Koha gratefully accepted. Your support enables us to re-invest in the whenua - plants, predator-control traps, and improvements to the access road. The birds and critters thank-you 🙏

Ko Wai J9?

Ko Beinn Mac Duibh te maunga, ko Deathan (river don) te awa, ko Kōtarani te iwi, ko Ogg raua ko Ross na whānau tipuna. I tipu ana ahau ki Whakaoriori, kei konei tōku turangawaewae. Kei Whakataki ngā pito whenua ō oku tamariki. Ko Hamuera (Sam) Ludden taku hoa rangatira, ko Janine taku ingoa.

Kia ora :) I'm a local Masterton girl with family connections to Danniverke and Otautahi/Christchurch and before that Scotland, through grandparents on both sides. The small hamlet of Towie near Aberdeen is one of the places our ancestors came from, a charming but barren land of granite and celtic stone circles 🪨🪨🪨 One ancestor was a gamekeeper, perhaps a connection to my love of the ngāhere, and another a green grocer, though I suck at gardening annuals (working on it 😂) .

When it comes to syntropy and food forests I don’t see myself as an expert, more an enthusiastic early adopter with a passion for sharing all the amazing stuff I’m learning, warts and all. I may not have the answers to all your questions, but I can share my mistakes and learnings so far and connect you to the resources you need to get started or deepen your own journey with syntropic food forestry.

Why Grow a Syntropic Food Forest?

So many cool reasons and we’ll delve more into this on the day, but here’s a few of my fav’s

• it’s good for the soul to design and plant a food forest! It takes you outside and connects you deeply to your environment, an every day reminder that we are not seperate from nature but part of it.

• You don’t need heaps of space to get started - a small syntropic ‘nest’ will fit into most NZ backyards. If you have plenty of room, you can go BIG!

• Biomimicry is at the heart of syntropy and it’s super cool - there’s something about learning how to mimic natural eco-systems that just sings for me. Our ancestors did it and so can we.

• A syntropic food forest is like a regular food forest on steroids. Biodiversity, food production, soil health and fungal networks accelerate at an incredible rate in a in a syntropic system - it’s hard to believe at first how quickly it can regenerate the soil. Abundance at its best.

• This way of growing is more resilient to the challenges of climate change - syntropic systems require less water, little to no external inputs, are more resilient to pests and as a forest system, are far more resilient to extreme weather events.

• You’re not just creating a vegetable garden, you’re creating a wildlife habitat! Better still, your design can easily and successfully incorporate NZ native trees and plants.

Interested but can’t make these dates?

Ko ahau te taiao ko te taiao ko ahau

I am the environment and the environment is me