Kia ora te whanau o Aotearoa,
It is September 2021, we are in our second lockdown here in New Zealand. During the first lockdown in March 2020 we already had a large vege garden at home which gave us plenty to do and eat. I had enough building materials to complete a couple of overdue projects which included building & painting a new front fence. During this years covid-19 lockdown I also had building materials laying around. Enough to build a three-bay covered composting area and a small retaining wall. Some trees I have been growing from seed were ready to be transplanted. So, I planted them in their new spots around our property. The biggest and best difference from last year is we now have a beautiful nine-month-old daughter Lily Melody.
Began my sustainable lifestyle blog during lockdown 2.0
Another thing on my to-do list or round-to-it plaque, depending on your preferred procrastination thingy was starting a blog. Here it is. I named the blog “Tikanga Maara”. This name represents how we want to live a more sustainable lifestyle on our 1100m2 urban property in Gisborne city. In doing so creating a “Garden Culture” or “Culture of Gardening”. My main motivation for doing this is our daughter Lily Melody. I hope to provide her with a more sustainable and satisfying way of living.
Frugality, Simplicity, Sustainability
This is not really a how-to-garden blog but more a why-to-garden. I will share other benefits I’ve experienced from being in, and paying attention to nature. Along with sharing our whanau journey as we pursue greater sustainability through simplicity, resourcefulness, and frugality. Being frugal is our financial vaccine against the advertising fuelled pandemic of consumerism we have grown accustomed to.
It has been said. People often spend massive amounts of life energy working to buy stuff to impress people. Often people they do not even like, that’s a pretty dumb way to live. We choose to care-less about what series iPhone the Jones whanau have. The size of their television or the car they drive.
Eating home grown food, foraging, catching, and gathering wild food
Growing kai at home is good, eating it is even better! I will share some of the ways we enjoy our home-grown food. As well as growing food we also enjoy foraging, catching, and gathering food from around the district.
Conversations about sustainable living
Caring for Papatuanuku (the Earth, our Earth) starts with awareness and appreciating its importance. Our behaviour can then begin to match our awareness as we become more responsible for its care and sustainable use. Recycling, reusing, and reducing waste all contribute to the greater good. Since growing food and sustainability are not new concepts, I will interview others from around Aotearoa (and possibly further away). Sharing their insights, wisdom, and experience so we can all learn more together.
Click on the following link to my Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/oneminutegardening/
If you prefer Facebook, then you can find me here: https://www.facebook.com/oneminutegardening
So, there you have it, once again, welcome to my blog. I hope to provide something that is either of value, interesting or mildly entertaining.
Wishing you health, happiness, and contentment.
Adrian