Pilot Internship Review

By Zoe Barbenel

Zoe manages Waewae Permaculture’s Otago Farmers Market Stall on a beautiful Saturday morning.

Come the end of semester two in November, an important race starts for students: the search for a good summer job. After having spent the previous year's summer in front of a computer doing research, I was especially excited to hear about Village Agrarians. I got in touch through a friend, MJ Grove, who Rebecca and Hollie had offered a position as a pilot internship research assistant. I was offered the same role and was placed at Waewae Permaculture over a few weeks in January. Waewae Permaculture was started in 2019 by Fiona Collings and Lian Redding and is situated near Osborne, just outside of Dunedin; there, they operate a market garden following regenerative and organic principles. I was welcomed with open arms and helped with the daily runnings of the farm, from weeding and preparing beds to seeding, harvesting and preparing products for sale at the farmers market. I learnt about soil, composting and the regenerative methods used by Lian and Fiona; of most interest to me, I got to see what running a market garden is like, and the amount of work (and reward!) that goes into it. In addition to my work at Waewae Permaculture, the Village Agrarian internship aims to facilitate workshops around the topic of small-scale and respectful production. In that context, I attended a cheese-making workshop where I was taught how to make halloumi, from milking the cow to preparing a delicious bite of food. Finally, the last part of my work was to discuss with Rebecca and Hollie and give feedback on the internship. It was a rewarding process to be part of, and I am excited to see initiatives like these being built - I look forward to seeing Village Agrarians grow!

Member Spotlight - Waewae Permaculture

Fiona and Lian of Waewae Permaculture are our second member spotlight. They live and grow food in Osborne, just outside of Dunedin where they are cultivating a huge variety of vegetables, some fruit, herbs, and keep a wee herd of alpaca to manage what grass hasn’t been turned into garden beds.

You can find Waewae’s produce seasonally at the Otago Farmers Market, through their vege box scheme, and now at a roadside stall at the Holy Cow, just outside of Port Chalmers. Find out more about all they offer in their directory and CSA listings.

Besides answering some questions about themselves to help us all get to know them better, Lian and Fiona have recently hosted our market Southland Market Garden Training Programme participants during a field trip to Dunedin, and Lian led a zoom workshop for that as well. We really appreciate their willingness to share their time and expertise!

How did you get into growing?

We were both home and community gardeners with only basic growing skills but Fiona wanted to grow on a small commercial scale. Fiona started working for John McCafferty, a local organic grower who encouraged her to develop her own gardens. Lian got on board after 1 year as the challenge needed 2 people!

What's your current favorite plant/fruit/vegetable/flower etc to grow?

Broccoli! We tried a new variety with great success, Summer Green F1 from Kings seeds. We planted it in Feb, and it produced great heads but since then has regrown large side shoots over and over all winter long and is still going strong. Nigel from Oamaru organics also gave us some advice on large brassica, that they do like to spread large roots and some cultivation is required if the soil is not perfect, so we planted it where we previously had dug potatoes for some nice loose soil.

What do you like most about growing food for your community?

It helps us connect with the community in a rural area, as well as the wider community of growers and food lovers.

Do you have offerings besides vegetables that you want to share?

We run gardening workshops in spring, and also sell a few seeds we grow ourselves. We have 2 workshops for different skill levels this spring, you can take a look at https://openfoodnetwork.org.nz/waewae-permaculture/shop

Do you have a seasonal recipe you can share?

Pan Pak Choi from The Otago Farmers Market Recipe Catalogue

Recipe by Amy Dougherty

Method

Wash and cut length ways the pak choi and cut red onions into quarters with the end left on halves, so they keep together. Heat garlic oil in a large fry and cook red onion first, then batches of pak choi. Place on a board.  To toast the sunflower seeds, use the same pan (just wipe out with a paper towel) add the sunflower seeds and then the olive salt. Toss over the heat until they start to turn golden, then sprinkle the seeds over the pak choi. 

Serve on a wooden board as a side or as a main. Grate over the fresh radish to garnish.  

 Ingredients

2 heads of pak choi 

2-3 Tbsp garlic infused olive oil or use plain

2 small red onions 

2-3 radishes 

1/4 cup sunflower seeds 

1 tsp olive salt or use plain