Vouched for Seed

I have had many a garden shaped revelation.

But it took me exactly 23 years to connect it to the bigger picture.

A few weeks ago I was caressing a furry mallow plant leaf in my own back yard when a familiar face popped over the fence line.

In the mid-morning, golden sunshine of Aro Valley she told me about one of the former tenants of this house (I now live in) having an epiphany in this very same garden, and then in the Aro community gardens. He had come from Chile to study something obscure, and very un-garden related in Wellington.

But stone by stone, turned this trashed piece of land into almost a Piet Oudolf vision.

His garden curiosity took him to the Aro Community Gardens, which set him well on the path of ecology and community gardening.

A few years later an email from him appeared out of the ether talking about how, now, he made a living out of his passion; he taught, and encouraged Chilean kids gardening and permaculture principals.

I looked back down at this mallow leaf, and dug my toes deeper into this almost sandy, starved soil of the summers and overflowed with gratitude that such a story could be passed on; that such a story could empower.

This clipping of history resurfaced last night when I sat on the floor of the Sustainability Trust listening to short speeches by local growers, food creators and consumers. It was the launch of the Local Food Week (April 2^nd – 7^th), and the aim was to inspire local (approx. 200 km radius from Welington) food production and consumption.

I felt so wholesome listening to all of this, and returned home to a moonlit garden loyally awaiting when I would next give it attention.

Happy Autumn! Happy Harvest!