Community Garden Takes Root
A lot has changed since we last spoke to Organic Market Garden (OMG) in August 2019. The garden is into its fourth winter since it was established and is flourishing more than ever - producing vege boxes available for locals to enjoy.
The OMG site, along with many other plots of land in the Eden Terrace area, was acquired by the project in 2013 as a potential station site. Before OMG took over, the 600sq metre plot of undeveloped sloping land was vacant, littered with demolition debris, rubbish and weeds.
When gifted in 2018 to OMG and their umbrella initiative, For the Love of Bees, the site blossomed into a completely functional market garden. Now almost every inch is filled with thriving, luscious plants – a garden plot that has grown in more than one way over the past few years.
Previously the garden sold vegetables and edible flowers to locals, as well as restaurants and cafes. Now, it is solely focused on the home-consumer with its Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions (CSAs). The CSAs involves nearby residents signing up for a season of freshly harvested vegetables or salad mix, with their freshly picked box of goodies ready for pick up on Tuesdays or Fridays.
Currently each week the garden produces 30 vegetable boxes for locals, 15-20kg of salad mix along with seedlings produced for purchase every season, and compost produced for pick up - a multitude of natural production for such a compact piece of land. In the past three years, a huge 1.5 tonne of salad mix has been produced alone.
What makes the initiative even more ideal, says head farmer Levi Brinsdon-Hall, is that “not a single bag or container to carry the produce has been used that hasn’t had another life, with locals collecting their weekly haul with recycled bags and containers, and carrying it all home in a reusable tote bag.
“The initiative has recently taken on a second gardener, and now facilitates 65 hours worth of wages a week for two young farmers, which is more than we could have ever imagined.”
In keeping with the community vibe, volunteers of any age or skill level are welcome with open arms. Volunteers are welcome to drop in and help out without prior arrangement on Friday or Tuesday mornings from dawn to lunchtime, or Wednesdays from 3:30pm till sunset during the winter.
Hundreds of friendships have been formed across the years amongst the vegetation of the garden, with valuable skills taught to help give a great community feel and continue making the most of the special piece of land amongst the hustle and bustle of uptown Auckland.
