Temuka’s community garden has reaped its first harvest.
The garden, which officially opened in October, has been filling Temuka’s sharing shelves while simultaneously filling a need in the community.
Organiser Tracy Iles Leith said it was a place for the community to come together for many reasons.
Ms Iles Leith said it was very exciting to start sharing the produce, harvesting silverbeet, buttercrunch lettuce, spinach, beetroot, radishes and parsley.
She said volunteers had also harvested pick ’n mix lettuce.
‘‘It is a variety of the lettuces that you can just pick the leaves and they keep growing.’’
The garden’s sharing shelf also contained broad beans which were excess produce from a volunteer’s garden.
She said while there were ‘‘a couple of chaps’’ who were the mainstay, volunteers were a fluid number.
Everyone helped where they could, sharing their skills and specialties.
Some volunteers helped with larger constructions and earth works, while others helped to keep vegetables watered.
A gate was being donated to the garden by the South Island Organ Company, being constructed by an organ builder and made out of old tools.
Opihi College students had helped in the garden for their last day of the year, beginning to fill the beds.
She said the students loved helping out, with one student getting his mum to pick him up from the garden a few weeks ago.
‘‘He was so proud to show her what they had done.’’
Another young man, who had volunteered when the garden committee was getting the fence built, had donated some trees to the garden.
She said the man was looking for work, and had made some contacts which might help link him up with people looking for workers.
‘‘One lady biked around to pick up some stuff today and made a big point of coming in to thank us.
‘‘People and businesses have been very generous.’’
Grapevines, raspberry canes and fruit trees had all been donated in the past week.
‘‘We will, of course, get to a point where we can’t take any more of that type of donation. But for the moment, it’s very heartening to see the support from both businesses and community.
‘‘The place has really come along.’’
