Owen's Winning Passion for Gardening and Helping Others

Owen Takuira-Ngaropo was tired of his street in Papamoa being known for the wrong reasons. He saw people struggling to provide their families with three meals a day and he wanted to do something about it. Almost two years later, what was once an unused mowing strip behind Hartford Ave, Papamoa, is a thriving community garden known as The Rock. The garden is his passion and a dream he has always had. "It's all about helping others", he says.

It wasn’t easy to get the garden started and Owen and his team of workers had to raise most of the funds themselves. Fortunately, some local businesses came to the party, donating topsoil, seeds, building materials and man power. Around 80-90 people help out at the garden throughout the year.

Not only does The Rock provide locals with fresh vegetables, it also supplies produce to several food banks, including the Arataki Salvation Army and the Arataki Soup Kitchen, in accordance with Owen’s rule that half of the garden’s produce must be donated to food banks.

Owen also supervises periodic detention workers in the garden. “A lot of the guys who come here have never done any gardening. They haven’t even seen a cabbage growing!”

He’s also visited by early childhood centres. “I’ve trained the local kids to be decoys. They’ll snip off a floret of broccoli in front of the visiting kids and say, ‘Yum, yum’!”

Owen's most successful crops this season have been his beetroot, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, kale, rhubarb, courgettes, watermelon and apples. He enjoys growing plenty of fresh fruit and veges and has too many favourites to list. "I enjoy anything that feeds my whole family", he says.

He’s proud that Hartford Ave is now on the map for the right reasons. “We have achieved phenomenal things in this garden, and it’s down to a lot of praying and a lot of good men and women in the community.”

Owen's top gardening tip:

• Preparation is paramount. Act accordingly to what you are planting – seeds or seedlings. If you give your crops a good start they will be good to you!