Pānui Oketopa | October Newsletter

He rā ki tua

Better times are coming

Kia ora koutou,

It’s that time of year! Things are starting to sprout up all over grassy areas around the city.

…no, we don’t mean weeds, or even seedlings, we mean election hoardings! Āe, like the seedlings coming up indicates the coming of spring, these election hoardings signal that the general election is coming up on 7th November. This year the government have changed the rules, meaning YOU have to make sure you’re correctly enrolled by the 25th October if you want to vote and have your voice heard. 

This government has been responsible for many things that we at Kaicycle disagree with - from attacks on Te Tiriti, to undermining our conservation lands, introducing move-on orders for our unhoused whānau and more. If you agree that they need to be held to account, please take action: 

• If you’re not enrolled, enrol NOW! Or come along at lunchtime on our next Community Day (details below) to get enrolled.

• If you think you are already enrolled, make 100% sure your details are correct here. 

• Kōrero with your friends and whānau - encourage them to enrol - you can even track your conversations with Te Wero Pōti, an awesome new app.

• Check out this great website that answers everything you need to know about enrolling and voting.

• If you want to help get your community enrolled (e.g. by volunteering at an event), get in touch with Tiriti Action Group, or the youth focused group On a Roll. 

• Voting definitely isn’t the only way to make change, so get stuck in in your community too! Maybe join us for a Community Day?

Two pieces of other important news: 

• We have our Hua Parakore verification event coming up - this is more than 4 years in the making, and we want YOU to be there (More deets in the events section below) 

• We’re hiring! Check out the ad here. 

Ngā mihi,
From the Kaicycle whānau

Community Open Day

Saturday 3rd October
Join us for any part of our October Community Open Day! Here’s the plan for the day: 

• 9.30am-12.30pm - working bee - get stuck into some mahi in the māra - from seed raising to weeding, there’s always lots of work to do. Register at www.kaicycle.org.nz/volunteer

• 12.30-1.30pm - shared lunch - tea and coffee provided, bring some kai to share if you can. We’ll also be able to enrol you to vote, check your enrolment details, and provide more info about the enrolment and voting process during this lunchbreak!

• 1pm - farm tour - if you don’t have time to get gardening but want to know more about Kaicycle’s mahi, just pop down for this 30 minute farm tour.

• 1.30-3pm - sliding-scale workshop on seed raising - more details below.

Seed Raising For Spring and Summer Workshop

Saturday, 3rd October, 1:30 - 3:00pm

Propagating plants from seed is an excellent way to grow vegetables cheaply, is extremely satisfying, and means you can grow seedlings that are acclimated to your garden’s micro climate. This practical workshop covers everything you need to know to grow great seedlings, from seed anatomy, which seeds to buy, when your plants are ready to go out into the big wide world, and everything in between. Details and registration here.

Te Wiki Kaumātua at Kaicycle

Friday, 16 October, 10:00 am  12:30 pm

Come along to Te Wiki Kaumātua / Seniors Week at the Kaicycle Urban Farm. We’ll provide a farm tour and then we’ll get our hands in the soil, with a range of volunteer mahi. This event is weather dependent. People of all ages are welcome, but we'd love to particularly welcome our kaumātua / seniors and will share a kapu tī / cup of tea at 12pm. More details and registration here.

HUA PARAKORE KAUPAPA | Principle of Hua Parakore

Over the past month we’ve been reflecting on the Hua Parakore kaupapa of Māramatanga. For us, this kaupapa is about viewing Te Taiao (the environment/nature) as our kaiako (teacher) and working with open-minded observation.

There have been some great insights from our staff, volunteers and visitors on māramatanga - we so appreciate your contributions to our shared understanding! Here are a few snapshots:

• Looking closely at the māra (garden) for the tohu of kōanga (signs of spring) to guide our timings

• Noticing the stages of bittercress weed as it goes to seed (they’re yellowest when they’re ready to pop!) 

• Noticing different soil density and thinking of reasons for this

• Deciding which cover crop to use based on how the soil is looking, feeling, smelling etc.

• Seeing the sun setting further south everyday, shining more on the berm compost area and warming it up

• Observing how the composting process changes with the seasons.

• Being clear and confident in how we communicate why we don't accept certain things for our composting - recognising the importance of sharing that knowledge, the value of it and importance to soil health. 

The kaupapa we will be reflecting on over the coming month is Te Ao Tūroa. 

Te Waka Kai Ora talk about Te Ao Tūroa as “the natural order of our world”, and that as Hua Parakore producers we must “respect and protect the integrity and sanctity of Te Ao Tūroa” so that the quality of the kai we produce is maintained.

We think about Te Ao Tūroa as working with and understanding the interconnections of natural systems, and collaborating with the processes of growth and decay. We would love to hear your own thoughts and reflections on these kaupapa!

MAHI WAIRĀKAU | Composting

Huge mihi to Ground Effect

We were over the moon to receive a package of mint condition cycle gear through the post - for a second time! Ground Effect originally donated some of their jackets & trousers to Kaicycle back in 2021. They’ve stood the test of time - we’re still using them five years on - but we needed some extras for our growing team. The gear reliably protects our cyclists from the elements every week as they cycle around Pōneke collecting food scraps. We love them, depend on them, and are super appreciative to Ground Effect for sharing the aroha. If you’re an avid cyclist battling the winds and rains of Te Whangui-a-Tara, then check out what gear this NZ-owned company have to offer at www.groundeffect.co.nz

MAHI AROHA | Volunteer

Daylight savings is here! And that means we are bringing back a couple of evening working bees every week. Join us on Mondays from 5-7pm for all things composting, or Tuesdays 5-7pm for the full package that Kaicycle offers from mahi māra (gardening) to composting. We’d love for you to join us! Sign up and get more info here. 

PĀNUI | Notices

TŪTAKI AI I TE TĪMA | Meet the Team

Clarissa is one of our amazing behind-the-scenes volunteers who 100% deserves to be in the spotlight for helping Kaicycle tick. She’s taken many of the photos you see on our website and compiles this very newsletter for us every month - we couldn’t do it without her! She fits this in around her whānau and her exciting new portrait practice - check it out here. 

How long have you been volunteering at Kaicycle and what do you do?

I met Rose in September 2024 when I applied for the Newsletter Editor position. I remember walking around the māra with her for the first time and I couldn’t believe how much food could actually be grown in such cold weather in the middle of the city. Coming from tropical, urban Rio de Janeiro, I had very little knowledge of growing food and was then dealing with what became a permanent part of my life here: winter blues. But the healing I felt at the Kaicycle farm the moment I arrived made me feel instantly connected to that space. I really see it as a sacred place.

Since then I have felt an aching urge to contribute to Kaicycle, in the hope that one day every suburb in Te Whanganui-a-Tara could have a māra composting, growing vegetables and sharing knowledge within a few blocks of every household. So that people could grow kai, connect and heal.

What is your favourite thing about volunteering at Kaicycle?

Editing Kaicycle's newsletters has quietly been educating me about what is being done in Wellington and across Aotearoa towards building something better. From signing petitions and joining protests to buying veggie bags, the newsletters have inspired me and shown me how to turn what I care about into action.

I deeply admire the people, the mahi and the vision of Kaicycle to reclaim control of local food systems and promote climate justice. And I absolutely love the community side of it. It all feels both urgent and radical to me. Kaicycle is one of those rare things that addresses so many of our collective wounds at once - environmental, social and personal - through something as fundamental and joyful as growing food together.

If you were a vegetable what would it be and why?

I would definitely be a mandioca. Cassava in English, yuca in Spanish. I have not found a te reo Māori word for it yet, but I am still looking.

I have always thought of mandioca as a deeply community-minded vegetable. Root vegetables in general make me think of a group of individuals, together, in chubby bunches underground. E noho ana rātou hei rōpū, quietly doing their thing. So I would be a mandioca because I am deeply connected to my roots. I’m often seen singing and dancing among the samba players at Brazilian gigs or cooking for dozens of people at our community gatherings. My roots and my land live within me.

I am also a passionate cassava advocate haha. I would love to find someone growing mandioca here in Aotearoa. If anyone knows of a cassava grower in New Zealand, please, please tell me. If not, maybe that’s a challenge for Kaicycle? I would show up to that volunteer day, zero hesitation. I don't care if Crofton Downs is a trek, I'll be there. :D

We need your support to continue our climate justice mahi & vision to regenerate Wellington!

Ways you can support us:

• Make a one-off or monthly donation

• Buy our organic veggies or our biologically active compost

• Sign up your office in Wellington to our weekly food scrap collection service

• Bequest a parting gift to Kaicycle in your will or trust (see Go With Grace for support)

• Sponsor one of our programmes - get in touch to explore this!

Kaicycle is a registered New Zealand charity (CC58759) which means your donation is eligible for claiming 1/3rd of the value through tax credits.