SUSTAINABILITY AT HOME: RAINWATER HARVESTING
with Ellen Schindler at Kelmarna Community Farm

Ellen Schindler is a passionate gardener and community organiser. Since 2006 she has nurtured her home garden in Sandringham into a productive food system with about 55 fruit trees of all types and sizes, beehives, chooks, and vegetable patches. Ellen believes that healthy food should be accessible to everyone, and teaching hands-on DIY workshops is one of her favourite ways to achieve this goal!

Water is one essential ingredient to make your garden grow! We know that in seasons to come, water may not be as plentiful and will even come at a price. Join us to take this opportunity to learn how to harvest some of that water for later. Every litre of rainwater stored away can help you, your garden, and the public water system! This workshop is for anyone interested in the basics of rainwater harvesting.

Ellen will demonstrate rainwater harvesting methods she uses in her garden, including samples and photos of effective systems, what works and what doesn't, as well as resources for finding suitable and affordable materials, and how to calculate tank and catchment sizes for your garden. Then she'll guide you around the farm at Kelmarna to inspect on-site systems such as downpipes, water tanks, and even soil mulch and planting management practices, to see how these examples can inform your systems at home.

The session will be open for an ongoing discussion to cover all of your questions and address concerns around your unique situations, so that you can come away with a foundation to move forward with your own project at home.

Tickets include:

Theory, demonstration, and discussion around various methods and materials for rainwater harvesting at home.
Resources for sourcing materials on your own (PDF circulated following the session).

This event is part of EcoFest, an annual month-long festival taking place Saturday 22 March – Tuesday 22 April 2025. EcoMatters, Kaipātiki Project, Beautification Trust and Waiheke Resources Trust are teaming up to collectively showcase all that Tāmaki Makaurau has to offer in the sustainability space. Visit ecofest.org.nz and join us

At Kelmarna, we strive to make education accessible for everyone. So, where possible, we offer a 35% discount on our workshops to valid Community Services Card holders. If you book one of these tickets, please email us a copy of your valid Community Services Card, and remember to bring it along to theworkshop. Please note that this option does not include Super Gold Card holders.

We look forward to seeing you on the farm soon!
Kelmarna Community Farm Workshops Program.

Please refer to the Kelmarna Community Farm Workshops policy for terms and conditions

Sustainability at Home: Rainwater Harvesting

Choose your tickets

General Admission ticket

Community Services Cardholder ticket