January 17, 2020
A Seeds to Feeds event in Houghton Valley!
Houghton Valley Community gardens and Te Kawakawa Commons have joined the Wellington Seeds to Feeds Festival, which involves growing local food over the summer and preparing a feast during Local Food Week (16 – 22 March). We will be holding a community celebration with a delicious 3-course meal prepared by chef Sukie (with a few unusual flavours thrown in for good measure) in the Houghton Valley Hall on March 22, from 5 – 8 pm.
A requirement of the event is that people book a ticket, giving a Koha to the hosting organisation. In this case it will be the Houghton Valley Progressive Association. There will be more details about this, and how to book a ticket, closer to the event.
We will also have a few more newsletters than usual to keep everyone in the loop with what is happening. This first one is mainly just to set the scene.
Meanwhile we have to grow the food …
The Seeds to feeds sponsors have kindly provided vegetable and edible flower seedlings for our local gardens to grow food for the event, but we have a few gaps. If you have any of the following that might be available in late March – garlic, onions, potatoes, pumpkin, rhubarb, lemons, feijoas, eggs, honey – please contact Ness.
And if anyone wants to try making chutney, fermenting vegetables, growing mushrooms, making wild yeast bread, home-brew or yoghurt from locally delivered milk please let your creative juices start flowing!
Building up to the event
We are planning a small foraging walk in March to scout out what will be available from our local wild landscape to add to the cultivated produce. More details later. We are also hoping to hold a kimchi making session.
Growing food a problem? – Nah
It is probably fair to say many of us do not feel we are equipped with the skills to grow food here in our rollicking South Coast climate. So over the next few months we are going to feature the life and stories of the food plants that survive and even thrive locally despite the cold, wind and salt. Dave McArthur has started with the story of his apple trees:
Green apple tree
Twenty years ago I inherited a property in Houghton Bay Road infested with German Ivy up to the house. When I cleared it back I discovered one lump of ivy was actually a long-smothered apple tree with about three pale leaves. Once freed, it blossomed, as can be seen here. It blew over in the June 2013 storm and now braces itself against the hillside. The winds do the thinning, and this crop of 200 apples will flavour my porridge each morning till October when new apples are forming.
Red apple tree
Clearance of another lump of German Ivy proved to be a broken-off, dead tree. So I removed it and made that area a lawn. I mowed it for four years until one spring when I spotted a single leaf on the ground. It looked like it was growing! Closer inspection revealed it was fixed to something under the soil and so I left it. The photo shows it today neatly braced against the hillside with 130 apples on it, after adapting to and being thinned by the Southerlies.
A thank you from the school
On behalf of the school we would like to thank the Houghton Valley Progressive Association, and the local community for your kind support for the 2019 school fair.
The fair generated a total profit of $33,000, which is the most money ever raised. This money will go towards equipment and resources not funded by the Ministry of Education, and will make a big difference to the school.
Special thanks for the use of the community hall for storage and for the pre-fair clothes sale, and the loan of trestle tables. Also thanks to Grant and the community gardeners for their support, to Andy for the pottery wheel, to Dave Mc for his unflagging energy and kindness, and to all our neighbours who help out or donate items for the fair.
The enthusiasm and support of so many local people is what makes our fair so much more than just a fundraiser. We hope you enjoyed the day, and hope to see you at next year’s fair!
(140 recipients, 105 opens)