NEWSLETTERS |
NEWS FROM THE KOANGA INSTITUTE JANUARY 07
It's not that long since I posted the last newsletter on the Institute homepage but a lot has happened since then. We are celebrating 25 years of collecting and saving our heritage food plants in the north. We have achieved heaps and the next cycle is beginning. That is about living simply with the seeds and about becoming gardeners again. As a way of saying thanks to all of you who have been a part of this amazing grass roots action over the past twenty five years all membership renewals, all new members and all recipients of gift memberships in the next two months (offer ends Feb 28th) will receive FOUR FREE PACKS OF specially selected KOANGA INSTITUTE SEED . Big news..... The big news is that Bob and I, our son Taiamai and his partner, Franzi, are moving South. As it says in the article in Organic New Zealand, an opportunity has come up for us that we all feel called to follow. Somehow our work is finished here; it's time to move on. Our move is to the Marlborough Sounds, to create an intentional community with Danny and Theresa Watson, and family. This news has created a lot of interest and questions, like what will happen to the shop, what will happen to the Koanga Institute etc. Also what will happen to my amazing garden and all the plant material? To get some of the questions out of the way before I get into the rest of the news seems like a good idea.
Firstly the Koanga Institute is about more than simply 'saving the seeds;' it's Kaupapa is far wider.
The Kaupapa of the Koanga Institute is around
Our lives are totally committed to this Kaupapa, and Bob and I will still be fully involved in this process of creating change towards sustainable living. We'll run the Institute from Marlborough and there will be a branch up here in the north continuing the work of saving the heritage food plants for this northern Bioregion.
In the way of the universe, we have been called to a new task just as things have reached a point/time here that we feel we could actually move on, not that we ever planned to. All the things we are doing, holding, or are a part of up here will survive without us!!!!! In fact some of them will be a lot better off without us, the shop for instance.
The shop (Koanga Gardens – Centre for Sustainable Living) is being bought by a couple who have years of experience in retail and who are totally committed to organic and sustainable. I wish them loads of luck and I will continue to be very supportive and involved with some aspects of the shop - like the fruit trees and seeds. (I am going bush – an hour and a half by boat from a road- but I will have a laptop and an email connection!!)
The Institute is the thing most of you are more concerned about, or more specifically, what happens with the seeds and trees.
I am totally committed to making sure the seeds and the trees and the nursery are left as strong and as able to survive without me as possible. Benji Woodman is the new nursery man. He's learning to grow all the trees that are in our collection, and I'll keep in close touch with him. He is also looking after the mother trees, in the Institute selection blocks. He has, to support him, several of our Institute tree people including Dave Webster, who has most of our trees in a duplicate collection at his place (and has been involved with Koanga for many years) and also Andrew Land who is also growing trees for the shop. There are others who attend our Seed/ Tree Hui’s who will support the saving of the fruit trees as well. If you feel you'd like to become a more active part of saving the fruit trees of the northern bioregion we'd love to see you at the Summer Hui up at the Lands in February (you have to book for that Hui – numbers limited to 50) or the Winter Hui here at Koanga this June. I will be at both.
The seeds are a totally different story, and will require more people to be involved if we are to save and make available to all of you those New Zealand Heirlooms that we are aiming to keep alive for the long haul in the north.
At the Seed Hui Here last winter we jointly made a clear list of all those seed lines we'd like to keep alive and we found people to grow all of those lines that needed to be grown his season. They are mostly being grown by the Land Family, who are an extended family who grow almost all their own food, and by members of the community here at the Kohatu Toa Eco Village. The Institute employs a part time gardener Elaine who grows seeds in the shop garden as well for the Institute.
I am personally growing a significant number of seed lines for the Institute and there are around twenty other Seed multipliers or small voluntary growers who all help to keep the seeds lines grown out and available. Without me up here in the north there will be bit of a gap. I'm hoping that the folk who buy our house site (yes, our home and garden is for sale - pass the word around to all your gardening friends!!!) may be interested in seed production as a part of their income. The community here will still grow some lines for seed in personal gardens and in the community gardens.
Obviously there are some gaps and some opportunities here. If you feel called to check out these opportunities feel free to give me call on 094312745. Essentially the seeds that will be saved are the seeds that as a group we can keep alive. It is time for some more of you to step up to the mark and help or support where ever possible. The job is a big one. The seeds will only be saved by many people caring enough to take action.
Simply renewing your Institute membership is a good start if you are not in a position to be actually saving seeds at the moment. We need all the members we can get and all the donations you can give. Showing your support in any way will be a good thing to do at this point to encourage and "awhi" those who will be stepping in to pick up the reins over the next few months within the Institute. All donations this year will go towards the building of our new seed storage room. We have already been donated windows, doors and screens by a member.... thanks heaps!!!
And now from the garden............. We are currently harvesting seed, and beginning the seed processing. So far it's been a really good year for seed saving, so the seed list in the February catalogue will be a good one. We've had a great carrot seed season, white cauliflowers will be in the list for the first time in many years and we have an excellent new garlic cultivar for you. The potato harvest this season looks like a very good one with some exciting new varieties, including Chatham Island (used to be grown by the Maori in large gardens and shipped all around the South Pacific as a commercial crop) which is going to become my favourite I think. It is similar to Whataroa, ( and may once have been the same variety) yellow fleshed, purple streaks in the flesh, purple blotchy skin, large elongated shape, prolific croppers of large potatoes, excellent keepers, and they taste great even when they've been stored for months and have long sprouts on them!! What more could I say.
The Muriwai Hollyhocks have once again been absolutely stunning down in the mother seed garden amongst the corn, and the huge red cabbages we planted in the shop garden are finally deciding to go up to seed and the Wanganui Giant carrot flowers are a sight to behold! Looks like we'll have lots of Amber carrot seed this year too.
New seed storage facility.................... As a part of selling the shop, the Institute seed storage facility, (which is grossly inadequate and dependant on an electric air conditioner,) will have to find a new home. Bob is playing with a relatively new earth building technique- fibre earth - which he is very excited about and we are hoping to build a new seed storage facility here before we go, using that technique, and other techniques to create a cool well insulated building without power ( for more info email info@koanga.co.nz ). You will all be welcome to come and join in the fun If you're interested in being a part of this project as a volunteer, email us and we'll keep in touch on the dates we're building (it’ll be in February/March). We'd love to have your help!
If any of you have building skills (and some time to volunteer!) we would also like help with benches and shelving once the structure is up.
Arohanui Kay and the team....
To read our old newsletters please click on the edition below:
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