Sowing seeds: How our garden helps grow whānau memories

In our whare, we are embracing Matariki by creating traditions that are both in line with Matariki values and those of our whanau. As gardening is such a large part of my life - and always will be - this seemed like a very organic decision to start with. Pun intentional.

Gardening by the moon - or Maramataka - has been something I had previously only loosely followed despite being taught its importance as a young girl by my great-grandfather. I used it as a way to re-focus and ground myself when the garden felt like an overwhelming place or when spring rolled around and I had no idea what to focus on first. I felt like I have lost my way over the years from that wide-eyed child trailing after her elders nibbling on pilfered peas and mimicking techniques.

Lunar phases have a significant impact on plants and if you pick up any good gardening magazine, you will find a page or two dedicated to what the moon phases are up to this month and what activities are best carried out during these phases. There's no need to try and de-mystify it alone as the information is readily available right down to when is the best time to sow root vegetable seeds, when to do weeding and the best times to harvest your homegrown goodies. Paying particular attention when to sow seed and plant seedlings out is a great place to start to ensure a patch that thrives.

Lunar gardening as a whole whānau activity can make the experience much more fun, and the strict schedule is a good excuse to expand your bubble and call in help from your community.

Growing up in rural New Zealand, bartering with your neighbours was a part of everyday life. Swapping a pumpkin for a carton of eggs, leafy greens for tomatoes, or a bucket of peaches for a bag of lemons. That community aspect was the norm no matter where you lived and is an important part of New Zealand's history and community identity. It's heartwarming to see a new generation embracing the concept and have it slowly creeping back into the suburbs. That spirit is turning it from the few odd people out to a *ahem* new normal. Stemming from this practice, community gardens - or māra kai - are popping up again across Aotearoa, though we still have a ways to go to fully embrace this concept in the modern era as well as some other countries embrace it as part of daily life.

Coming together and creating a community garden can be as simple as turning your backyard into a food forest and gifting your spares to a local charity, church or marae. In my whānau, my Dad doesn't have room for a garden at his home, so often contributes to my large garden space by sharing both his time and resources, meaning he gets a portion at harvest time. Or, if you look on your local community forums or council websites, you can easily track down your local more formally set up shared community spaces if you do not have access to the space or permission on your property.

Designing a space that caters to everyone using the garden is an important aspect to consider when setting up your growing area. Accessibility in gardens is not something spoken about often, but a topic garnering more and more discussion as people apply themselves to functional solutions to inclusivity. Growing in pots or raised garden beds can help those who cannot reach plants directly in the ground, or simply carefully considering what you plant can make life easier. Don't go planting climbing beans in a raised garden bed where someone in a wheelchair may not be able to reach - instead plant bush beans (dwarf beans) or peas that don't grow out of reach. Alternatively, if you have community members who struggle to bend down, plant those climbing beans up trellises to ensure they can play an active part in the garden - and harvest time.

However, during the Matariki period, it's the beginning of winter, cold, and therefore only a limited variety of seedlings are suitable to plant. It's a good time to plant lettuce, especially those found in mesclun such as rocket, mizuna and red leaved lettuces, parsley, kale, bok choi, won bok, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower of all sorts of varieties, spring onions, spinach and silverbeet. You can also pop in a few radishes, but these will be slower growing.

Alternatively, if the concept of getting out in the cold and mucking in is unappealing, use this period as a time to plan for spring. Get a big sheet of paper, some coloured pencils and write a big list of fruit and vegetables your whānau loves to eat. Then do a little bit of research and draw your future garden! Have fun with it and get the family excited. (Cute school holiday activity anyone?) This has the added benefit of saving you some cash later down the track, especially if your whānau are partial to varieties such as cucumbers, courgettes, tomatoes and berries - all of which are easy to grow and prolific fruiters over the warmer months but can be unaffordable. Not to mention people are more prone to eating their fruit and vegetables if they have grown them personally.

This Matariki I refreshed my herb patch, planted out a second lot of broccoli, planted spring bulbs, and harvested lots of leafy greens such as celery, kale and spinach. This week, I have some seedlings nearly large enough to replenish my much-used lettuce patch. I have also been growing lots of weeds… but fortunately my bestie has two very hungry chickens - so I can exchange leafy greens and weeds for fresh eggs. A good trade in my books.

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