Friends of the Farm (FOF) hosted our first ever film
screening in the barn recently, with 15 adults and eight children joining us to
watch ‘Edible Paradise’. Several of our
FOF members, had attended a screening of the film through Films for the Future
(For the Love of Bees), and wanted to share it with our local community.
‘Edible Paradise’ is set in the Christchurch
‘Redzone’, documenting the work of local communities (supported by the Council)
in transforming the now uninhabitable land into edible gardens, heritage
orchards and food forests. FOF was keen
to see whether there was interest amongst the Māngere Bridge community in
exploring the possibilities for producing more food in and around our neighbourhood.
The film generated different ideas for different people. Some were keen to identify the heritage fruit
trees in our community already, and think about how these can be
preserved. Where old trees are being
removed, or a tree is dying, graftings can be taken and replanted elsewhere to
ensure the tree continues its life. FOF
is looking into the possibility of running a grafting workshop so that we have
the capacity to save our special fruit trees before they’re lost.
Others were excited about the potential for creating a
food forest in our neighbourhood. Food
forests mimic natural forests, which have different layers of planting; bigger
trees, smaller bushes, and an understorey.
The only difference is that everything is edible! Food forests are a natural and efficient way
to produce food, as the different plants and trees support each other and
create their own eco-system of beneficial insects and birdlife as well. Our Māngere
Bridge orchard would be an ideal site to try this method of growing food.
The film screening included a micro-workshop making
seed bombs, which when planted will provide food for bees and other beneficial
insects. We hope this will be the first of many more film screenings at Ambury
Farm!
