Start where you are, use what you have – the Te Hiko puha story

June 2024

Introduction

Te Hiko is a centre for community innovation, established in 2020 by Wesley Community Action, to activate leadership, and grow capacity in local communities, to support positive change.

Mahi Kai is part of the Te Hiko initiative. It’s about working with the community to improve access to good kai and move toward kai sovereignty.

Having access to good quality, affordable, healthy food is a fundamental human right. The focus of our mahi kai is addressing the root causes of poverty-related hunger and working with others to build long-term, sustainable improvements in food security. Te Hiko facilitates the regions Fruit and Vegetable Cooperative, providing affordable, healthy food to thousands of households weekly.

To assist people to start their own gardens we have worked with local schools and community groups to establish composting hubs.  We have built a seedling greenhouse where we work with local residents to grow and distribute seedlings. When available we offer seedlings through the fruit and vegetable coops. We support local community gardeners and beginners with workshops in the community on propagating, growing, and harvesting.

This story was relayed by Gina Wong, Community Innovator, Mahi Kai.

Background

Early this year, I was working alongside community members on our Propagation Project. The propagation work was piloted in the last quarter of 2023.

Our group meets weekly. There are around 3 – 4 regulars and sometimes other people join us. If I’m not there, they carry on without me. Once a month, I bring in someone to provide specialised expertise. Yesterday we had someone showing us how to prune fruit trees.

Our aim is to grow strong seedlings, so we can distribute them as widely as possible. We’re not going to grow seedlings that people don’t want, and different stuff is popular with different buyers.

The spark of the idea

One of the group members said they wanted to grow pūhā. She grew up gardening and likes saving seeds. She told our group, “I’ve got the seeds and I want to do it.”

How was the idea supported?

There was not much thinking involved for me. I’m a ‘yes’ person so I went, “Let’s do it!” These decisions are 100% initiated by the group.

Pūhā likes wet and cool conditions so, in March 2024, we started. We have a tunnel house for our seedlings. We propagated the seedlings in trays and let them grow to size. When they were strong enough, we transplanted them outside.

They’ve done really well. Now anyone in the community can come and forage. They grew so easily; we might even grow a second patch. You can eat the leaves at any stage – young or old.

What’s next?

The group member who initiated this has been away recently. When she comes back, she’s going to show us how to cook and use pūhā.

What did we learn?

When we start with what people know, we end up in a different place. Community wealth building is about surfacing what we have, what we know, what we can share and grow together. There is a reconnection for people to traditional foods and a joy in restoring access to foods that people grew up with. We can provide the space and encouragement for this to happen when we build strong relationships. People start to see Te Hiko resources as their resources. They want to add their contribution.

N.B. Pūhā also known as Rauriki or NZ Sow Thistle, was common in Aotearoa until the 1980’s.  These days, its conservation status is ‘at risk’.

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