Fresh, locally grown produce available in Halswell

A new Food Box delivery is beginning May 9 in the Port Hills area stretching from Halswell, along the Port Hills and Heathcote River to Sumner. Produce in the Food Box is high quality, organic and sourced directly from local farmers, meaning most of it is hand-picked and delivered on the same day.

The organisation delivering the Food Box, Garden City 2.0, is a new social enterprise applying a standard business model to achieving what are traditionally considered ‘charitable’ objectives.

Garden City 2.0’s mission is to show people where their food comes from, better communicate the challenges growers face in producing high quality goods, and increase local residents’ access to more nutritional foods.

In turn, it supports small and micro-scale growers to do what they love and do best – growing that nutritious food. It also means that more of the average $170 spent on food per household a week (source: Stats NZ), is fed back into the local economy which can lead to multiple positive spin offs for businesses and the wider community.

The Garden City 2.0 business model aims to reach a surplus in profits that can be reinvested in community food initiatives. The organisation hopes to generate enough revenue in the future so it can continue to support the growing local food industry as well as invest in areas of Christchurch most exposed to food insecurity (poor access to affordable healthy foods).

Co-directors, Bailey Peryman and Michelle Marquet are interested in establishing bulk collection points in the Halswell area, due to strong supply from local growers in nearby areas. The couple are keen to hear from local residents interested in accessing this service or think that a bulk collection point (minimum 10 orders) could work in their area. People interested in coordinating a distribution point at places like schools, churches or equally suitable locations in return for a Food Box should also get in contact.

For more information about the initiative, to contact Garden City 2.0 or to order a Food Box, go to www.gardencity.org.nz/delivery.

Halswell Supermarket shops

A lot of people have been wondering what is happening with the Halswell shops/ supermarket area.  To find out, I rang Foodstuffs, the owners of the facility.   I was told that although the buildings are quite safe at present, in fact it has been decided (I'm not sure by whom!) that the buildings will come down and be rebuilt rather than being fixed.  

At this stage Foodstuffs are in the process of trying to get a consent from the CCC.  Once they have this they will be moving into designing and rebuilding the shops.  This will be done in such a way that the current tenants will have premises over the rebuild period and be able to keep trading.    

Foodstuffs are uncertain how long everything is going to take and when the demolition and rebuild will begin, because they are uncertain how long the consent processes will take.  In the meantime, they were keen to reiterate that the shops as they are at the moment are safe for all who enter them and work in them! 

Bellbirds in Kennedys Bush

Port Hill Bush - a great place for bellbirds

Have you noticed bellbirds increasing in number around Halswell over the last few years? If so, this is because of a successful project being run in Ohinetahi Reserve up around the back of Governors Bay and in Kennedys Bush to increase bellbird numbers. A joint project between CCC rangers and a group of volunteers headed by Steve Muir regularly replenishes bait stations placed at intervals throughout the area. The poison in these bait stations is aimed at killing rats and possums – animals that have been photographed raiding the nests of native birds such as bellbirds and taking both eggs and young. Bellbird numbers have been increasing steadily in these areas over the last few years and it is now common to hear many bellbirds around Ohinetahi and Kennedys Bush. As the bellbirds increase in number, more of them are coming down into the city, and in particular to the Halswell and TaiTapu areas during the winter months.

Check out some great photos of a bellbird on a red hot polka flower in Christchurch