“Using Ōtaki’s rich soil and ideal climate to grow our own food is one small step towards a more self-sufficient community,” said Dee Armstrong of Transition Town Ōtaki’s Sustainable Food Group.
Now into its sixth year, the group’s weekly home-grown produce stall will reopen on Thursday October 9, aiming to encourage edible gardening as a way of making the community more sustainable.
Anyone who has surplus, home-grown vegetables, fruit or eggs can bring their produce to the stall, clean and bagged up, and get paid 80% of what will be the price to the customer.
“The other 20% goes to expenses in setting up and running the stall,” said Dee. “Any produce left over goes to the House of Hope or the Ōtaki Food Bank.”
At the end of each season the group also donates any money left after expenses to the Food Bank and the Ōtaki Health Shuttle.
“This year our group also grew a communal patch of garlic to sell at the stall and was able to make bigger donations to these very important local groups. We’ve got another patch underway for the same purpose, which we’ll harvest and sell later in the season,” said Dee.
The stall has steadily grown in popularity, said Dee, with buyers often queuing up well before opening time and produce selling out fast, sometimes within the first half hour.
The stall will be held on the green space beside the council building on Main Street, Ōtaki, every Thursday from October 9 until May next year. From 10.30 till 11am, gardeners bring their produce to sell. From 11am till 12.15 the stall sells to the public.
Contacts: Dee Armstrong 364-0550 021 048 9699
Bernadine Bloemgarten 364-7762/ 021 105 7961