Gardens: Up side of the recession

We all know that New Zealand has been in a recession for a while now.  We all know that there have been some really bad things happening as a result of the government’s response to the recession.  Lots of people have lost their jobs.  Lots of families have had to quit their homes because they can’t afford the mortgage payments.  More job losses are expected.

The government has decided to take a hands-off approach to dealing with the recession.  In fact, it’s been even worse than that.  They have cut funding and jobs in the core public service.  That means that services have been cut as well.  So it’s been a double whammy of bad news to our communities.

But our communities have responded in a different way.  An amazing number of things have been started to help our families get through these difficult times.  One of them is community gardens.  We have had gardens around our electorate for a while – but they are just multiplying!

Local people love to share their time and talents to help others learn how to garden – and they love the wonderful fresh vegetables they get!  They love to give them to people who just can’t afford to buy them.

If you have some time and energy to spare, and love gardening, think about helping out in your local community garden.  You will reap much more from it than just the vegetables!