Building a garden
A community grant from the “Keep Waitakere Beautiful Clean Trust” has helped the new Ranui Playcentre establish a community garden.
The grant of $500 has allowed the centre to purchase everything needed for our community garden including equipment for both adults and tamariki, beetroot, strawberries, courgettes, peas, broccoli, silverbeet, tomatoes, passionfruit, cauliflower, capsicums, potatoes and herbs.
We wanted our children to learn about how things grow and what we need to do to look after them. We also wanted to create a stronger sense of community, to create a space where everyone could contribute, benefit and provide a sense of belonging.
Ranui Playcentre runs three general sessions each week, two CYCLE sessions (drop off sessions, for three-year-olds and older, for all centres of Te Akoranga) and one Himawori playgroup (Japanese Families learning traditions).
We all contribute to the up keep of this garden, including planting, weeding, watering and harvesting. A roster system assigns and delegates jobs to each group to look after certain vegetables.
The community garden has brought together everyone who uses our centre, creating a sense of responsibility and greater care in looking after our building.