In the winter of 2020 a small team of passionate like-minded locals came together to create Grow Wānaka, on a very special piece of land gifted in partnership by The Outlet Camp.  A charitable trust was set up to support the project and with a couple of generous community donations the garden was set in motion. 

​

By February 2021 the first garden beds were being formed and since then the garden has continued to evolve into a productive and vibrant community growing hub. The garden now encompasses two greenhouses, a large berry patch, hot composting bays, continuous flow vermicomposting (worm) farms, and an organics drop off hub, and internal garden bed trellising and archways to enhance vertical growing space for greater productivity. All of this was made possible through community supported donations of time, effort, materials and funding.  

 

Education has always been an integral part of the garden and wider project vision. The garden provides educational opportunities through weekly Saturday morning working bees, monthly workshops, and private garden tours with education session tailored for the visiting group. We also provide experiential learning opportunities for our tamariki with garden visits and hands-on activities to explore the food soil web within our garden ecosystem. 

​

Grow Wānaka is continuously evolving in all sorts of fun and fascinating ways. We are currently a partner in the Environmental Education Collaborative NaturEd Wānaka, we are an active participant in the Aotearoa Composting Network, and engage with the Upper Clutha Food Security Network. We are working with QLDC on community scale waste minimisation solutions, and we coordinate with the Wānaka Food Bank to provide weekly donations of fresh organic produce.