Grow to Share Wānanga
A simple act of dropping off some vegetable seedlings to a church in Ōtara in 2019 was the start of the ‘Grow to Share’ project. Church members took these plants home and started growing not only their own homegrown kai but they started growing community connections through sharing their abundance with their neighbours. For some, getting onboard this kaupapa came at a pivotal time as Covid lockdowns were beginning in Tāmaki at the time where fresh produce supplies in supermarkets were affected. Fast Forward to 2025 the growing and sharing is still at the heart of this project. Since 2019 Church communities from South to East Auckland have boarded the vaka to grow to share.
In May this year With the support of Auckland Council PVA held a wānanga in a sunny room at the Auckland Botanic Gardens whereby several South Auckland churches were invited to attend to:
learn more about ‘Grow to Share’
learn about support available from Auckland Council and PVA
envision what ‘grow to share’ could look like on their church grounds
Sera Schwalger sharing preserving food methods
Four Church representatives were invited which turned into nine church representatives in attendance, PVA were grateful for the extras thanks to a nudge from friend and tuakana Reverend Ifalamae Teisi aka ‘Minister of Waste’. To start the wānanga the group enjoyed a tour of the Edible Garden led by Auckland Botanic Gardens Edible Garden Curator Angela Anstis with a focus on edible flowers. Many in the group were surprised at how many edible flowers there are and were also surprised to learn that begonias that serve as beautification in many of their homes and churches are edible.
With inspiration from the edible garden the group moved back into the room to start kōrero about what brought them to the wānanga. The majority were interested in getting growing gardens of some kind on their church properties. Having an aerial map of their church grounds supplied by Auckland Council enabled them to see the possibilities and challenges. While this marinated kaimahi from PVA presented some of their support and workshops available. Sera Schwalger presented her ‘Fill the Pantry’ workshops showing and talking to some of the preserving methods and foods. Feijoa fizz was enjoyed by the group - that highlighted a simple fermenting technique of a seasonal fruit.
Reverend Ifalamae Teisi aka ‘Minister of Waste’ talks about their vision at Free Church of Tonga in Favona
Church representatives were then invited to share back to the group what they would like to do going forward. Acknowledging that carparks are a significant part of their church grounds there was an opportunity to grow around the periphery in narrow garden beds and vertical plants that could latch on to fence lines. For others low maintenance options were considered for example growing herbs and planting fruit trees.
PVA kaimahi Kathleen Ng Shiu rounded up the wānanga reminding the group of the ancestral knowledge that was within the room. Holding up a sprouting kūmara unlocked kōrero about ways kūmara is grown that has been passed down through generations and across oceans.
PVA looks forward to supporting these churches on their ‘Grow to Share’ journey as well as growing the ‘Grow to Share’ model, extending and evolving to build resilience and uplift mana of locally grown kai.
“Making food is important for our future” Reverend Ifalame Teisi.
Kathleen Ng Shiu reminding us about our AI - Ancestral Intelligence