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Garden Open To All Who Care
Media information For immediate release
Date: 1 April 2009
Garden Open To All Who Care
Take an acre of unused land, a committed Rotary club and some community spirit, and you might just end up with a garden for all.
This is what has happened in Te Kuiti with a new concept for a community garden coming together.
Waikato District Health Board has agreed to Rotary using spare land directly in front of Te Kuiti Hospital for a garden that the community can tender and care for - and then reap the benefits from.
Te Kuiti Rotary Club is leading the Te Kuiti Community Garden project which will see an open invitation put out to the community to take ownership of the garden.
"What will happen is that community groups or individuals can come to the garden and plant, sow and generally care for the plants, vegetables and produce in it," said Te Kuiti Hospital and Family Health Team manager Thia Priestly.
"In return, those same people can reap the benefits of what they have sown. They can come and take some of that produce."
But the garden idea is about more than gardening, says Ms Priestly.
"There are so many benefits to a community garden, including the feeling of satisfaction that planting and caring for your own plants provides.
"It's about the community doing something for the good of the community - putting the work in for ourselves and then gaining the benefits of that ourselves, teaching the younger generation the value and art of gardening, getting physically active outdoors, and putting fresh food that you have grown yourself into your body.
"We are so excited about the Te Kuiti Community Garden and believe it will be of great value to the town."
Rotary Club services director Reece Turner said the idea for the garden has developed quickly since Waikato DHB agreed to the use of the land, but that there was a lot of planning to be done about how the project would best work.
"Watch this space, Te Kuiti. We are looking forward to bringing you further updates throughout the planning process for our new garden," said Ms Priestly.
ENDS
Waikato District Health Board
Healthy People. Excellent Care
Waikato District Health Board (DHB) employs over 6500 people and plans, funds and provides hospital and health services to more than 391,770 people in a region covering eight per cent of New Zealand.
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