The Community garden is found beside the Matakana Hall. Formerly a waste area it has been transformed into a beautiful and productive vegetable garden developed along organic principles. It is a space to come and grow produce, learn new gardening skills to use at home and meet like minded people.
We meet every Monday morning, from 9am until 10.30am, at the garden, to tend, plant and harvest our produce.
Everyone is welcome to join us.
Everyone is welcome to join us.
Green Swap
Friday 9am at The Wharf in Matakana
Come along with your spare produce and swap it for something else somebody has produced; fruit, veggies, jams, flowers etc all welcome!
Friday 9am at The Wharf in Matakana
Come along with your spare produce and swap it for something else somebody has produced; fruit, veggies, jams, flowers etc all welcome!
Lots of planning has gone on and thanks to everyone who has made suggestions and offered to arrange and host events. Please keep the suggestions coming and if you want to host a home visit or plan a social visit please let me know.
SOCIAL EVENT – SEEDSAVING STUDY MORNING with Ruth Bookman
Friday 7th June 2019
9am start
Venue: Matakana Hall meeting room out the back, 43 Matakana Valley Road
Koha: towards venue costs
Morning tea: If you can bring a plate of food to share or some homemade herbal tea!
Ruth will oversee a study morning around seed saving.
Bring any spare seed (or other plant material Veg, flower, bulbs, cuttings, ground covers, bananas etc ) for a sharing table.
If you bring something please create a label with the name and any info about the item.
Eg Mixed Lettuce seed, April 2019,saved from Matakana community garden
Or Yacon root harvested May 2019
Ill bring some spare pens and paper in case you need labels made in the morning.
Package up anything into portion sizes or provide packaging
Also bring containers, old envelopes, brown paper bags, jars, buckets to take things home in.
Newspaper welcomed to for making mini paper bags for seeds etc.
If you can bring a plate of food to share or some homemade herbal tea that would be great!
This is the first event of this kind for us, so we want to try keep it casual and fun.
https://www.facebook.com/events/579435599126637/
Future events:
Friday 14th June - GREENSWAP WHARF: we are at the Wharf - 9am start
https://www.facebook.com/events/365229844341077/
Friday 21st June - SOCIAL EVENT - Honey and Bees - 9am start
Venue - Beetopia
Bee talk, Honey tasting, bring your own container and buy some honey!
Friday 28th June - HOME VISIT - Kurt Whangaripo Valley - 9am start
https://www.facebook.com/events/2373833012854563/
Friday 5th July - Social event - Possible Farmers Daughter
Friday 12th July - Wharf
Friday 19th July - Social event - suggestions welcome
Friday 26th July - Home visit Karen in Dome valley
Angie
021353666
https://www.facebook.com/groups/matakanagreenswap/
SOCIAL EVENT – SEEDSAVING STUDY MORNING with Ruth Bookman
Friday 7th June 2019
9am start
Venue: Matakana Hall meeting room out the back, 43 Matakana Valley Road
Koha: towards venue costs
Morning tea: If you can bring a plate of food to share or some homemade herbal tea!
Ruth will oversee a study morning around seed saving.
Bring any spare seed (or other plant material Veg, flower, bulbs, cuttings, ground covers, bananas etc ) for a sharing table.
If you bring something please create a label with the name and any info about the item.
Eg Mixed Lettuce seed, April 2019,saved from Matakana community garden
Or Yacon root harvested May 2019
Ill bring some spare pens and paper in case you need labels made in the morning.
Package up anything into portion sizes or provide packaging
Also bring containers, old envelopes, brown paper bags, jars, buckets to take things home in.
Newspaper welcomed to for making mini paper bags for seeds etc.
If you can bring a plate of food to share or some homemade herbal tea that would be great!
This is the first event of this kind for us, so we want to try keep it casual and fun.
https://www.facebook.com/events/579435599126637/
Future events:
Friday 14th June - GREENSWAP WHARF: we are at the Wharf - 9am start
https://www.facebook.com/events/365229844341077/
Friday 21st June - SOCIAL EVENT - Honey and Bees - 9am start
Venue - Beetopia
Bee talk, Honey tasting, bring your own container and buy some honey!
Friday 28th June - HOME VISIT - Kurt Whangaripo Valley - 9am start
https://www.facebook.com/events/2373833012854563/
Friday 5th July - Social event - Possible Farmers Daughter
Friday 12th July - Wharf
Friday 19th July - Social event - suggestions welcome
Friday 26th July - Home visit Karen in Dome valley
Angie
021353666
https://www.facebook.com/groups/matakanagreenswap/
Workshops
The Community Garden also hosts workshops such as Pruning, Shitake Mushroom Growing and Compost Making. We will let you know when these opportunities are coming up or try our facebook page.
The Community Garden also hosts workshops such as Pruning, Shitake Mushroom Growing and Compost Making. We will let you know when these opportunities are coming up or try our facebook page.
Our Story
November 2012
The vision of Robyn Barclay and Trish Allen was turned into reality on Sunday November 25th 2012 when a small army of volunteers turned up to turn a piece of unused and rubbish strewn land into the makings of a community garden next to the hall in the centre of the village. .
A skip full of rubbish including old tyres, glass, plastic and steel was collected and disposed of and the garden beds were formed and sheet-mulched with newspaper and cardboard. This was topped with a mix of compost, horse and donkey manure, grass clippings and wood chips. Fantastic stuff for the first pumpkins to grow in. Compost bins were built and a water tank stand was erected.
First Harvest the following March
About 100 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes were harvested the following March. A great first harvest. Lauraine Jacobs, well known Food Columnist and writer used some of the pumpkins in a cooking demonstration with children at Matakana Primary School. The delicious pumpkin lasagne and pumpkin pikelets were a great hit with the kids! After some of the pumpkins had been distributed, the rest were sold by Matakana School children at the Farmers Market the following Saturday to raise money for developing the garden and purchasing fruit trees. Later, about 30 Year4 Matakana School children visited Community Garden to hear a talk by Trish Allen about the benefits of community gardens, soil, composting and worm bins. The children were amazed at the variety and number of pumpkins in the garden.
November 2012
The vision of Robyn Barclay and Trish Allen was turned into reality on Sunday November 25th 2012 when a small army of volunteers turned up to turn a piece of unused and rubbish strewn land into the makings of a community garden next to the hall in the centre of the village. .
A skip full of rubbish including old tyres, glass, plastic and steel was collected and disposed of and the garden beds were formed and sheet-mulched with newspaper and cardboard. This was topped with a mix of compost, horse and donkey manure, grass clippings and wood chips. Fantastic stuff for the first pumpkins to grow in. Compost bins were built and a water tank stand was erected.
First Harvest the following March
About 100 pumpkins of all shapes and sizes were harvested the following March. A great first harvest. Lauraine Jacobs, well known Food Columnist and writer used some of the pumpkins in a cooking demonstration with children at Matakana Primary School. The delicious pumpkin lasagne and pumpkin pikelets were a great hit with the kids! After some of the pumpkins had been distributed, the rest were sold by Matakana School children at the Farmers Market the following Saturday to raise money for developing the garden and purchasing fruit trees. Later, about 30 Year4 Matakana School children visited Community Garden to hear a talk by Trish Allen about the benefits of community gardens, soil, composting and worm bins. The children were amazed at the variety and number of pumpkins in the garden.
