Community Seed Library

Poipoia te kakano kia puawai Nurture the seed and it will blossom

This is the story of seeds, the sharing, the sowing and the blossoms. You see, at Mairtown Kindergarten we are fortunate to be in the presence of these “seeds” every day, as we journey with our precious tamariki.

Recently we were inspired to create a seed library with the children at Mairtown Kindergarten. Our vision for this seed library is that it will inspire more people to grow food and flowers, and also build relationships between the Kindergarten and the wider community.Opportunities such as this, for children to make meaningful contributions within the wider community, build on their feelings of empowerment and develop their vision of themselves as valued citizens.

The seed library itself was re-purposed from a small unused storage cupboard. We enlisted some of the talented artists at Mairtown to brighten it up a little, and it now hangs on the fence beside our kindergarten driveway on weekdays, between 8.30am and 2.30pm at 21 Princes Street, Kensington, Whangarei. If you have seeds to donate to the library but are unable to drop them off, they can be posted to us on this address and the children who are the kaitiaki of the library will be delighted to add them on your behalf. 

There are many treasures to be found within, and we would love you to come by for a look. You can take some seeds to grow, or you can leave some seeds of your own if you have some to gift.

Bella and her older sister Gracie arrived with seeds to share from their Nana's own garden

Here are some words shared by our children as we worked together to create the Community Seed Library:

Riley – “I grow seeds with my Nannie and Grandad. We could grow a beanstalk and go right up to the giant!”

Kaia – “I do gardening with my mummy and I put seeds in the holes.”

Matthew – “I’m growing sunflowers at home with my Mum and Julia. They’re out the front of my home.”

Taikura's family and Freya's family take some seeds home to sow in their gardens

Mairtown Kindergarten have been supported by the Northland Kindergarten Association and by our lovely facilitator Anna to join the Enviroschools programme. We have had these values and beliefs embedded in our philosophy for quite some time, but we are excited about strengthening these areas of our practice as we work towards our first reflection for the Bronze Enviroschool accreditation.

The children have been saving seeds from the Calendula in our Kindergarten garden to add to the seed library

Although the seed library is a visible and tangible part of our curriculum, we are also planting these “seeds” in the hearts and the minds of our children when we involve them in these experiences. We aim to foster a generation who are not only empowered to create a change towards sustainability, but who have the inclination and the drive to create real social change.

A kind hearted member of the public heard about our initiative and popped in to gift these bottle gourd seedlings to share with the community. They were very popular and so appreciated, ngā mihi nui kia koe! 

Please spread the word about this kaupapa and we hope to chat with many of you over the fence as you come and find some seed treasures to grow.

Arohanui,

Amy