Reap What You Sow (Before the Lease Expires).

STUDENT AFFAIRS / ENVIRONMENT

A practical guide on flat-friendly vegetable gardening for Christchurch students.

Four years ago, I was locking my bike to the refrigeration equipment behind the Countdown on Church Corner, because good bike stands are hard to come by. Hearing the swing of a door behind me, I whipped around to see the toothy grin of a young man clad in a fine suit, as black as the soot that stained the walls. He seemed entirely unconcerned by my secreting behind the loading dock. Curious, I inquired why a bloke with such a flash getup was doing behind a supermarket. His grin grew wider still, as though the question were a secret delight. He answered that he was the supermarket's sadist. Confused, I retorted that he did not look sad in the slightest. He confided: 

"Behind the eyes of every security camera, there is a supermarket sadist. He is employed to watch each customer closely, so that there is someone to enjoy the expression of despair that they let out when they discover that capsicum costs $1.99 each, even at Pak'n'save."

I saw then that the man was astride a black horse, and in his hand was a pair of balances, and a voice did say:

"A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." And when the lamb had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say:

"Come and see."

I resolved there and then to start a vegetable garden.

*

When considering starting a vege garden, "am I allowed to" is usually a far more imposing obstacle than the deficit in gardening skill. This question was answered in February 2021, with changes to the Residential Tenancies Act that allow for "minor changes" to the property. A vege garden that replaces a patch of lawn counts as a "minor change" as long as you turn it back to lawn when you leave. Therefore, in order to be legally entitled to make a garden at your flat, you need to make a written request to the landlord, which they must allow in 21 days, unless they have reasonable complaints. I recommend using the "Request to make a change to the property" form on the tenancy.govt.nz website.

But before jumping to the thrill of filling out paperwork, ask yourself two questions:

Firstly, will you be at your flat over summer break? Lectures run over the coldest, least productive months of the year. If you are not at the flat to take advantage of the summer harvest, you'll be losing out on the most desirable and diverse produce. Furthermore, over the Christchurch summer, regular watering is essential. If you aren't there to water, you'll be coming back to a dead garden.

Secondly, will you be at your flat for multiple years? A well tended organic garden will improve each year. It's gutting to lose that progress when you move. It's impossible to determine when a landlord will kick you out, but you can at least ask yourself when you're likely to leave.

If you can't resolve these questions, I highly recommend shelving your flat garden plans in the short term, and sticking with the superb university community garden's working bees on Friday afternoons. This welcoming communal garden is an exceptional source of fresh vegetables, and knowhow. All you need to provide is a few hours of labour in the sun, once a week.

In order to actually harvest vege over the lecture period, stick with hardy greens, brassicas, and cold weather herbs. If germinated early in the lecture period, these plants will be big enough to produce over winter and autumn; the seasons that dominate the academic year. The Bunnings at Tower Junction will supply you with the following suitable seeds: silver beet, spinach, kale, bok choy, beetroot, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas, parsley, coriander, and thyme. Try to grow the plants from seed, rather than buy seedlings, as this is much cheaper. Germinate the seeds in seed raising mix, using the free, second hand pots that you can pilfer from the crate north west of the Bunnings entrance. Review Tui Garden’s planting calendar for timing on planting, growth times, and harvests.

Getting your seeds growing early in the academic year is the most time sensitive task. With it knocked off, starting a compost using green waste and kitchen scraps is the obvious step two, to secure ongoing fertiliser supply for your plants. If you're running short on high carbon material for this compost, Middleton Park has a huge pile of old wood chips under some trees. I think the council dumped these wood chips here, then subsequently forgot about them. It is important to put advice on stealing from the council at the end of one's article, rather than the start.

—

Richard Dough, February 2025

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tuigarden.co.nz/planting-calendar, planting calendar for planting and harvest timings.

tenancy.govt.nz/maintenance-and-inspections/regular-maintenance/tenants-making-changes-to-the-property, information on changes you can make to your rental property.

tenancy.govt.nz/assets/forms-templates/request-to-property-change.pdf, template for request to landlord to make a change to the property.

canterbury.ac.nz/life/sustainability/get-involved-in-sustainability/community-gardens/waiutuutu-community-garden, information on UC’s community gardens.