Jessica Keltie (left), and Kay Fechney. Photo / David Haxton
Jessica Keltie (left), and Kay Fechney. Photo / David Haxton
One day, almost two years ago, Jessica Keltie was walking down the streets of Raumati when she noticed an abundance of fruit on the trees in people’s yards.
She had heard of crop swaps in other areas where people take their extra fruit and vegetables and swap them for crops from others’ gardens.
Jessica thought it seemed like a great way to make fresh fruit and vegetables accessible to everyone, while also ensuring excess food doesn’t go to waste on trees, and she wanted to start a similar initiative in Kāpiti.
“I was like ‘It would be so easy if our community could work together to share fruit and veges’.”
So, she teamed up with Kay Fechney and Heather Horswell to start the Kāpiti Crop Swap, which was based in the Kāpiti Uniting Parish, in Weka Rd, Raumati Beach, once a month.
It proved to be popular — with between 40 and 50 people turning up each month to swap lots of different things, including fruits, vegetables, homemade bread, eggs, jars of jam, newspapers and much more.
“You don’t have to have a crop to swap. You can swap something that is kitchen, garden, or produce-related.”
Jessica wanted to provide the service for people throughout the whole of Kāpiti by expanding the crop swap further throughout the district, so she helped start one up in the Presbyterian parish on Ngaio Rd, Waikanae, and another in the Memorial Hall in Ōtaki.
Kāpiti Crop Swap is held on three out of the four Saturdays each month, with the first being held in Ōtaki, the second in Raumati, skipping the third week, and the fourth in Waikanae.
But you don’t have to wait for one of those three Saturdays to swap — there is a Kāpiti Crop Swap Facebook page which ensures people can find swaps in their own time too, and many people form regular swaps from the crop swap.
It’s not all about the swapping of goods though — there’s also a big social aspect.
Jessica says it’s a great chance for people to meet others in the community with similar interests, and a lot of people have told her they have “found their tribe”.
The Kāpiti Crop Swap is available in Raumati, Waikanae, and Ōtaki.
“One of the things that I didn’t anticipate with crop swap was the connections that people are making. I’ve had people come up to me afterwards saying ‘I’ve been in this community for so long and I’ve found my people’.”
It’s also a good way for novice gardeners to get talking with more experienced gardeners so they can grow their gardening knowledge, and even long-time gardeners can learn new things.
Many people show up early to help with the setup of the event for the chance to talk gardening with other like-minded people.
For Jessica’s fellow organiser Kay, building resilience within the community is a key feature of the crop swap.
“We need more things in the community where people are able to sidestep systems like supermarkets.”
The crop swap also promotes sustainability, Jessica says, since people are not needing to travel as far to supermarkets.
Another important aspect is being able to donate to charity, with swappers being given the opportunity to leave leftover items to be either donated to the Kāpiti Community Foodbank or taken to one of the various community pantries dotted around the district.
Jessica says the crop swap also runs seedling drives throughout the year and donates all the seedlings to the foodbank, where there is a garden for them to grow their own food.
“That’s something I’m quite proud of — that we’ve been able to give back in that way.”
