The Taupo Timebank is a newly formed group aspiring to create social change for the betterment of our local community and by creating a space where everyone is welcome to participate in the development and on-going maintenance of a community garden we believe this will serve to foster a strong community spirit and unite people over something fundamental to us all.
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The site allocated by the Taupo District council sits in a partially enclosed area of Taupo’s crown jewell -Spa Park. Fortified by surrounding blackberry bushes and scrub in an otherwise unused section of the park it is the perfect area for which to build infrastructure for the on-going production of produce to be allocated within the community and serve as an educational hub whereby anyone wanting gain knowledge on composting, soil health, pest deterrents, seasonal planting and growing in our climate is able to attend workshops and/or get involved directly by working hands on within the group.
We intend to start small and build the systems required to manage the ongoing maintenance of a vegetable garden and scale up if/when needed. This would be made possible by acquiring sponsorship and grants from business and non-profit organisations who see the benefit in supporting this local community initiative. We are looking at raised beds, in order to help those with bad backs! some ‘no-dig’ beds -essentially soil and compost on top of cardboard, an area for compost, a medicinal herb garden, a nursery for raising seedlings and possibly a small greenhouse. Labour will be provided through the Timebank group. Other things to consider is protecting the crops from vandalism and also rabbits, which may be mitigated with fencing and lighting. Tools will be kept in the Lake Local storage warehouses and harvested crops can go straight into the Lakelocal chillers for distribution.
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