HOME GARDENING

with YOTAM KAY (PĀKARAKA PERMACULTURE)

Saturday 23 September - 9:30am to 3:30pm (6 hours)

Join us at Kelmarna Gardens for this comprehensive workshop with Yotam Kay (Pākaraka Permaculture) about how to grow an abundance of vegetables at home, using regenerative organic growing techniques.

To have a super productive garden is to do a lot of small things very well, and in this session Yotam will demonstrate and discuss a variety of strategies and techniques you can use to help you grow nutritious food for you, your family, and your community. Grow your knowledge, sharpen your skills, and learn new tricks in this comprehensive full day workshop, designed for beginner and experienced growers alike.

This session will cover essential topics that will help you cultivate a more productive garden, one capable of feeding you throughout the year, condensing a heaping helping of knowledge and advice from your celebrated tutor, to help you come away with the confidence and know-how to succeed. So bring a notebook, a pen, and all of your vegetable gardening questions with you!

Organic morning and afternoon tea will be provided for everyone to take a break, have a snack, and enjoy a fresh brewed cup of herbal tea picked from the garden.

Lunch will be a shared, potluck-style meal, so we ask everyone to please bring a plate. We find this is a great opportunity to enjoy a delicious spread of foods that we each enjoy, that we lovingly prepare, and that we can share and look forward to cultivating in the garden!

What to expect - topics including:

Basic principles in organic gardening: robust soil health, biologically active soil, building and maintaining a high level of fertility
Considerations in choosing the best location for your garden
Staring a new garden using no-dig methods, including: converting a lawn into a garden, garden bed designs, in-ground beds and raised beds
Recommended tools
Propagating your own plants and growing healthy seedlings
Growing microgreens
Direct seeding in the garden
How to plant in the garden
Plant care and getting the most out of your garden
Weeding strategies
Watering systems
Crop planning for a four-season harvest
Companion planting and crop rotation
Plant health and managing pests and diseases

Tickets include: instruction and participation, a handout of essential information and tables, organic morning and afternoon tea provisions, potluck lunch meal

What to bring:

Essential:

a notebook and pen (for taking notes)
a refillable water bottle (to keep hydrated)
weather appropriate gear (to keep comfortable)
a prepared food dish of your choice (to share with the group for potluck lunch)

Recommended:

home gardening questions (to address your specific interests/concerns)
a face covering or mask (for indoor areas and close quarters)

Yotam Kay is the master gardener of Pākaraka Permaculture, a 1/4 acre organic market garden in Thames, growing 10,000kg of top quality veggies seasonally since 2014. Yotam loves growing plants and sharing his passion for it.

Yotam holds a Diploma in Permaculture Design, and has been an active teacher since 2005. He has worked on a wide range of projects prior to establishing Pākaraka Permaculture -- from leading community garden projects, to establishing food gardens and sustainability programs in schools, managing commercial organic gardens around New Zealand, and humbly receiving local, regional, and national recognition for his work.

Pākaraka Permaculture is excited to publish their highly anticipated new book, 'The Abundant Garden'. This practical guide to growing a regenerative home garden has simple, reliable strategies and techniques to help maximise your ability to feed yourself and share the abundance with those around you. For more information, visit pakarakafarm.co.nz, and keep your eyes peeling for more exciting projects from Yotam Kay!

This event is listed with the Auckland Climate Festival 2023, a month full of action to accelerate and celebrate climate mahi!