The Tomahawk community has come together to create a community garden, and it now wants to make some additions that will make it more people-friendly.
Ocean Grove Community Trust chairwoman Anna Hughes said the decision to create the garden was made at the start of 2014.
‘‘The council was doing a consultation of the recreation space in our community - we have quite a lot of reserve land in our area, '' Ms Hughes said.
‘‘Basically from there until late 2015 was trying to get consent, partly because it had not been done to this scale on council land before,'' she said.
Once the consent was in place, the group got started creating a ‘‘hugelkultur'' (German for ‘‘mound'' or ‘‘hill culture'') garden using tree trunks from the parks and recreation team at the Dunedin City Council.
‘‘You bury them under the ground and build a garden on top - it composts underneath and takes so long to break down that it is constantly composting and producing heat.''
The garden now has a range of vegetables as well as flowers to attract bees.
The next additions to the garden would be picnic benches and a lean-to on the garden shed to provide shelter.
‘‘We've kind of gone on permaculture principles and a huge part of that is the human element and the social element.
‘‘We want it to be a really attractive place to meet and be together as a community.
‘‘We also want to make a little kids' garden to help get them more involved. They have helped by writing some signs.''
Part of the reason for creating the garden was to build a stronger community and bring people together.
‘‘There was a growth in community gardens so it was on people's radars.
‘‘I think the key that we always have in mind is continued enthusiasm and maintenance. We're looking at having bulk crops, so they're easier to maintain and harvest all at once.
‘‘We'd like to have a greenhouse in the future as well.''
- by David Beck
