Kia ora tātou,

Thank you for taking the time to read our pānui! ☀️ On the menu:

🌱 10 tips for your māra this month + 3 opportunities from the Trails
🌻 New programme: GROWMEEZ, Communal Gardens!
🦸 A LOT of volunteering opportunities in March!
👋 Meet Ange, our new St Mary’s Community Garden Coordinator
🐚 Nature Cleanups at Paritūtū & Ngāmotu Beach for the Seaweek
🥨 Local businesses & organisations: join our local Green Loop!
🌱 Tree for Survival: looking for local land owners
🔌 We won an eVan! Watch why we needed one…
📆 Our Events Calendar to make sure you won’t miss any sustainable events in Taranaki!

Our most-read pages this month:
1. Food for Free
2. Local Taranaki Markets
3. Community Gardens in Taranaki
4. Our Programmes
5. Our (BIG) local impact in 2025

Happy reading! 🌿

Ngā mihi,

The Sustainable Taranaki tīma ☀️

🌱 10 tips for the māra this month!

Warm, sunny, with long dry stretches (and a few downpours) - so what should you be doing in your māra (garden) right now? Here are 10 tips from our knowledgeable team and Backyards Trail hosts!

Before we share our tips for February, have a think - could you be involved in the Trail this year?

Maybe as a host, a volunteer, or with signage? Get in touch with us.

🌻 New programme: GROWMEEZ, Communal Gardens!

GROWMEEZ brings small groups of people together to grow healthy, spray-free food on under-utilised private land. It’s about more than gardening — it’s about learning, sharing, harvesting, and building genuine connections with like-minded people in your local community.

This model is perfect for those who want to grow their own food but may lack the space, time, confidence, or knowledge — or who simply enjoy gardening more when it’s done together.

Click below to learn more about our newest programme! 👀

🦸 A LOT of volunteering opportunities in March!

Give back to your community by volunteering with us! And let us give back to you! We offer exciting volunteering opportunities for everyone! Our upcoming opportunities are:

♻️ Kapa Haka Regionals (Whaitara) - Sat. 7 March, late shift: 2:45pm - 7pm, details here.
♻️ Multi-Ethnic Extravaganza (Ngāmotu - NP) - Sat. 7 March, all shifts, details here.

🐝 Marfell Community Garden (Ngāmotu - NP), working bee, weekly on Wed, Fri, Sun, 10am onward! ALL WELCOME! Details here.
🌱 St George’s Community Garden (Pātea), group gardening session for everyone, 1st Wed & 3rd Sun of the month, 1-3pm. Details here.
🐝 St Mary’s Community Garden (Hāwera), working bee, 1st Friday & 3rd Sunday of the month, 1:30pm - 3:30pm. ALL WELCOME! Details here.

☀️ Nature Cleanup at Paritūtū Reserve, meet at the main carpark (top of the dune) 10am on Thu 5 March. ALL WELCOME. Details here.

Learn more about our Volunteers programme here.

👋 Meet Ange, our new St Mary’s Community Garden Coordinator

This is Ange, our new St Mary’s Community Garden Coordinator! She would love YOU to come and volunteer at the community garden in Hāwera!

Ange is passionate about helping whānau, iwi and communities take back their food sovereignty through returning to our roots and learning to grow and cook yummy chemical-free kai. She runs educational workshops that teach self-sufficiency skills and is based in the beautiful coastal town of Ōpunakē. Learn more about Ange here.

Working bees are held each month at St Mary’s on:
🧑‍🌾 1st Friday 1:30pm - 3:30pm (next one on Fri. 6 March!)
🧑‍🌾 3rd Sunday 1:30pm - 3:30pm
ALL WELCOME!
📍101 Collins Street, Hāwera (Saint Mary’s Anglican Church)

🐚 Nature Cleanups at Paritūtū & Ngāmotu Beach for the Seaweek

Join us at the Paritūtū Reserve on Thursday 5 March 10am! ALL WELCOME! 🏖

We'll do our best to clean this beautiful location, and as usual, we will sort all the rubbish on-site. ♻ A group from the Royal New Zealand Air Force | Te Tauaarangi o Aotearoa will be joining the effort! 

🧤 BYO gloves & buckets if possible. More details below ⤵

P.S. Get a reminder using our Facebook event here.

🌿 Another cleanup will happen at Ngāmotu Beach on a weekend, both on land and in the ocean, with the Ngā Motu Marine Reserve Society! 🤿 Stay tuned for more details soon!

🥨 Local businesses & organisations: join our local Green Loop!

We are collecting local food waste and turning it into nutrient-dense compost for local farmers. 🧑‍🌾 Visit our website to learn more: greenloop.org.nz

Calling Taranaki Businesses & Organisations! 🥨 Join the Green Loop and let us simplify your food waste by keeping it here, in Taranaki and converting it into nutrient-dense compost!

🛎️ Hotels, restaurants, cafes, corporate offices: contact us here.

🌱 Tree for Survival: looking for local land owners

Teaming up with schools and local landowners to plant native plants along streams, wetlands and at-risk or erosion-prone land in Taranaki!

We are looking for planting sites for the 2026 Trees for Survival planting season!

Could this be YOU? Get in touch with Mieke ⤵

🔌 We won an eVan! Watch why we needed one…

Massive ngā mihi to Meridian Energy for the support! ☀️☀️☀️

This is why we needed one ⤵

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