September 8, 2011

Turning dough into free seeds

Thousands of packets of free organic vegetable seed are being made available to gardens at schools, kindergartens and kohanga reo across the country by Paraparaumu’s award winning Purebread.

Nothing beats the excitement of kids pulling a carrot from the soil and crunching straight into it, says Robert Glensor, and he’s putting his dough where his mouth is, providing a Kapiti-based innovative education scheme.

The new Purebread Organic Education Programme is based at the organic Paraoa Bakehouse in Paraparaumu, founded by Glensor in 1996.

For every pack of pizza bases or loaf of gluten free Young Buck bread sold, Glensor is pledging to donate a sachet of organic seed to education programmes in kindergartens, primary schools or Kohanga Reo. So far, that looks like coming to well over 16,000 packets.

“We want to encourage organics, gardening and healthy eating and they’re all linked in together,” says Glensor.

It’s part of his belief in a healthy future for New Zealand kids, and he’s not just paying lip service to sustainability. The Paraparaumu bakehouse, employing 10 people and producing hundreds of loaves daily, produces just 1kg of rubbish a week, a feat that won them the New Zealand sustainable business supreme award in 2008.

Crops for kids have to be sweet, tasty and fast-growing, says Glensor. Along with Kāpiti Coast District Council’s Green Gardener Hannah Zwartz he’s chosen a range of locally suitable vegetables for seasonal growing. Ready for sowing now are spring crops like carrots, radish and peas – both sugar snap and fat-podded kinds are always a favourite with young gardeners. Next term, kids can sow cherry tomatoes and pumpkins, which will mature after the summer break.

Kāpiti primary schools or early childhood education centres interested in getting involved can contact the Green Gardener at green.gardener@kapiticoast.govt.nz, or through the Council at 296 4700 (toll free 0800 486 486.)

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