Contributed by a villager. Here are some photos taken from the sky showing how our little village is unfolding from the landscape… (Pictures by – unknown name, father of our beloved ex-apprentice, Lulu – Aurelie Picard) The first photo is looking west, towards the Mangaone Stream, from above the Koanga Institute. The tree nursery and […]
Written by Franzi, For several years now we have been looking for a way to ‘show more face’ in our local community of Wairoa, but with so many things happening at Kotare and so much work to do, it always felt like there was neither enough time nor energy left to do much outside of […]
Written by Renee Bees have been around for at least 40 million years; with some estimates of fossilized honeybees that could potentially date back 150 million years! Bees are the best-known insect on the planet and are the planets most important pollinator of food crops, thus they are central to our survival and deserve to […]
Written by Kay What an incredible Summer we’re having, long may it last! It’s been very hot, far out mid thirties most days, but also we’ve had a lot of rain so things are very green, and growing! As a result of all the rain, the heat and the work I’ve put into my garden […]
Written by Kay, Lying in our outdoor bath tonight I was reflecting on my favourite things… I could hear the Mangaone stream below me, the Mangapoike river not far away, running over rapids to meet the Mangaone. I could hear the Ruru, the bees humming quite loud after a hot day collecting nectar, I could […]
Written by Carolyn. A while ago I decided to have ducks in my forest garden instead of chickens. My research seemed to show they were less hassle than chooks with fewer ailments and no wing clipping needed. I got five Indian Runners, three ducks and two drakes. Indian Runners don’t fly, but they do flap […]
Written by Shaked While working through a design process for the development of the forest garden on our section, Tes and I have developed a list of plants we wish to grow, this list includes trees, bushes, herbs, water plants and some ground covers, all perennial plants to go in our forest garden or perennial […]
Written by Shaked (Link to Part 1) A while ago, I have started a little routine of learning together about the environment Kotare Village is settled in, as well as the environment that Kotare Village is and developing, I thought that it would be a nice way to learn, share and connect to the characteristics […]
Written by Amy. So it has been just over one month since we arrived at Kotare Village. We have been staying in a rental house just up the road from the village.. it is comfortable, much bigger than the house we had in Auckland, and we have little furniture with us, so it’s rather…er…spacious.. But […]
Written by Renee. For the last 10 years, home gardening has been a growing passion. I could spend hours browsing at the Koanga catalogue and website, reading the blogs and looking at the photos. The knowledge at the Koanga Institute is abundant and also quite cutting edge in term of regenerative gardening practice. It is […]