It’s such an exciting time of the year, where the bees are buzzing after a sleepy winter, plants are sprouting, and the smell of spring is thick in the air.

Hi everyone, I am Sarah Richmond, the expert gardener in our Garden to Table programme.

The program is in full blossom with our year ones and twos, who will wrap up tomorrow, and then our Y7-8 students will have their turn in Week 7 and 8.  

In the garden last week we planted out seedlings that were sown carefully by the year five and six last term. 

We had a successful seedling sale at our Ag day and we sold over two hundred seedlings. The money raised will be going towards a 1000 litre water tank to keep our vegetable garden well-watered over the expected hot summer.

On the topic of water… we are needing some help to get it set up. So, if there are any parents, grandparents, Aunts, uncles, whanau members, neighbours or anyone with plumbing or water tank instillation knowledge, we would love your help. 

Please see Steph in the office if you can help. Or email stephm@tepuna.school.nz

Our Te Puna produce stall has been in operation for two months and it has been wonderful to see it being used by the Te Puna community. 

We have had an array of produce placed on the stall to share, from oranges to bread, avocados and grocery items.

Sadly, the donation box was broken into after only being installed for 2 weeks. The idea was to have a donation box for anyone who can, or wish to put in a koha. All donations will help to replenish the vegetable garden, enabling us to share more fresh fruit and vegetables with our community.

Just a reminder to how the stall works.

Please help yourself to anything in the stall! If you have anything spare from home, we would love for you to drop it off. You do not need to trade, just take what you like or need. 

The stalls’ purpose is to share nutritious food with our community that would normally go to waste. When dropping any food off at the stall, please ensure that it is fresh and suitable for eating.

If you drop off eggs for example, please write the date on the box when they were collected. If you drop off any baked goods, please ensure it has the date it was made. Baked goods must also be in a sealed pest proof container such as an Ice-cream container.

If you are collecting food from the stall, please make sure you are happy with the quality and freshness before you eat it. No responsibility is held by the school or the person managing the stall or the person dropping off the food.