This has been 3 years in the making, and its happenning ! A few years a go when I became the Environmental Sustainbility Management teacher at Bay of Islands College. I thought to myself , I better learn a thing or two about horticulture and growing stuff. Then as if by luck, or destiny I recieved a book about Permaculture, this book hit me like a bolt of lightning. It was as if, from that point on my life had changed, every thing started to make sense and I could really see that there is HOPE and a way out of the dire environmental catospharie that is looming on the horizion .
Permiculture has 12 principals which can be applied to the ecosystem of your garden, your community or fingers crossed the entire world. These principals range from the obvious like 'Produce No Waste" to the more abstract "design from Patterns in Nature" but three years ago when I was sitting in the Horticulture Block day dreaming about the possibilities and this wonderful opportunity that I had found my self in. I pondered the 12th Principle and the one that has led me , my class, my students hopefully the whole school and one day the whole community down the road to ecological restoration.
The 12th Principle is "Use and Value the Margins" As Isat there pondering this thought I looked at the margins of our school. They looked as if they had been neglected for a long time, Weeds had been allowed to grow in to huge trees, abacco weed and kykuia grass was out of control, ther area had left alone and now is home to many invasive species, and 1 lone Harekeke.
So this started me on the journey to utilise this whenua and turn it in to somthing special. I started asking around and no one seemed to mind this i was going down this track, and here we are.
The 2 photos are of the Land Scape Design process and the other photo is of the team who are the kaitiaki undertaking this very important mahi. Thanks to Ko Waitangi te Awa Trust for their support in supplying the trees .
My Time is up, I gave myself 10 minutes for this blog post. see you next time
Congratulations Richard, I am so inspired by your determination and commitment to get this project underway. When you have the right intention, everything seems to fall into place. Doors open, connections are made and the journey unfolds.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed the gardens and plants popping up around the school and it always makes me smile when I walk by.
I'd love to be able to see the designs but the images are a bit small, any chance you could make them fill the whole post?
Keep up the good mahi Richard, you certainly are making a difference!