The Houghton Valley Community Garden is a small plot on the back of a Housing NZ section and sits between the School and regenerating bush. The are several beds, which are communally managed and harvested. The general philosophy is come and help and then share in the day’s harvest. Currently work is done when people can make it rather than a particular time, the group communicates through WhatsApp.
To help in the gardens contact: communitygarden@houghtonvalley.org.nz
History of the Community Gardens
Dave the school caretaker wanted to start a community garden and got permission to use the back part of a section next to the school, which belonged to Housing NZ. So in August 2010 Dave and 3 locals met on the section and began clearing the 2 metre high blackberry. Over many Sunday afternoon sessions, plots were established one by one, and then paths were created (the path through the middle of the garden was created so kids could walk through the garden on their way to school). John, an ex-chemist, built bins for compost. A small sit down area was created but later a larger one had to be created because of the increasing number of locals coming to join the gardeners for afternoon tea. Many Houghton Valley activities were hatched and planned during the afternoon teas.
A small gardeners email group was started so messages about working bees and other information could be communicated. This proved to be very popular and the emails soon morphed into a community newsletter. Within a year, over a 100 people had joined.