"This is so yummy," the little girl said, "but why did you have to put it in this?" she added, waving the pod.
This partly explains why Mrs Thomas is committed to education and co-operation in the setting of community gardens.
It is also why garden co-ordinators in Dunedin and Mosgiel are forming a network to explore how the gardens can maximise opportunities by pooling resources.
The move comes as community gardens are becoming more popular as people learn to eat more seasonally to cut food costs, she said. The fact that produce was offered in exchange for a small amount of time in the garden was also a plus, not only for those on tight budgets but for people who wanted food to be as free from chemicals as possible and to learn how to grow their own.
Garden helper Jules Haldane agreed. "There’s definitely a trend away from supermarket buying of vegetables," she said.
It concerns her that produce loses its food value the longer the time between harvesting and eating.
North East Valley community garden member Tom McKinley said he too, had seen more demand in recent months.
He was very supportive of the garden network idea, "but it’s early days yet".
The East Taieri Community Garden takes a slightly different approach to helping people keep their food bills down.
Co-ordinator Alison Willems said the approach was "less about people coming into the garden and more about growing for the foodbanks in Mosgiel and Presbyterian Support in Dunedin".
The garden, on East Taieri Presbyterian Church land, operated under a governance arrangement with the church. The long-running project was revitalised about three and a-half years ago, Ms Willems said.
"Next year, the plan is for [most of the produce] to go into Mosgiel, supporting local.
"And over winter, we are reconfiguring the garden to make it even more suitable for foodbank crops with more potatoes, pumpkins – we harvested 90 this year – and carrots."
Two community gardens, in Brockville and Tomahawk, are being revitalised in response to demand.
