10-year-old Matariki from Waiheke Island is a keen vegetable gardener. She’s been growing her crops for the past two years with guidance from her father John. In the summer, when the corn grows tall, she calls it her “privacy corn”.
“That's because at a certain time it's so tall you can’t see past it, so it gives us privacy,” she says.
John says it’s an “incredible delight” to be able to pass on gardening to Matariki.
“She really likes gherkins and had her own gherkin garden this year – she’s got 28 jars of gherkins from it!”
Matariki tells us about her garden.
What do you grow?
“Oh heaps of stuff, okra, gherkins, peas, corn, kumara, potato, beans, cucumbers, courgettes, beetroot, pumpkin, radishes, strawberries, watermelon, rockmelon, lettuce, tomato - the list is endless!”
What did you harvest from the summer?
“Kumara, corn, beans, cucumbers, courgettes, strawberries, lettuce, tomato, kumi kumi.”
What are you growing now for over the winter?
“Broccoli, cauliflower, winter lettuce, snow peas, rhubarb - heaps and heaps of stuff.”
What is the best thing about gardening?
“That’s a hard one, but I think it might be the reward at the end (eating the FOOD!)”
Do you get bugs and pests in the garden and how do you deal with them?
“Yeah, I get mostly slugs and snails, so I put down some sawdust or slug pellets.”
What's your favourite vegetable/crop?
“That’s a really hard one, I think it might be a draw between watermelon, gherkin and strawberries.”
What do you do with all the food you grow?
“We eat some, give some away, preserve some and turn the plums and the other stuff like that into sauces and jam.”
What advice would you give other kids thinking about starting a garden?
“It’s really fun once you start.”
Anything else you'd like to tell us?
“Just keep on gardening."
Matariki and her dad, enjoying their garden.
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