RECAP Permaculture Garden Festival Tour in Ashhurst and Pohangina

Ashhurst permaculturist Suzanne Chelius' garden is on the Permaculture Garden Tour, October 31.

Permaculturist Suzanne Chelius says permaculture is logical and commonsense.

Chelius' permaculture garden is in the Permaculture Ashhurst and Pohangina Garden Festival tour on October 31.

Chelius says she has spent the past two years learning and working toward a permaculture design certificate.

The Covid pandemic and lockdown brought a lot of understanding around resilience and engaging with others, and sharing knowledge around fermenting food and saving food.

Permaculture, Chelius says, addresses resilience and growing food.

She says the self-guided tour is a unique opportunity for people to discover the permaculture way of living.

Chelius talks about building good soil, and says you should never treat your soil like dirt.

"Permaculture is about observing and responding.

"It is all the hours you invest on your land and the energy to bring something forth."

She grew her own carrots, and delighted in the success of pulling the long orange vegetable out of the earth.

There's a place in a space for microgreens which will soon be pushing through the ground.

The chickens live in their coop but Chelius allows them out to scratch around in the garden.

In permaculture, there's a practice known as a chicken-tractor where they do all the work in spaces.

Composting is essential, as is keeping any green matter on the property, which can be put through a shredder and added to the compost, says Chelius.

"Permaculture is closing the loop."

The Ashhurst Library community garden is a place to start on the tour with parking around the Village Green.

The garden features examples of hypertuffa garden beds, water storage, composting, espalier, cob seating, fruit trees, vegetable beds, a flower garden and the Ashhurst Sharing Shelf.

There's the Olsson Community Orchard located within McCrae's Bush (accessed from either the Terrace or River Rd)

The orchard is named in honour of Noel Olsson (1941-20120, and contains 40-plus varieties of fruit and nut trees as well as examples of guilds, composting, pruning and good orchard practice.

There are private permaculture-inspired homes.

Included is Chelius' and Thom Conroy's open space and green corridors half-acre;
Helen King's collaborating with creatures and closing the loop, which is her third permaculture garden; Veronika Naglmaier's key aim to establish a bee highway;
Chris Love and Jeremy Nolan, whose aims are abundant food production for resilience in uncertain times, and more.

The RECAP PermcultureGarden Festival, October 31, 9:30am-4pm.

Discover, learn and enjoy local gardening enthusiasm and experience through a self guided tour of permaculture-based properties and businesses in Ashhurst and Pohangina.

There will be over a dozen properties and projects to view, the opportunity to attend short workshops, and the hospitality and ingenuity of ethical locally-focused businesses to experience.

Tickets $25 per person under-12 free.

All proceeds will go towards RECAP and the continuation of their projects and work within the Ashhurst and Pohangina communities

For a complete list of gardens and properties: recap.org.nz