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Otago Daily Times

Canterbury food forest starting to grow

Waimakariri District Councillor, Woodend-Sefton Community Board member and lead creator of the Kaiapoi Food Forest, Brent Cairns, helps Melissa Parker and her daughter Frankie, aged 4, of Pines Beach, plant a Nikau palm tree they donated for the newly established Food Forest in Tūhaitara Coastal Park. PHOTO: SHELLEY TOPP The beginnings of a new food forest has been established in the Pines and Kairaki Beaches community, near Kaiapoi. A community planting day was held last Sunday morning at the site in Tūhaitara Coastal Park, behind the Pines Beach Community Hall, on the corner of Chichester St and Batten Grove. The idea for the Pines and Kairaki Beaches Food Forest came two years ago from a Pines and Kairaki Beaches Association committee member Nicki Brown. Right from the start, she received widespread encouragement and support for it. The design of the food forest was created by Brent Cairns, a Waimakariri district councillor, Woodend-Sefton Community Board member and Kaiapoi Food Forest trustee. ''He was very keen to help us and his support and knowledge has been huge throughout this project,'' Nicki says. Brent and his wife Shirley donated 70 trees for the food forest and helped on planting day. There have been many other contributions of trees and materials needed to establish the food forest such as mulch from Canterbury Landscape Supplies, in Kainga, cardboard from Proctor Solar, in Kaiapoi, trees from The Treehouse Horticulture, in Kaiapoi, and Te Kohaka o Tuhaitara Trust managers of Tūhaitara Coastal Park. ''Food Secure North Canterbury has given us some funds to go towards trees too,'' Nicki says. There has also been ''incredible support'' from many individuals in the community, who donated trees and helped during the planting day. A Corrections Department team helped prepare the food forest site for planting and will help to maintain it in the future, and Kaiapoi High School students have also contributed by holding two planting days at the site this week. About 170 edibles, natives and grasses were planted, but this is just the beginning with another planting day planned for June, Nicki says. She is excited for the future of the food forest and how it will bring the community together.