play out sooner or later. This is a discussion that our whole community needs to have, but it seems we are not ready for it yet, as we are still being encouraged to ‘shop’ our way out of it.

The Koanga Institute is committed to addressing core issues of sustainability.  One of these is land use/ownership/stewardship. Treating land as a commodity is not working, we need different models, where we recognise that land and resources are the common heritage of everyone, not just those who are the most effective exploiters of those same resources. At the same time the Koanga Institute needs to address its own requirements for access to land for growing seeds. We have decided to work with the ‘model’ of Community Land Trusts, both as a way to address integrated community development, sustainable land use, and our own needs to grow the seeds we work with.  

Recently we have initiated a new website devoted to developing a Community Land Trust both for us, and willing settlers. You can get involved and/or follow its progress: www.communitylandtrusts.co.nz