Canterbury Community Gardens Association – Cantabrians love getting their hands dirty
With more than 80 community gardens and food forests flourishing throughout Canterbury – and more sprouting up each year – the region has the most communal food-growing spaces in New Zealand.
“We have the highest density in the whole country,” says horticulturalist Sandi Bobkova, co-secretary of the Canterbury Community Gardens Association. The association is a non-profit body that makes available practical and management expertise to people wanting to operate a communal food-growing space.
Sandi surmises that Christchurch’s rezoning of land after the earthquakes has contributed to the popularity of community gardens and people’s interest in growing food.
“I mean what other cities have had that much green space all of a sudden be freed up?” she says.
Her alternate hypothesis is that Cantabrians “just naturally like getting in the garden”. The Christchurch metropolis, after all, has the moniker of ‘Garden City’.
However, with infill housing and the ‘quarter acre dream’ becoming unattainable for many, communities are looking for creative ways to garden and produce food. The association is a collaborative resource in this endeavour. Alongside providing strategies for more orthodox community gardens, the association has, for instance, helped apartment dwellers to collectively identify and establish suitable communal spaces for veggie plots.
“The issue of food sovereignty and security is probably number one on the radar,” she explains. ”We have a huge focus on getting people knowledgeable and confident in dealing with all of the things [related to] starting a new garden. Community gardens are a huge resource.”
Sandi herself grew up on an apple orchard in the Selwyn District. Like the seasons, her career has come full circle: back to having an appreciation for, and connection with, the soil. During her schooling at Lincoln High School, she enjoyed studying horticulture but segued into teaching art after majoring in photography and painting at university. Horticulture studies beckoned again after a stint in the marketing field.
With an Open Polytech diploma in horticulture under her belt, Sandi now works full-time as head horticulturalist at Climate Action Campus, based at the old Avonside Girls High School site.
“I’ve reverted back to teaching, but in horticulture,” says Sandi. “I feel like I’ve found the perfect job that takes everything that I’ve learnt over the years into one position, which is probably rare.”
Her role and experience there informs her voluntary position with Canterbury Community Gardens Association, which has a broad membership of community groups, schools and individuals. Koha-based membership is a recently implemented strategy to encourage participation and reduce the potential financial barrier.
“School children are members and there are winemakers and retired people – all the way through, all walks of life,” says Sandi. “I’m really surprised at the diversity of membership.”
The association was established in 2001 and is currently navigating through organisational changes in the wake of the departure of its long-term staffer, Rachel Vogan. A replacement Capacity Builder is expected early in 2025.
(January 2025)
Photos: Sandi and her dog Rex (photo: M Blakie); Opawa Community Garden (photo from CCGA Facebook); association logo
