Otago Polytechnic Living Campus team leader Kim Thomas (left) and gardener Michael Gaffney in the polytechnic’s plant nursery. PHOTO: GERARD O’BRIEN As groceries become increasingly expensive in New Zealand, Otago Polytechnic is helping Dunedin Kāinga Ora tenants to put food on the table by showing them how to grow it. Otago Polytechnic Living Campus team leader Kim Thomas said about 30 planter boxes had been made by Otago Corrections Facility prisoners who were learning carpentry skills, and were then sent to the polytechnic’s Living Campus in Dunedin. Kāinga Ora tenants participating in the garden programme were then taught how to cultivate vegetables and other garden plants, and each tenant received a planter box to take home and use. "The tenants come to three two-hour workshops in our plant nursery at Otago Polytechnic, where they learn how to propagate vegetable seedlings and then pot them. "It’s about learning by doing. "People can ask questions, try things out, and build confidence as they go." She said the seedlings were grown in the campus tunnel house until they were big enough, and then delivered along with a bed of compost to the tenants’ houses. "We discuss the best position for the bed [planter box], and then we load it up with the nice compost, and then we plant it together. "I’m also available to give one-on-one advice if they want any advice about their garden in general." She hoped the programme would help people with lower incomes provide sustainable food for their families. "This can be a way to help with that overwhelming burden of the increasing grocery bills." Ms Thomas said the programme was multi-faceted. It also gave tenants an opportunity to meet like-minded people, and inspire a wider interest in horticulture. "They can be in a situation where they can discuss gardening with one another. "I heard a couple of tenants discuss maybe doing a working bee in one another’s garden. So there’s a social aspect to it: kindred spirit, a love of gardening." She said several participants had also expressed an interest in widening their education by enrolling in the free online level 3 certificate in horticulture. "While there’s still free fees at Otago Polytechnic, people should really take advantage. "I mean, if you think of it like a solo mum with kids, if you can do it online, then it’s way more accessible than having to go to face-to-face classes. "And there could be a career in it at the end of it." She said the greatest reward from the project was seeing the tenants’ skills and passion for gardening grow. "For me, success is when people keep going with it, using their gardens, coming back, and staying involved." The programme has finished for the season, but she hoped it would continue again later in the year. john.lewis@odt.co.nz
