lyttel town

local food: abundant elderberry

2012-02-26T10:37:00.000-08:00

Have you noticed the trees and the birds landing ever-more heavily as their bellies swell with the seasons bounty?
Elder trees are abundant in the Harbour Basin. In the Spring they are a wonderful source of elderflowers that can be made into a sweet, refreshing Summer cordial drink. Right now it is time to pick the berries and transform them into a flu-busting, vitamin C rich syrup. Each year we forage enough to make up a few batches of the syrup as an immune booster for the coming months.

This is what I do:

1 cup elderberries.
3 cups water
1 cup honey/sugar.

Rinse well and pull the berries away by running a fork along the stalks. Do not steep with stalks attached as this part of the plant is toxic. Place berries in a pot with the 3 cups of water and bring to the boil and then reduce heat and simmer the brew for 45 minutes with the lid on.

Stir in the honey, bottle and store.

This will store well in the fridge for up to 3 months.

A couple of weeks back I tried some locally made elderberry liqueur which was a particularly special drink. There are quite a few recipes on the net but I'm holding out for a copy of the local recipe.

Posted by Jacinda, also occassionally writing at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

Cultivating Gratitude

2012-02-24T03:25:00.001-08:00

We haven't been writing here for a while have we?
Some of us have been tired - in fact I think the whole of Canterbury was collectively exhausted by the end of last year - some of us took a break. Some of us have lost our way with our inspiration but then some us us have been inspired daily. Most of us have been relaxing through the Summer.
But then as the rhythum spirals back around, we have found our way back here writing again.

We are experimenting with what it's like to be a group which is self-organising and writes from a place of passion and interest and not of obligation. It's fun to try less prescriptive ways of working together and is such an opportunity for stretching old habits and learning new ways of working together.
We want you to know that we love the comments you leave us because the dialogue is the main reason we are here. We are particularly interested in extending the dialogue around details of what a regenerative community looks like and the nuts and bolts of local, democratic, grassroots movements. Consciousness expansion is necessary if we are to make it through some of the challenges ahead so we are always up for a bit of that and then of course there is the more general sharing of skills and tips for developing healthy, self-reliant, learning communities. We are also interested in sharing our humanness.

The spirit here in Lyttelton is feeling robust.
Every day we gain confidence in our power as a community.
The clip below reminded me of the anniversary of the February earthquake earlier this week. So many Cantabrians, consciously or not, have cultivated a practice of gratitude over the past year. In the midst of thousands of aftershocks and with so much of our external world in shatters, we have chosen thankfulness as an antidote for despair.

The people here and the spirit of this place are on the top of my list.

A beginning...again...one year on.

2012-02-22T02:43:00.000-08:00

When a community intentionally develops systems of sharing resources, caring for each other and general local resilience many of us in that community steps up into a new space of trust, love and faith in each other. The culture of the community slowly, and at times not so slowly, shifts and the community begins to evolve as a whole. Self-organisation becomes possible. People reclaim belief in their own agency and co-creation becomes the norm.

Today is 22nd February - one year on from the devastating earthquake in 2011 when Lyttelton lost some of it's people, most of it's town but found it's resilience.

Many congregated at the Petanque court to gather with friends, neighbours and others, to hold hands together as a community at 12.51pm. It was a largely self-organised event. There was no "organiser," no "leader of ceremonies." Instead we gathered and as we did, others joined. Different people made offerings in quiet and respectful ways - "shall we hold hands?""I'll call the time" "I feel like we should sing a song" - and in this way we co-created a community commemoration. A local commemoration that was intimate, personal and real and uniquely met the needs of us here in Lyttelton.

Deep gratitude to all those Lytteltonians who have held on during the past year, taken care of our children, our aged and our vulnerable, found it in themselves to help others and who have embraced the local flavour of persistence, determination, celebration and love.

And if you happen to be reading this from Wellington or are visiting the capital in the next month, check out the display of Lyttelton Hearts at the Te Papa exhibition "Kia Kaha Christchurch - One Year On."

Posted by Jacinda, also writing occassionally at watchingkereru.blogspot.com.

Interpretive Trails

2011-12-21T01:59:00.000-08:00

I am inspired by this video Foraging for food in the wild. We should have interpretive trails here and everywhere!

http://vimeo.com/21941571

Posted by: Christy Martin

Raw Milk

2011-12-01T02:35:00.000-08:00

We need to stand up for our Raw Milk!

Raw milk is under the consideration of MAF at present, as a new food bill is being proposed, and they have asked the public for submissions.

They don’t intend to remove raw milk completely, but there are some restrictions they suggest, that we are able to make comment on.

If you have any interest in health and healthy food in New Zealand, now is the time to have your voice heard by sending a short and ‘as simple as you like’ letter to MAF.

The more voices that are heard and counted, the more seriously they will have to consider the impact of any decision they make.

PLEASE TAKE 15 MINUTES TO WRITE SOMETHING NOW.

IT NEEDS TO BE IN TO THEM BY THE 5^TH DECEMBER,

It needs to be in your own words. If you are not sure what to say and have limited time ,you could just send them an email telling them you think it is important for all New Zealanders to be able to choose what they want to eat and drink and where they source it from. But the more submissions posted to them to deal with has a big impact.

If you have any testimonials to raw milk’s health improving benefits, then please tell them your story.

Have a look at this website, set up especially for this event. You will get ideas for submissions. http://www.milk.org.nz/

You must start off with the next three lines.

Submission to MAF:

“Proposals for continuing to legally provide for farm gate sales of raw drinking milk”

MAF Public Discussion Paper No: 2011/11

Email your submission to MAFfoodpolicy@maf.govt.nz

or Post (your submission will have more impact)

Food Policy Team
Biosecurity & Food Directorate
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington 6104
New Zealand

If you have more time to think about this, and want to write more, then here is a summary of their preferred proposal.

1.Milk could only be sold directly to the person/family who will drink it.

2.Dairy farmers could sell only 6 litres per person per day

3.Dairy farmers could sell a total of only 120 litres per day

4.Milk must be picked up directly from the farm dairy

5.Milk cannot be sold from local stores or farmers’ markets

6.Reasonable animal health and hygiene requirements would need to be met, but the need for a comprehensive Risk Management Programme will not be required nor enforced.

You can find the MAF Public Discussion Paper no: 2011/11 at:

http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/elibrary/industry/farm-gate-raw-milk-sales/2011-11-raw-milk-farm-gate-sales.pdf

If you would just like to say more, here are a few questions to give you some things to talk about that are relevant to the discussion.

1. Do you think a dairy farmer should only be allowed to sell directly to the consumer? With no shops, farmer’s market, or retail sales?

2. Do you think it is reasonable to restrict each person to buying 6 litres per day? Does that mean if someone wanted 20 litres to make cheese that they would have to visit the farm 4 days in a row to pick it up?

3. Do you think it is reasonable to restrict a dairy farmer to selling 120 litres per day? Will this limit the number of people living in cities, for example, being able to find a close enough source of raw milk it they wish to?

4. Do you think it is reasonable to expect everyone buying raw milk to have to pick it up from the farm personally? Would this discriminate against some people, for example people living in cities an hour or more away from a small raw milk provider? Or people who are housebound? Or cannot drive?

5. Animal health and hygiene regulations will need to be discussed much more fully at a later date, and may be beyond the scope of your interest. (Ask me more if you want to know more)

6. Your own experiences, and any testimonials and health benefits you or anyone you know has had from using raw milk. Give this heaps, this is really important, to let them know there are hundreds of people out there who have benefited from drinking raw milk.

7. Your conclusion or summary, or request to them. Or your understanding about the safety and benefits raw milk offers.

When you have finished, you must include your name and physical address.

You may email, but not as effective. MAFfoodpolicy@maf.govt.nz

ROOTS...local food

2011-11-26T00:54:00.000-08:00

We have decided to live our truth and go for what we believe in and create the future that we want to see. We have always believed that choosing the easier road is not always what it seems to be. We aim to take no shortcuts. We are starting with nothing, nothing but our vision. We have jumped from the paradigm of working for someone else trapped in another mentality to creating a future and being present in exactly what we want to see happen. We are grateful for that in its self is a freedom of the mind.

People say all sorts of things like you need money… you need crockery… plates...riedel glasses and so the list goes on and on. This fear mongering that you need money, that you will never make it without those special pieces of paper. We see it differently. We believe that you need the community and people that believe in what you are doing. So we have started our new adventure that will lead us to making our dream come true of having a restaurant so we started a local food service called Roots. We do not need new things. In starting we thought that there is such amazing craftsmanship here in Aotearoa. So the research began in plates and kitchen items. There is such amazing ceramics from the 60s and 70s. Who cares if all the plates look the same! It is more fun to have a story and uniqueness and that sense of local, which really to me in this spectrum says real and quality. So Giulio found people with all of these ceramic NZ crafted plates. They are beautiful. He explained what we are doing to an older gentleman and bought some plates from him. The gentleman then called him back and said that he would love to help out, that he was literally swimming in too much NZ ceramic dishware and that Giulio could take what he wanted at no cost just because he believed in what we are creating and wanted to help us out! We are now realizing if we explain what we are doing maybe people will want to join in or contribute in some way, anyway that they can. It does not have to be with even giving us anything, but just words knowing that what we are creating is also something that others want to see happen and are excited about.

Our concept of food…this should be a book, however, here are some of Giulio’s words from his blog about our project:

“These are very exciting times for us, we have decided to start our own food service focused on everyone who wants to taste honest local food.

Lyttelton is surrounded by food, and by my own experience in the last 10 months I have been eating leaves, herbs, nuts, fruits and flowers that I forage during my daily walks. We are so lucky to have the Farmer’s Market every Saturday, and now starting the spring season we can find something new every weekend. Lyttel Piko is my favorite shop, you can find almost everything there and it is the starting point of my whole food based pantry.

The philosophy is local – organic – biodynamic – animal welfare supporting the local producers and suppliers. It is my dream to create a sustainable food service that supports the community and the community does the same in return. When I think in food I think about sharing, in the end that’s the whole purpose of my craft, but it is not only food, it is food made with respect and love, it is nourishment for our body that is why it has to be healthy and nutritious.

Our food is an invitation to the senses, to experience new flavors or a different culture or a completely new food experience, who said that it is not right to start eating sweets before savory??

Everyone is welcome. Peace”

We offer local food parties (breakfast, lunch, dinner, tapas) as well as cooking classes, and any other cooking needs whether it be for the holidays, a neighborhood get together… you name it…contact us. Christy and Giulio 021 120 8083 cmmartin6@gmail.com

Posted by: Christy Martin

for urgent sale: good sort needed.

2011-11-15T01:47:00.000-08:00

Macbeth Performance Structure

Donor or Purchaser: As Good Intentions Turn into a Nightmare

A project that started with great community intentions has quickly turned into a nightmare. The Loons, with the help of Pete Evans, secured precious community earthquake funding from Project Lyttelton to purchase a cover for an outdoor stage. The cover enabled the very successful production of Macbeth to take place in Lyttelton for the Arts Festival. All was going well, the stage was erected and the show played on. The bills were paid and then the show finished at the end of September.

Project Lyttelton and Pete Evans were both keen to enable Lyttelton to maintain this temporary stage so that more shows could be performed and the community would have another focal point until The Loons could reopen. Money raised by the Matakana Market for Lyttelton earthquake recovery was earmarked for more live performances in Lyttelton, and so this money was allocated to keep the structure going.
We all hoped the stage could remain and the shows could continue on.

Thats when the red tape started to get in the way. No longer was the stage considered a temporary structure. A building permit, structural engineering report, fire reports, inspections etc were new requirements from the council. Our desire to keep shows rolling was stalled.

Too expensive, time consuming and frustrating. Two weeks ago the decision was made to sell the stage cover and just wind the site up. Two weeks of Trade Me later, there is still no buyer, but the debts keep mounting. Unless a buyer or a donor can be found we are going to have to use vital community funding to pay off the structure. Is there anyone out there who would like to help, or a community, or project that has need of such a structure? It can readily be

reconstructed in a day. It will already be deconstructed and can be picked up with a normal trailer.

Please contact Pete Evans 021 328 707 or Wendy Everingham 021 047 6144 if you can help the Lyttelton Community out.

open day at the community garden

2011-11-13T01:12:00.000-08:00

Flower gardens grow flowers.

Vegetable gardens grow vegetables.

Community gardens grow community.

In the rain and wind we gathered.
The bar-be-que and cups of tea were kept on the go the whole morning to keep away cold and weariness.
And the distill provided an evocative centrepiece.
Stinging nettle distilled as we stood around it, checking the fire and the warmth, timidly tasting and smelling the hydrosoil that appeared.

Foraged elderflowers were also celebrated; their smell, their taste and sheer prettiness reminded us that it was indeed Spring in the midst of a Southerly blast..

Elderflower frittters:
Elderflowers dipped in batter, fried in oil with a sprinkle of icing sugar.

Elderflower cordial:
20 elderflower heads (flowering now)
1.5 litre water
800gm-1kg sugar
30gm citric acid
3 lemons
Make a hot syrup with the sugar, water and citric acid and then pour over flowers. Use a large bowl. Let stand in a sunny spot for 24 hours.
Strain through muslin.
Use straight away or bottle for storage: heat the syrup again until about to boil, heat the bottles at 100oc for 15 minutes, then using a funnel pour and cap bottles.

We shared knowledge and skills, enjoyed the visitors who braved the weather and celebrated the garden and the community anyway.

what water shortage?

2011-11-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

At this time of the year and in particular, this year because of pipes being munted from the recent earthquakes, we hear a lot of talk about water shortages.
A couple of nights ago within half an hour of arriving home and in the steady rain, I managed to collect 120 litres of water off my carport roof......and then dinner was ready.
You do the maths but I dear say, it could be a water tank shortage rather than a water shortage.

I know the detail of my collection because we have a half completed water harvesting system at home.
Let me explain....
>We live in an old bach with guttering which I would say is probably just as munted as the city's stormwater system. We have large barrels under each dodgey area.
>We have six of these barrels fed by the carport downpipe. These were connected but over winter discovered that the connections were leaking and so had pulled it apart to try a different system...and then it rained.
> From the 20 minutes of bucket collecting on Wednesday we now have a rubbish bin filled with water (ready for seaweed to be added and made into liquid fertiliser for the garden) and a wheelie bin.

As you can see the system isn't that efficient at the moment but we are working on it and do the best we can and catch what we are able.
Each step raises our consciousness:
> When our family began to put buckets in our showers we quickly discovered how much water we used with each visit. Some of us chose to shorten our showers, some of us turned the water off while we washed and others showered less often. Different solutions suit different people.
> Using a small container in our sink for washing dishes reminds the girls to rinse their dishes without running the tap.
> Being inspired by composting toilets for Christchurch we have been peeing in a bucket for a while now and using the diluted solution to water our non-edible plants. The Christchurch sewerage system is severly compromised from the earthquakes but still we flush pure clean water down the toilet. The bucket system is a great alternative to having the yellow settle in the bottom of the toilet and happily gets us outside more!
>We still bucket the water from the barrels..we are happy to do this...you know, a "chopping water, carry water" kid of meditation in the middle of our busy lives.

As we raise our consciousness about our water usage, we engage further with our water project at home and plan on fixing the plumbing to our tank system.....just as soon as the rain stops.
Next week I plan to check the guttering at the community garden - a little late in the season but doing the best we can.
How are you managing store, re-use and save water in your own home?

written by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

real wealth

2011-11-09T01:15:00.000-08:00

Lying in bed at the end of a day I reflect on the wealth that surrounds me.
Here is a day in the life of Margaret…
I talk to my two hens as I feed them their warm mash, check their water and
pick up a still warm egg. This is like a meditation process for me,
grounding me at the start of the day.

Tuesday mornings in term time I do a regular Timebank trade with Lyttelton
West School helping with the Early Words programme. New entrants get a great
start to learning to read through this work. Timebanking is based on
reciprocity, not just of time spent, but also in the pleasure it brings to
both parties. Who can resist the welcome from a five year old, “Oh,
Margaret, it is so lovely to see you again!” – makes me smile and imagine
what great modelling her parents are doing.

On my way home I drop past the Portal (Project Lyttelton’s office) to touch
base, a few little details but it is a social visit really!
Project Lyttelton has started a new project looking at how we can build
resilience into food supplies in the Harbour Basin. Each project we
undertake has a champion to run with it (me for this one) and an advisory
group to support and direct the process. I’m just firming up this advisory
group today and send out a Doodle to arrange a time for all to meet. Doodles
are so much more efficient at planning meeting times than interminable
emails.
Lunch – based today around my favourite whole grain bread from the Farmers
Market.
On my way to my next meeting I pick up a supply of ionized water from Lyttel
Piko. A Chinese firm gifted our community this ionizer to help ease our post
-earthquake situation. This water is lovely – so much nicer than the
chlorine smelling water we have for the time being.
A meeting at Coffee Culture. I talk with the student working at the counter
and get her email as she wants to be on the contributors’ list of those
writing for the Lyttelton News.
Today at this meeting I am talking with our two newly appointed community
development workers for the food project along with the liaison person from
the funders. There is so much energy here, ideas, development of ideas,
plans, directions, sharing networks and resources. We all recognise that
prioritising is going to be important!
A quick hike up the hill back home, pulling a few weeds out of the cemetery
steps as I slip through the excluded zone. (I’d rather pull these weeds,
often isolated ones, than see them being blasted with spray.)
I pack the car because tonight I am going to my upholstery evening class,
re-covering an arm chair. The preparatory pulling out the staples takes a
long time though.
3.30pm. Eleven of us meet with Professor Bruce Glavocic at the Portal to
have an unstructured conversation about our individual and community
experiences and feelings related to the earthquake. This was quite a
reflective conversation. We learned of successful models of engagement,
recognising we have one such on our own doorstep in Waimakariri. It was
great that we had biscuits and seeded lemon muffins to hold us together – we
talked to nearly 6 o’clock!
I was a bit late for class, but that seems to run on glide time. I
discovered at the bottom of the box (I had stripped the chair eons ago –
before the earthquake – and stored the fabric pieces for future patterns) my
staple puller AND my dressmaking scissors – what joy! I’ve been looking for
those for ages!
Returning home I completed what I was scheduled to do with a section of work
on our Project Lyttelton’s monitoring and evaluating programme.
Satisfaction level is very high! This is what I call wealth! Being
surrounded by a loving world, doing what feels meaningful work, creating,
sharing and being extended.
As I lie in bed reflecting, a feeling of deep gratitude flows through me.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

culture

2011-10-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

Over the past 50 years money affairs have become a far more private matter as people turn away from their neighbours and communities and towards the ever-consuming, self-absorbing task of growing their own personal money tree/s. This has evolved a culture which is consumer-driven; a culture where individualism and competition are king and the trust and connectivity that we rely on for fulfilling human relationships undercut.

We, the people on the ground, are all part of this ever-evolving culture. With each pattern of action we make, we create the culture around us and affect the culture of our community.
Here in Lyttelton we are developing a strong culture around localised economics; we no longer try to convince people it's a good idea, local people know about it and are part of the change.
Here are just 3 examples:
> the Timebank now beats at the heart of the community; people use it alongside and instead of the monetary system.
> the Harbour Pool, a collective of households who pool their savings to share with others in the group at no interest, is expanding as the concept becomes more known by a wider range of households.
> as networks are strengthened, gifting - choosing to give away goods rather than receive monetary gain from them - becomes something that we do more often.

The cultural shift happens as we depend less on the market economy and turn back towards each other.
The cultural shift happens as the values that underpin these strategies also become the values of the community. All of these strategies build trust and cooperation in the members and therefore provide platforms upon which reciprocity is supported. As we nourish these non-competitive alliances, the culture as a whole becomes more connected and concerned for others well-being.
And so this local cultural shift in Lyttelton turns away from individualism and competitiveness and promotes the common good.
It feels good to reclaim the agency that we have in our lives and remember the bigger picture. When I receive a gift I am not just saying thanks but also undermining the market economy that rips the heart out of local economies and people's lives.
It feels good to be part of positive cultural change.
What's exciting you about your community's cultural shift?

written by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

a workshop on resilience

2011-10-08T12:38:00.000-07:00

Building Resilience:

Community Organising now in Otautahi/Christchurch

4pm – 7pm Friday 4^th November (with dinner and social time to follow) -

9am – 4.30pm Saturday 5^th November

This workshop is a place to gather the learnings from the last 14 months, link people together and strategise for the coming year(s)

The aims for this workshop are:

· To share learnings from participants experience of community organising and community building

· To envision communities that are strong, sustainable, and participatory in Otautahi/Christchurch

· To share ideas about how these visions can be brought to fruition and plan collaborative next steps

Kotare is a national organisation, based in Hoteo North near Wellsford, that supports social movements through the provision of workshops (www.kotare.org.nz). Kotare acknowledges that we are not on the ground in Otautahi/Christchurch. We are working with local people on the organising and design of this workshop.

Venue: St Ambrose Aranui-Wainoni Church hall, 309 Breezes Rd

Cost: $0-$150 sliding scale for each workshop. Please self-assess your payment and consider your means when deciding what to pay.

Registration: Registration is required. Please register as soon as possible and no later than Friday 28^th of October by contacting Tanya, contact details below.

Facilitation team: Tim Howard and Tanya Newman

If you would like to know more about the workshop, please feel welcome to contact Tanya Newman at education@kotare.org.nz or phone 02102769112

achieving the outcome we want

2011-10-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

I was sent a link to the Jerusalem Journals http://jerusalemjournals.posterous.com/
The author starts the piece with the fact of the Palestine Authority submitting an application to the UN for full statehood.
She questions ‘if people want to self-define, why do they need permission from the UN or an external body?’ She goes on and says that ‘institutions are no longer the place from which we must ask permission for our autonomy.’
I found the piece really interesting, especially when placed in context with what is happening around the world at this time. And also what is happening for us locally.

A few days ago I went with others to the Community Board meeting where a delegation was putting forward the desire that we (people of Lyttelton) no longer want to solve our earthquake initiated issues by the usual method of consensus whereby we get to share our ideas with Council – they take them away, filter through them, they come up with a draft plan and then they come back to us for further comment.
There is too much at stake and we want the best outcome possible.
Their style of consensus is not giving us the best outcome. There is too much processing going on in there without constant reconnecting with the people it is effecting. We want to be partners in our destiny. We have the passion and the expertise. We no longer want some boffins with their expertise solving our issues for us – we want full involvement. We won’t be shut out.
There is a spirit that is arising around the globe as people start questioning the systems that have been in place for so long. They are largely not working effectively, causing considerable harm to the planet and are disempowering for many, people and all other species.
I listened recently to Bruce Lipton talking about using our energy wisely http://www.youtube.com/user/biologyofbelief . He says it better than I can summarise – so go and listen. But a thing he is talking about is that we need to place our energy where we are getting an outcome that we want to achieve.
I have the feeling that many of our governing bodies are never going to produce what needs to happen. They are based on outmoded and highly inefficient systems. They are Leviathan like.
So I do even question what is the point in going to the community board to ask the question? It is polite I guess. But creating any change? I want to place my energy in a different direction. One I know that will produce results.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

Lyttelton Food??

2011-09-30T18:19:00.000-07:00

Looking at the food that surrounds us in restaurants does not entice me to eat anywhere but at home or at a shared pot luck with all the others in Lyttelton (which is pretty much always delicious, diverse and seasonal). With the occasional moment where we all make pumpkin soup because… that is what we have at the time of the year. However, wouldn’t it be great to be able to go out and converse while eating real Lyttelton food? The number one restaurant in the world is Noma in Denmark and they have created the New Nordic Cuisine Manifesto, which can be applied anywhere in the world. In fact, we should apply this Manifesto right here in Lyttelton. Have a look at the aims of the New Nordic Cuisine:

1. To express the purity, freshness, simplicity and ethics we wish to associate with our region.

2. To reflect the changing of the seasons in the meals we make.

3. To base our cooking on ingredients and produce whose characteristics are particularly excellent in our climates, landscapes and waters.

4. To combine the demand for good taste with modern knowledge of health and well-being.

5. To promote Nordic products and the variety of Nordic producers – and to spread the word about their underlying cultures.

6. To promote animal welfare and a sound production process in our seas, on our farmland and in the wild.

7. To develop potentially new applications of traditional Nordic food products.

8. To combine the best in Nordic cookery and culinary traditions with impulses from abroad.

9. To combine local self-sufficiency with regional sharing of high-quality products.

10. To join forces with consumer representatives, other cooking craftsmen, agriculture, the fishing, food , retail and wholesale industries, researchers, teachers, politicians and authorities on this project for the benefit and advantage of everyone in the Nordic countries.

“We’re not against fish, and we like meat – in fact, we’re not in any way sectarian – but plants are the DNA of the Nordic kitchen. And in a world where a billion people are starving, where global resources are under massive pressure and where we will be three billion more people by 2050, it would be great if we could spread the joy of eating vegetables,” Claus Meyer

What is the DNA of our food here?

Let your food thoughts marinate on the following photos...

Posted by Christy Martin

extended film series

2011-09-30T00:33:00.000-07:00

EXTENDED SEASON OF THE

LYTTELTON COMMUNITY GARDEN FILM SERIES

Hosted at The Portal (up the driveway between the playgound and the pool off Oxford St.)

6PM: Shared meal. All welcome
7pm: Film screening.

Monday 3rd October: SCHOOLING THE WORLD
"You have an institution that is in place globally that is branding millions and millions of innocent people as failures." - Manish Jain
"these people aren't failed attempts at being us, they are unique answers to the fundamental question: what does it mean to be human and alive." - Wade Davis
A film that challenges our Western education system, especially when introduced into indigenous societies. This film helps us deconstruct our Western world view and challenges our assumptions about the success of our education system.
This film is shot in the same country as The Economics of Happiness and extends many of the themes.

Monday 10th October: THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS.
A film that tells the story of a grassroots movement for localisation that is bubbling up from the cracks of a faltering global economy, in every corner of the world.
Check out the trailer here.
Back by popular demand….if you missed out the first time, make sure to catch it this time and see how Lyttelton is part of this worldwide relocalising movement. Open to discussion afterwards.

Everyone very welcome.

community?

2011-09-28T02:09:00.000-07:00

What is community? I suspect it takes many forms and has no one look about it and yet it seems to me that it must have some form that makes it different than other living things. When I think about the things it means to me, it feels like people knowing each other and having a relationship simply because of something we share – it certainly does not need to be a physical place as we all know about design communities, on-line communities, etc. and in all of these we share some sense of connection. And it is the fabric of what we share collectively that seems important to me.

In Lyttelton, here are some of the things I think we share. I would love to see others to add to my thinking as I would love to see what you think we share and what makes us a community.

I would love to hear what others think of what makes their community as well.

I think we share a love of this beautiful environment that we live in – the steep sloping hills and the view of the harbour. I also love the fact that this is a working port and that simple fact will not allow this place to get too trendy or ritzy. I am not sure we all share this love. I think we share a love of the essence of what we all think Lyttelton is – and I don’t think we would all agree what that essence is, however, I think many of us would say its ‘gritty honesty’, its eclectic nature and its amazing creativity - in so many forms. I love that we all have different things that we love and though they are different – we are all passionately about them.

I think many people love it because this is where their family hails from for many generations and they grew up fishing off the docks, flying down the steep streets in their homemade racers, and knowing that their families are not far from them at all times. I don’t have those same memories, but they are mine as well because I have heard them so often. I can’t claim them, and I love the images just the same. I think what I love most is that I don’t ever feel alone here – that if I have a need, someone is always there to help me out.

I am a wanderer who has come upon this place and shall stay here now – my wondering has come to an end because I have found my place- my community

written by Sarah van der Burch

seed magic

2011-09-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

Oh Spring, you love to do this to us. Warm us up with clear, still days, lulling us into thinking we have made it through into the warmer months and then, as though unexpectedly, you send us back into wintery temperatures.

But even though it may be cold and blustery outside, we can still dream about our feet in the warm earth, plant seeds and prepare for the hard work ahead.

And if you don't believe in magic, find some seeds to plant.

A morning playing with the different shapes, sizes and colours of seeds will astonish and delight.

Doing this with a child helps.

Just slowing down and looking, we remember how dependent we are on these little bundles of potential.

Their shear abundance will convert you for sure.

Plan to save some seed in the coming season. Beans and peas are easy. Tomatoes are simple too.

Even just let some of your plants go to seed and see what happens around the base of the parent plant.

Share spare seedlings with your neighbours and friends. Always.

Supporting your local seed bank also is a great way to get a little closer to your seed; they will hold less common varieties to experiment with and have seeds better suited to your bioregion.

Check out the southern seed exchange if you are local.

Seed guardianship keeps the seeds where they belong; in the hands of gardeners and farmers or in the earth, feeding families. Corporate laboratories and distribution centres are no place for seeds of life itself and if you're not convinced watch Vandana Shiva talk about the future of food and seed and check out the NZ Food Bill 160-2 .

These will inspire you to keep going.

Whatever you choose to do in particular, choose to do the good work and take the next step.
Begin on your path of seed guardianship.

written by Jacinda Gilligan, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

Home Sweet Home

2011-09-24T16:12:00.000-07:00

Everyone in Lyttelton has issues with their house after the earthquake. Maybe there are only a few cracks in the interior gib-board walls or a door and window doesn't shut, the floor is uneven and you feel constantely drunk when walking over it. There might be more serious issues with leaking roofs, collapsed foundations and unstable retaining walls. Some people had to leave their houses altogether: to wait for repairs, for destruction or rebuilding or because of rockfall threats.

Our house is still habitable, but will need large sums of money to fix up, and our insurance might well say that it is cheaper to rebuild. This suddenly has made me become more interested in the different kinds of housing that are out there.

I am not the only one. One of the silver linings after a disaster is the outside- of- the- box-thinking that happens in its aftermath. I always have been interested in modular housing, and I want to share the latest of these with you.

Here is the link to an innovative company : www.breezepod.com

Their pod-houses are either round or oblong and can be combined into different sizes.

There are many advantages to the pods:

no structural earthquake/hurricane/flooding damage possible
easy and fast to errect by only 2 people.
energy efficient.
the designs are pre-approved for use anywhere in New Zealand having been tested thoroughly during the NZ Building and Housing certification process. Building consent should be issued within 10 working days.

Even the prizes are very reasonable: $75.000 for a two bedroom house, $10.000 more for each bedroom.

As far as I can see there is one major drawback: the building material is polyethylene,- yes, the stuff we all hate as supermarket plastic bags are made out of it.

Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene ) says about polyethylene:

'The political environment has a divided approach towards the use of plastic. As plastics are mainly based on oil or natural gas, there is a general trend, as well as political pressure, towards increased use of renewable sources...

...Other elements go in favor of increased use of plastics. The low weight reduces energy use and cost related to transportation compared to goods made from wood or paper ... In this respect, plastics are considered to have a favorable environmental profile. However, there is no clear consensus whether or not increased use of plastics reduces CO₂ emissions.'
The Breezepod website says that their houses are 100% recyclable, as the whole pod, including roof is all out of the same material.
Me, I've always been a wood-person - old villas and log houses and maybe straw bale houses. I never considered living in a house made of plastic.
Look at the website and let me know what you think!

written by Bettina Evans

NZ Food Bill 160-2

2011-09-21T01:58:00.000-07:00

If you live in Aotearoa and enjoy buying food at your local Farmers' Market or have a favourite roadside stall you like to frequent or if you like to swap seeds with friends at your local community garden, or, in fact if you are at all interested in the food you eat then you need to check out NZ Food Bill 160-2.

Be prepared to be enraged.

Below is taken from the Nexus website

What are the problems with the Food Bill?

- It turns a human right (to grow food and share it) into a government-authorised privilege that can be revoked by the Governor-General.
- It makes it illegal to distribute "food" without authorisation, and it defines "food" in such a way that it includes nutrients, seeds, natural medicines, essential minerals and drinks (including water).
- It will push up mainstream food prices by subjecting producers to red tape and registration costs. Food prices are already rising due to increased energy costs and commodity speculation, while effective disposable incomes are falling.
- Growing food for distribution must be authorised, even for "cottage industries", and such authorisation can be denied.
- Under the Food Bill, Food Safety Officers can enter premises without a warrant using all equipment they deem necessary, including guns (Clause 265 - 1). Police can be Food Safety Officers, and so can members of the private sector, as at Clause 243. So Monsanto employees can raid premises like houses or marae without a warrant, backed up by armed police.
- The Government has created this bill to keep in line with its World Trade Organisation obligations under an international scheme called Codex Alimentarius ("Food Book"). So it has to pass this bill in one form or another.
- There are problems with Codex also. Codex will place severe restrictions on the content of vitamins, minerals and therapeutic compounds in food, drinks and supplements etc. The Food Bill means that non-complying producers can be shut down easily - thus it paves the way for the legal enforcement of Codex food regulations.

What are the implications for Food Security in NZ?

- The bill would undermine the efforts of many people to become more self-sufficient within their local communities.
- Seed banks and seed-sharing networks could be shut down if they could not obtain authorisation. Loss of seed variety would make it more difficult to grow one's own food.
- Home-grown food and some or all seed could not be bartered on a scale or frequency necessary to feed people in communities where commercially available food has become unaffordable or unavailable (for example due to economic collapse).
- Restrictions on the trade of food and seed would quickly lead to the permanent loss of heirloom strains, as well as a general lowering of plant diversity in agriculture.
- Organic producers of heirloom foods could lose market share to big-money agribusiness outfits, leading to an increase in the consumption of nutrient-poor and GE foods.

If you want more, check it out here, here and here.

Join with the world's poor who are also fighting similar laws in their own countries.

Sign the petition, write to your MP and generally make a racket.

Posted by Jacinda Gilligan, also at watchingkereru@blogspot.com

Distilling

2011-09-15T22:10:00.000-07:00

The art of distillation goes back quite some time… hundreds of years. I use a hand-crafted copper distiller.

If you can imagine walking through a rose garden in full bloom or a forest of eucalyptus or peeling an orange, those beautiful scents that you inhale are similar to what it is like to distill as the "essential oil" is the essence of that plant. It is a beautiful thing to work with plants in this way. The resulting distillate is the full make-up of the plant, rather than just the essential oil, you get the fullness of the plant that you are distilling, all of it’s properties.

A few of the plants that I have distilled in the past for different purposes have been thyme, eucalyptus, rose geranium, lemon verbena, and Echinacea. Each one delicious and healing in it’s own way.

Just the other day I went for a walk and cut some fresh branches from a eucalyptus tree as you use the leaves and twigs. I went home and distilled. The result was a beautiful eucalyptus hydrosol. There are over 300 varieties of eucalyptus trees. I distilled Eucalyptus leucoxylon, the one with the red blossoms. The following is a good resource for the various uses of eucalyptus.

I like to use it as a house spray, for steam inhalation, to add to a footbath, creams or to washing.

If you are interested in distilling please let me know and we can stay in touch.

christy@ooooby.com

Written by: Christy Martin

whakaraupo carving school

2011-09-12T03:17:00.000-07:00

The Whakaraupo Carving School opened just over a year ago here in Lyttelton/
This week there is the awesome opportunity to enrol in a carving evening class.
Check the clip below to be inspired.
Awesome opportunity.
Ka pai boys.

Wood Carving Night Classes

Come along and learn traditional Māori wood carving at Whakaraupo Carving Centre.

Participants will learn how to carve a koruru/ traditional mask using totara and learn how to decorate them with a range of patterns.

Each carver will learn how to use a range of tools and learn about the qualities of various types of native timbers.

Along the way participants will learn about the history of whakairo rākau-wood carving, and learn some of the stories behind the patterns used and the pieces that are made.
In keeping with Māori tradition this course is only available to men

When: Thursday nights- start date is 15/09/2011
Time: 7.30-9.00pm
Cost: $20
Clothing & Footwear: suitable for wood carving! And dress to keep warm.
Participants must be 16 years or older. Places are limited.
If you would like to sign up or if you have any questions please email
or phone Caine: whakaraupo.carving@xnet.co.nz

posted by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

a whole new world series

2011-09-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

I am sharing, along with others, some of what I am learning as a result of living in this community - this as part of a series, “A Whole New World”. Maybe you want to listen in? Here is the letter from Rose Diamond who is organising it all. My interview is 19 September at 11.00am (NZ)

Hello!

A Whole New World is launching an inspiring series of interviews with spiritual teachers, authors and community leaders, starting here in Aotearoa New Zealand, Land of the Awakening Dawn, to explore what it means to be awake at this time and how we can unfold our process of awakening into our full creative power.

Go here for a short audio introducing the

New Zealand

speakers: http://magnificentbeing.net/events-3 (wait a few seconds for the audio to appear)

Or if you prefer download the audio here: http://rosediamond.audioacrobat.com/download/AwakentheWholeNewHumanSpeakers.mp3

For more information and to register go here: http://www.awholenewworld.net/awaken When you register I will send you details of how to access the calls and an introductory context setting interview with me and colleague Joey Walters, exploring the opportunities in crisis and transition, the transformational power of the Soul Journey and more, is all ready to send to you.

The series is FREE and you can access the live calls by phone or via the internet. Recordings of the calls will also be available for 3 days following each broadcast. The series starts this Sunday 11th September at 11am here in NZ, 7pm ET on Saturday, or for times elsewhere go to:

http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html The interviews will be live every other day over two weeks.

This is the first leg of a sacred journey across the world, later I will be talking with speakers from

USA

and

about how we can bring our visions down to earth. Please join us to create an intentional energy field as we awaken as whole new humans who can co-create a new story, a new culture and a whole new world together.

Please feel free to forward this email to others in your networks.

blessings

Rose Diamond

A Whole New World is a resource for the transition to a more peaceful, soulful world.

The FBR (First Big Rumble) Anniversary, 4th September 2011

2011-09-06T00:44:00.000-07:00

I like celebrations. Any reason is good enough for me. Especially in earthquake country, more laughter, more food and more fun is always welcome.

But how do you celebrate an earthquake? It took only a few seconds to come up with the tried and true idea of 'more stitching'. It felt right to shift on from the hearts, healing and powerful as they were in the weeks after the Febuary earthquake.

We all have moved on, we are in a different state of heart and soul than we were in Febuary. So we decided to stitch wooly medals, to celebrate that we are still here, to celebrate our community, to celebrate life.

The obvious spot for that was the Petanque Club, situated on the old 'Ground Delicatessen' site in Lyttelton.

So on Sunday, dozens of people turned up at lunchtime. We stitched and ate and made music and listened to music. We talked and laughed. Played petanque.

I usually like to waffle on, use language and words to make sense of the world around me and through this share my impressions with others.

But I can't say a lot about this Sunday. We were there. People, strangers, friends. Breathing together. Picking up pink, blue, green felt, a gold button, a ribbon and creating symbols of love and survival. All our hearts beating in unison.

How can words express all of that?

written by Bettina Evans

An attitude of gratitude

2011-09-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

I happened to be awake with my toddler in the small hours yesterday morning. A significant day for people in Christchurch - 4 September. I found myself reflecting on what has been going on in our lives during this journey around the sun, and where we were this time last year. On that cold morning back then, I remember sitting in the dark listening to Radio New Zealand, my then 1- year-old-son playing with a torch as we rode out those first few hours of rockin' and rollin'. A story in today's newspaper entitled, 'A Lone Voice In The Dark' describes the experience of the Radio NZ presenter who happened to be working that day.

But even with no power or landline phone, we did not feel alone. Texts flew among our Lyttelton-adopted whanau, making sure everyone was ok. Neighbours went out on the street in the minutes following that first quake and checked on each other. At dawn our friends arrived to have breakfast cooked on the log burner, cold from being in a house with no working heating. Later in the morning, the Lyttelon Farmers Market got going, a chance to lay eyes on friends and faces from the street and check in. And while that first day was not as 'big' as events that followed, it set the tone for how we responded: taking care of each other.

In the last year I have become acutely aware of things to be grateful for. The rhythm of our lives these days is driven by things that keep us grounded and firmly connected to each other: Wednesdays at the community garden... wandering the farmer's market;...craft groups among friends where there is often not much actual craft going on but plenty of love as we share a cup of tea...walking through town and realising I know many more people by name than a year ago, with real heart connections abundant...Friday afternoons at the Top Club... trading on the Time Bank..random hugs from a friend bumped into on the street who really means it when they ask how you are...going for walks through the town and admiring the view...enjoying wood fired pizza at the new Brewery ...listening to songs from our town on the Harbour Union...checking out theatre on London St, relocated from the damaged Loons to the ruins of the Lava Bar...being together.

It hasn't all been fun, this last year, but the bonds between us are stronger than before, we know each other better and we know all about what resilience means. Have a listen to this great story on Radio NZ.

Yesterday morning I was happy to snuggle back in bed to snooze and think about the many things to be grateful for.

Written by Jodi Rees

community resilience workshop coming to town

2011-09-04T03:09:00.000-07:00

Kotare Trust invites you to a workshop on:

Building Resilience:

Community Organising now in Otautahi/Christchurch

Saturday 17th September - 9.30am- 4.30pm
Sunday 18th September - 9.30am – 3pm

The earthquakes in Otautahi-Christchurch have highlighted the need for communities to build their own strengths. Excellent community leadership has been shown in responding to the quakes and ensuring community needs are met. This workshop is a place to gather the learnings from the last 12 months and strategise for the immediate future.

The aims for this workshop are:
•To share learnings from participants experience of community building in the context of the quakes
•To envision rebuilding Otautahi-Christchurch in ways that are sustainable, enable community participation, and grow stronger communities.
•To share ideas about how these visions can be brought to fruition and plan collaborative next steps
•To learn and share ideas about community organising principles and practice

Kotare is a research and education centre for social change. We are a national organisation, based in Hoteo North near Wellsford, that supports social movements through the provision of workshops (www.kotare.org.nz). Kotare acknowledges that we are not on the ground in Otautahi/Christchurch. We are working with local people on the organising and design of this workshop. We hope facilitating and hosting this gathering will enable those directly impacted and working within Christchurch communities to share learnings with one another and that this workshop will usefully support your important and inspiring work.

Who For:
This workshop is for people engaged in community organising and community building in Otautahi/Christchurch and the surrounding area. Suggestions of people to invite are very welcome. Numbers are limited, so get in quick!
Venue: To be confirmed. The venue will be in Christchurch.
Cost: $0-$150 sliding scale for each workshop. Please self-assess your payment and consider your means when deciding what to pay.
Registration: Registration is required. Please register as soon as possible and no later than Monday the 12th of September.
Facilitation team: Tim Howard and Tanya Newman
For more information and to register, please contact Tanya Newman at education@kotare.org.nz or phone 02102769112.

we the people

2011-08-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

I am excited. It is about something new that I am learning. For some time I have been searching for a way that allows every voice within a community to be heard. I think I have found it! I am just at the beginning of the discovery, but I have a gut feeling that this is going to be significant.

The Sumner Community Group which has been doing great things in their community since the earthquakes, sent out an open invitation to meet John Buck. They sent the podcast link with Kim Hill interviewing John Buck on National Radio.

I wanted to be there.
Jacinda (one of the other Lyttel town bloggers) and I went.
The meeting was just for one hour – in that time Manfred Friedrich whose firm was sponsoring John Buck trip here introduced the concept and John ran an exercise with us using the methodology. I was hooked.

I’ve had this experience before in my life where you hear something, don’t fully understand it, but you know you have to follow through and learn more. So as I write this blog entry I am aware that I am quite naïve on the subject of Dynamic Governance or Sociocracy, but I am hungry to learn more.

As I read ‘We the People; consenting to a deeper democracy’ I can see why a lot of what we do in Project Lyttelton works so well – we are already engaged in a form of sociocracy. We could develop this far more. Often we haven’t exactly known why what we are doing works, this sociocracy explains why and also shows us how it is possible for us as an organisation to become even more successful by tapping into the knowledge, creativity and engagement of all involved.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

lyttel stitches and a giveaway

2011-08-25T16:20:00.000-07:00

The latest edition of extra-curricular is out with an article on the heart stitching that happened here in Lyttelton after the February earthquake. This issue has a stitching focus so the lyttel hearts project and sharing the goodness that happens when people gather together and create is a perfect fit for the "crafting for good" section of this little mag.

A tutorial on making a gorgeous foraging bag by Melissa of tinyhappy is also in the issue.

Perfect for the Spring treasure gathering that is about to begin.

I have a mag to giveaway so leave a comment here and I will draw a winner at the end of the weekend.

This has now closed.

And by the way, Sunday 4th September lyttel stitches will be down at the Petanque club stitching up a whole heap of "hero medals," commemorating the first earthquake that shook these parts a year ago, thinking of those we have lost and celebrating our resilience and shear stickibility.

Have a good weekend people.

Posted by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

Weaving a Timebank a thread at a time

2011-08-25T02:08:00.000-07:00

What is Timebanking?

Time Banking is a way of trading skills in a community. It uses time, rather than money, as the measurement tool. Members of a Time Bank share their skills with other members within the community and are given time credits for the work they do. With the credits they gain, each member can ‘buy' someone else's time, and get the service they need.

With Time Banking everybody's time is equal, no matter what type of work is done. 1 = 1. If you give one hour's work, you receive one hour time credit. If another member does one hour's work for you, they are paid one hour time credit. Every person is equally valued.

Time Banking adds a richness to Time Bankers' lives. As a concept it brings ‘wealth', in the form of friendship, caring for one another, having our needs met from within our own community and getting help with things we can't do.

..........................................................................................................................

Lyttelton has had a Timebank for 5 years now, having grown in this time to 400 members. Below some reflections on the role of TB in Lyttelton, illustrated by July's Timebank activities:

Imagine that every Time Bank transaction is a visible thread connecting two people.

All around Lyttelton threads are being spun by people cooking dinner for each other because someone in the family is sick or by driving each other to health care appointments.
One Lytteltonian is sitting in his garage fixing a broken gazebo.
A family with young children have gone for a fun afternoon to learn how to jazz up their clothes by felting designs on them.
A couple of women have rolled up their sleeves to dig through all the bags and boxes of garage sale items donated, to get the space ready for the next sale.
Slowly a fine lace work of threads is hovering over Lyttelton, connecting not only neighbours, but also people in different parts of Lyttelton. After every Time Bank trade two strangers have become two trading-buddies, another bit of community building has happened.

In the weeks and days leading up to the Festival of Lights, Time Bankers hunker down to plan the event, liaise with stall holders, get permits, posters, entertainers organised, cook up soups and juices for sale. On the night dozens of Time Bankers turn up to collect rubbish, manage the road blocks, organise the masked parade, work fundraising stalls, paint faces of children and float candle wishes for Lyttelton. In only one night, the threads of Time Bank connection have multiplied into a gauzy spider web, spanning more and more of Lyttelton, even ensnaring some Christchurch people.

The next day it's back to normal in the Lyttelton Timebank office. Telephone calls and emails pour in from individuals and groups who want to start a Time Bank in their corner of New Zealand. Leaflets and emails get send with information, hours are spent on the phone listening, advising and encouraging people in Upper Hutt, Rangitikai, Kapiti Coast, Levin and other places. Those Time Bank threads shoot out of the phone, connecting people across the islands.

Next an invitation to a Time Bank Conference in Providence, Rhode Island, USA, drops into the computer-inbox. Every two years a four day World Time Bank Conference takes place in August. Sixty Time Banks from across America, from Chile to Canada, Israel to Taiwan, Spain to New Zealand are invited. On offer are workshops on a wide variety of subjects : 'Time Banks and faith-based organisations', 'Research and data evaluation in Time Banking', 'Youth Court and mentoring for success'. Ideas from Time Banks around the world will be discussed and aired. I like the new initiative from a London Time Bank: Time Bankers get vetted and trained to become 'commuter tutors' to teach skills to other timebankers during the many hours a London resident spends on the train travelling to and away from work. Over a hundred people have already enrolled in the program!

Timebank collage activity on Lyttelton London Street: 'Joy'

We hope that by the time the next Timebank Conference comes around some timebankers from New Zealand will be able to attend. But for now more threads have been catapulted right across the globe.

written by Bettina Evans.

This article has appeared in similar format in the July edition of the Akaroa MAil

Lyttelton's electric cargo bike

2011-08-22T03:16:00.000-07:00

Sometime before the hot topic was earthquakes, Project Lyttelton had the forethought to fund an electric cargo bike project. At the time the idea was to use it to assist people in Lyttelton, particularly the elderly, to make use of the delivery service to get their Farmer's Market goodies back home up the hill, and thus avoid driving their cars to the market to shop. We managed a few test runs on Saturday mornings, and things were looking good.

The bike proved its worth in the weeks after the February earthquake. It was used to deliver food parcels all over the steep streets, and to deliver prescriptions from the pharmacy. An electric bike could go where cars couldn't, as many streets were partially blocked by debris. And lots of people were riding out the aftershocks at home and could not have made it down to the shops or civil defence centre. Lyttelton was reasonably isolated at this time, so using the cargo bike meant people could conserve petrol.

Now, some of you may be interested in the nuts and bolts of it. The prototype bike was handbuilt by Josh Harris of pedalOn mobile bicycle services, using part of an old adult bike frame, part of a child's bike frame and some steel tubing from a washing line manufacturer. It was adapted to its current electric form by the addition of an electric motor and battery unit from The Electric Bicycle Company. The battery is a 10 amp hour lithium ion and can be charged from either mains or solar power. At full charge it lasts for up to 30 km. There are two batteries available that can be interchanged to allow continuous use. The gear ratios are sufficient to get up even the steepest streets in Lyttelton, and are capable of carrying quite a load (two bales of pea straw are the biggest so far!).

Project Lyttelton is now looking for a working group to take the prototype bike to the next level. If you have an interest in electric or cargo bikes, please get in touch with Josh. Ideas for future incarnations of the cargo bike might be something like these European examples:

Future use of the cargo bike could include deliveries from the Farmer's Market, pharmacy, supermarket, Lyttel Piko, garden supplies, pizza, fish'n'chips, moving house:

Written by Jodi Rees

Thoughts on What Could Be and What Already Exists

2011-08-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I find myself dreaming away…envisioning what could be of this community and what we can create for future generations.

We can enrich the community through local food systems. What if we had a system where we mapped out where all the fruit trees were and had volunteers/time bankers going around and harvesting it all? What if we could Spin Farm (Small Plot Intensive) certain parts of the land? What if we had a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm? What if we had market gardens right here in Lyttelton? What if we had festivals celebrating abundance of produce, tomatoes. plums, pears, or one of my favorites, black boy peaches? What if we had a Co-op Restaurant that the excess flowed into? Sound like a dream? Well, now this is becoming a reality with the funding that Project Lyttelton has recently secured.

Now I know to achieve this level of abundance it is going to take a master plan, a diversity of systems working together, time, teamwork and development. This is all very exciting!

For my family and I after the earthquake the three best things were food that we had growing in our garden, our immediate neighbors, and the community of Lyttelton. The earthquake may have destroyed a lot, but our food was still growing without a problem. Imagine not having to go to the super market, just to the garden to get what you need. It definitely saved us from going out into crazy Christchurch for a while and even more importantly we were still eating really well. Our neighbors even shared food from their garden with us. Imagine that sense of security amongst all of the chaos. We all checked on each other making sure we each had the basics water, food, and more or less a safe shelter. Our neighbors brought us flour, we made them bread. They brought us black boy peaches and we made them black boy peach jam. The night of the February quake we went and camped on the grassy as we were afraid to be in our house and felt safe with the people, the community. That night people played music and sang all night, which helped to drown out the aftershocks and gave out the vibe that everything was going to be all right. This sense of community is deeply felt here in Lyttelton.

For more about SPIN Farming.

A video example of a beautiful CSA in the USA.

Written By: Christy Martin

community garden Spring film series.

2011-08-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Lyttelton Community Garden

presents

The Spring Film Series.

I know, I know. Spring isn't here yet, as the title of the film series suggests,

but I am optimistic by nature and I know for sure, it will come.

Lyttelton Community Garden, The Portal, 54a Oxford St, Lyttelton

(up driveway between playground and Pool)

Monday evenings, 22 August - 19 September.

6pm: shared dinner for those who wish.

7pm : film screening.

Monday 22nd August
DIRT! THE MOVIE (80 minutes duration)
A film which is a call to action.: This film tells you the story of the Earth's
most valuable & underappreciated source of fertility & takes you inside the
wonders of soil. "When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything
changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt & humans has
been intimately linked."

Monday 29th August
VANDANA SHIVA: The Future of Food & Seed (60 minutes duration)
Worldrenowned scientist, feminist, ecologist & author presenting the
keynote address at Organicology in Portland, Oregon in 2009.

Monday 5 September
THE ECONOMICS OF HAPPINESS(65 minutes duration)
The approaching energy crisis will force a revolution in farming practices & will
affect what we eat, where it comes from & even whether there will be enough
to keep us fed. Follow Rebecca Hosking as she goes about changing her family
farm to be fit for the future.

Monday 12th September
THE VANISHING OF THE BEES (90 minutes duration)
Honeybees have been mysteriously disappearing across the planet, literally
vanishing from their hives. Filming across the US, in Europe, Australia & Asia,
this documentary examines the alarming disappearance of honeybees & the
greater meaning it holds about the relationship between humanity and mother
earth. As scientists puzzle over the cause, organic beekeepers indicate alterna
tive reasons for this tragic loss. Conflicting options abound & after years of
research, a definitive answer has not been found to this harrowing mystery.

Monday 19th September
BACKYARD HIVE (1 hour, 25 minutes)
Become a bee guardian. This evening is especially for those people who are
interested in alternative beekeeping using the Top Bar hive in your backyard
or in your community garden.
Everyone welcome.

enjoying the seasons.

2011-08-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Are we masochists?
Early in the week I noticed some excitement in the air as the weather forecast predicted a significant snow storm.
I wondered how many challenges we are able to face.
Would the power remain on? Would we keep warm?
But since the earthquakes an NGO in Christchurch has been providing ‘snuggle sacks’ for older people to keep them warm as some of our houses are not as draft proof as they were.
I’m in that age group, so I have a snuggle sack to keep me warm. I’m told I shouldn’t be seen in it, but who cares, it keeps me cosy – especially at the computer.
A month ago when it snowed for the first time this winter, I enjoyed watching and listening to young people take advantage of the new environment immediately as the snow fell. They snow boarded down Lyttelton’s steep streets, their voices heard in the eerie black and white stillness.
They did it again this time around. One of few benefits of living on steep streets.
I simply relaxed and kept warm; I had a stack of books from the library, knitting I wanted to do and entertainment provided by snowboarders that I watch from my newly double glazed window.
So no, I don’t think I am a masochist, but a lover of changing scenes, situations and challenges.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

...round and round and round...

2011-08-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

The humble Kiwi garage sale can take on many forms, and has been adapted to great use in Lyttelton: For about a year now Project Lyttelton has run a garage sale most Saturdays in an unpainted, unheated, badly lit breeze block garage, obviously nothing fancy, but workable. It is situated close to the craft market and the Farmer's market, so all three benefit from each other by drawing different crowds and more people overall.

Like everything in Lyttelton, the garage sale has been influenced by the earthquake. In the weeks and months after the earthquakes, when people had to tidy up their 'munted' houses, the garage sale often was at the receiving end of those clear-outs. Many people felt really good about getting rid of the accumulated 'stuff' that seems to accumulate in houses over time. There were a few weeks where so much stuff was donated, that we were unable to run a garage sale, because every square centimeter was filled with boxes, bags, furniture, suitcases, baskets and containers of donated goods.

After a few weeks of hectic activities, organising a small garden shed to store all new goods and sorting through all the donations, we have started trading again. We became quite ruthless with sorting out donations, partly because our space to display and store items is very limited. That meant that every week we were able to donate one small pick-up truck full of superfluous items to a local charity barn.

The garage sale is manned by Timebank volunteers. We have a very committed group of people who are regulars and a few 'newbies' now and then. The groups receiving the money are expected to have some volunteers present also. They can can lend a helping hand while talking to customers about the group or project they are involved in.

What do we sell? Like any garage sale it depends entirely what people drop off. in the weeks after the earthquake we received an amazing variety of goods: a local chef donated her cake tins in amazing shapes and sizes, from tiny to huge; there were local treasures such as 'Godley House' beer tankards (Godley was a historic homestead in Diamond Harbour, hosting a lovely restaurant and bar, which had to be destroyed after the earthquake) and cocktail shakers, and a whole set of Japanese paper fans, lanterns and paper umbrellas (from another restaurant?).

Everyone in Lyttelton lost at least some crockery and pottery in the earthquake and some unlucky people lost everything. The only op-shop and supermarket in Lyttelton were closed and trips to town were very nerve- wrecking in the weeks after the earthquake as roads were damaged, everyone was afraid of more severe aftershocks and most shops this side of Christchurch were closed. In a lucky stroke of fate, business at the garage sale roared, people being happy to buy locally and even discerning house-keepers bought 'second-best' pottery, because Lytteltonians had become fatalistic and realistic enough to know that more quakes were going to happen.

And what about the money generated? The first few garage sales were all fund-raisers for the Lyttelton Timebank. But after the earthquakes we decided to run the sales in aid of different community groups. Every individual and every charitable organisation in Lyttelton had suffered, either through loss of housing and work space or through people leaving or losing jobs, and through this being unable to continue helping out. The following groups have profited from the garage sale, and we are always looking for more local groups:

Radio Volcano, a local community radio station
the Sea Scouts
The Plunket Toy Library and
the newly established Lyttelton Petanque Club, a Gapfiller project.
the Lyttelton Community garden,
the Lyttelton Youth House,
the Lyttelton eARThquake therapy initiative

While there is always a Timebank volunteer at the sales, the groups receiving the money are expected to have some volunteers present also. They can can lend a helping hand as well as being able to talk to customers about the group or project they are involved in.

So not only the pre-loved goods go round and round the community, but also the money,- what could be better?

written by Bettina Evans

Shared office space in Lyttelton – not just a dream

2011-08-08T02:32:00.000-07:00

Many of our work situations have changed dramatically since February. Businesses have moved from the city centre to more industrial zones or closed permanently, public transport routes are different, congestion on the roads has increased, and cycle routes are in some cases more treacherous because of both increased traffic and earthquake-damaged road surfaces. Many of us have been forced to come up with new ways to meet work expectations. Working at home is now more common as people choose to put up with the challenges of working in isolation as they exercise choice about where they spend their days.

Back in March I wrote a small piece in our local paper, the Lyttelton News, about the idea of a shared office here in Lyttelton for people who had flexible work arrangements and who would prefer to work on this side of the hill. There was plenty of interest, and a group formed to discuss needs, timeframes and visions. The drivers for me in this include: wanting to be near my 2 year old son who is cared for at home while I work part-time; building community; and making new connections in my home town.

Now the dream of sharing office space is about to become reality. Starting this week, a small group from diverse backgrounds (ecology, telecommunications, and cycling) are sharing an office on London Street, with plans to refine the setup and evolve over time.We were keen to just get started, to show people that there are few barriers. This project is building on the culture of possibility that Lyttelton is famous for. We will keep each other company while at the same time providing a professional work space. We will help revitalise our town centre by just being there. The aim is for this to be a long term arrangement, with possibilities for accommodating a wide variety of work needs. Right now the shared office provides desk space, wireless internet, phone and printing capabilities. Future space may also include workshops, or any other element that we figure out we need. It's even looking like there will be more than one shared office as interest grows.

Now is the time to have input into the plans of property owners that are considering rebuilding. Imagine a purpose-built shared office in the heart of Lyttelton! Once again the earthquakes provide us with the opportunity to think about a new way of being.

Written by Jodi Rees

In Steps Towards a More Sustainable Pantry - Chicken

2011-08-05T18:52:00.000-07:00

We are always trying to find or create the best way of doing things with the food that we buy. In that I mean with the least amount of waste whether it be calculated in food miles, packaging or straight up waste that goes into the bin.

We are meat eaters, however, ever so conscious in what we buy. We want to know where our food has come from, who has grown/produced it and in what way. We feel that asking these questions about our food is crucial to helping create a better food system and making a conscious decision about who and what we support with our dollar.

We are all about supporting the local community when it comes to our food. On Saturday we went down to the Lyttelton Farmers Market and purchased a fresh size 24 free-range chicken from Westwood Chicken. Antibiotic and hormone free, predominately grass fed. We found out that this chicken was grown for 63 days where as the shop owner said they are normally grown for 50+ days and where the brand Tegel’s normal chicken growth is around 36 days.

Now Giulio will demonstrate how to portion a chicken. Maybe something that seems quite simple or hard. Whatever it is to you hopefully you can learn something new.

Written by Christy Martin

A link to Giulio's Blog : http://giuliosturla.wordpress.com/

mindful rebuilding

2011-08-04T02:35:00.000-07:00

Thich Nhat Hanh the Vietnamese Buddhist teacher has said that: “…The next Buddha may take the form of a community – a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.”

Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton, speaks about this idea and wonders aloud if we simply consider this possibility, how would that change the way we go about being who we are? How would that show up in us as we move forward in putting the buildings back up in our community?
I am amazed and awed by this idea and it is one that for me the opportunity to move more towards understanding and less towards what I think I know already. As we move towards the future, the way we move forward in the present is perhaps the most important thing that we will do.
Perhaps this will be our way of being the Buddha. Who knows?
In reality, I don’t think knowing really matters. What does matter is having the faith that how I think about this guides me in how I interact and how I support others as our ideas emerge from the dust.

I have been passionately advocating for a process that builds our ownership of our own healing through our rebuilding - perhaps I need to listen more and support more and remember that my own understanding will be flawed?
How would loving kindness and mindfulness be in me? And what would that mean to my community? I have no answers to these questions. As usual they are just questions and thoughts that come to my mind and then I play them out as best as I can.
What I am clear about is that community is something that I think many of us have been looking for to answer some of our questions, our longings, and that this is an opportunity to find some answers. They may not be answers as we know them – they may simply be more questions.

festival time

2011-08-01T04:26:00.000-07:00

We had been waiting for a while for this festival.

Postponed back in June due to the earth shaking, the town still needed a chance to celebrate and the light returning still seemed like the most appropriate reason.

Apparently so did half of Christchurch; last Friday night the streets of Lyttelton heaved with frivolity and celebration.

And that's exactly as it should be.

The year has been a tough one for many in this shaky town.

Tough, and yet such deep veins of sweetness have been uncovered.

It felt good; the masked parade, the fireworks, the buskers and dancing in the rain to good, homegrown music.

It felt good too to have all the currently homeless businesses back out on the pavement, once again inhabiting the streets of our town .

Many thought of those people we have lost.

Many peered into the spaces where, not too long ago, our dearly loved historic buildings stood; gaps illuminated with light shows and sculpture.

And others asked after those who are still away or waiting to hear about their homes.

And yet the exuberance present at the festival reminded us that what is left, and in fact is thriving in the uncertainty, is the spirit of the people and the strength of the ties that hold us together as a community.

Thanks to local photographer, Gill Taylor for the photography.

Written by Jacinda Giligan, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

filling the gaps

2011-07-28T12:02:00.000-07:00

We all know why we loved Lyttelton's Center before the earthquake: the buildings were slightly down-at heel, but well-loved, full of character, quirky, colourful and all different from each other, a mixture of different ages, styles and materials.

From the first earthquake in September till now the center of town seemed on a slow downward slide of destruction. But I also feel we have reached the very bottom and are on our way up. Keep on reading...

Since September, building after building succumbed to increasing damage, which worsened in February and with all the aftershocks, and led to the demise and complete collapse of many of them. We mourned by attaching stitched hearts to everyone in Lyttelton and decorating the fences around the buildings with hearts, messages and colurful buntings.
The next phase were trucks, diggers, cranes, and the medieval wrecking ball, finishing off the job, and ' tidying up' the sites by removing every last brick and plank of the past, leaving behind clinically scrubbed sites, neatly filled with fine gravel and levelled off, leaving behind a scar in the fabric of the town, a ' black hole' with no asssocciation of what was there before or what the future will bring. In this phase the decorated fences were shifted and moved, all that was left was grey metal and dust.

The next phase involved a lot of 'cloak-and-dagger-antics': brave people scaled the cordoned fences at night and erected memorials: white wooden crosses with the date of the earthquake appeared on all the sites one morning, leaving some people uneasy with their connotation of death. When they were gone a mysterious structure of a small black, fabric clad house structure appeared on the site of the HarbourLight Theatre. One person I talked to said that it glowed at night! This has been replaced with three beautiful totem-like posts, spelling out in nautical flag-language a line of a poem by James K. Baxter, to coincide with NZ poetry day, built and painted by Trent Hiles.

Last week for me was the turning point, the first step up out of this deep valley! 'Gap-Filler' (www.gapfiller.org.nz) had come to town and with two dozen people the old 'Ground Delicatessen' site has been transformed. Seats and tables were constructed on site from wooden pallets, a rough-ish petanque course was laid down, eq bricks were re-used as as stepping stones to the stage (!), rocks from a stone-wall form the edge of a plant bed. There was a bbq with Trent Hiles (one of the shifters and movers) at the helm, there were tins with home baking, and most important of all people: to cart, rake, dig, haul, sand, carry, laugh, talk and eat together. It was great being there and talking about the future: about weekly events that could happen there, children's activities, talks, exercise classes, concerts, gardening, crafts activities,- whatever we dream up!

The Lyttelton Petanque Club Launch

Sunday 31 July, 12-3pm

Live music, poetry and pentanque

Bring a plate of food, some drinks to share and a potted plant.

Also last week the Eq- townplanners presented their plans how Lyttelton could look in the future, based on ideas presented by the public in the last few months. Besides other things the plans suggested a garden on top of the library with views towards the sea, a space for the Lyttelton Art Collective and an open, green gathering space in the middle of Lyttelton.

written by Bettina Evans

plans

2011-07-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

This community development project – looking at creating food security within the Harbour Basin by means of a co-operative model continues to buzz me big time!

What abundance is cascading in as the creative minds pool their imaginings for the project. I am engrossed with the vision aspect of the whole project, but I am also mindful of the finer detail.

Let me explain more…
It is great wisdom I believe to look to nature to see how she does things – she has multiple solutions on many levels for particular situations. So to achieve food security, food production needs to be on both a larger scale and on the micro scale and everywhere in between!

I am thinking, “How will I, personally – my household, at the micro level, contribute to food security?” I hesitate to call myself a gardener, just as I would hesitate to call myself an artist or a musician because entrenched beliefs held deep in my body say you can only be called these things when you are an expert. I am in the process of debunking these limiting beliefs! And besides I digress. I am a gardener!

My garden is getting more and more productive. I am playing with possibilities as to how I can add to local food production. Maybe I can link to OOOOBY or create something similar and co-ordinate the sharing/distribution of my produce – even small amounts.

Winter is an ideal time to get lots tidied up in the garden to increase this production I dream of. I like to use what I have to hand. The earthquakes, devastating as they are, do have some up sides! A small retaining concrete block wall on my property failed. It is now propped up, but the people who did the propping up took off all the capping blocks that were on the wall and stacked them up along the path. Well, I have found a great use for them. One garden bed now has edges. Another little step in making my garden more productive.

The baths that were perched up by the retaining wall have been brought down to the house level and I am now dreaming this year of a huge crop of strawberries at my door.

I am told that my house (concrete block) will be re-clad. I have already started to talk about using those blocks – strengthened with rebar and concrete (something the previous one didn’t have) to terrace the top part of my property so I can access fruit trees and other potentials on small parcels of flat land. I am planning on getting a cutting from the community garden’s thornless blackberry to cover part of the new wall. Maybe too I can give the hens a holiday every now and again in a hillside terrace version of a chicken tractor.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

bags not

2011-07-22T17:19:00.000-07:00

Earthquakes don't only crack open the earth they also have the ability to crack open our hearts and minds. A lot of wonderful and heart warming things have happened in Christchurch and Lyttelton in response to the earthquake.

One area that has pulled the short straw though has been the environment: every day hundreds of trucks rumble into Lyttelton and disgorge building rubble straight into the water of our harbour; hundreds of old buildings are being destroyed, in the process releasing asbestos, lead paint particles and other chemicals into the air. Every one of the major earthquakes/aftershocks we experienced were over in leass than a minute, but the debris created by the destruction of large parts of the city equals the amount of rubbish that Christchurch usually produces in 20 years.

This makes depressing reading, but we can always come up with positive ideas to counteract this, even if small.
While a lot of the shops, including the supermarket, are still closed on London Street , now might be the time to re-ignite an idea that has been floating around for years: Plastic-bag- free Lyttelton.

A lot has been done overseas to tackle plastic bags:
• Plastic bags are not available in Germany any more unless they are fully biodegradable.
• Ireland and Taiwan both reduced plastic bag usage by more than 90% through a small levy.

There are also a few places in New Zealand that have made steps in this direction:
• Collingwood in Golden Bay is NZ's first plastic-bag free town. Zero Waste funding was gained from Tasman Council for an educational programme including cloth bag painting in all of the Golden Bay schools. The first 1000 bags were handed out to every car entering Collingwood. Following that, surprise visits from the 'Good Green Fairy" rewarded shoppers using their own shopping containers with wonderful donated prizes. http://plasticshoppingbagfree.org.nz
• Waitakere City Council is the first council in NZ whose goal it is to be plastic bag free. Their website gives tips for both customers and retailers, as it is very important to get businesses onboard. Check out http://www.waitakere.govt.nz/abtcit/ec/bagsnot/index.asp
• Plastic Bag free Kaikoura launched 'Fantastic No Plastic!' with a logo, designed by a local High School student, printed on recyclable bags. A colloboration between council and local businesses meant that 10,000 reusable printed bags were purchased and distributed free to each household and to each primary and high school student at presentations held at the schools. The remainder of the bags are being sold to the community through local businesses at a price of $1.50 each.
• Waikouaiti in Coastal Otago has been busy with the same ideas.

In 2008 Project Lyttelton did a survey at the Farmers Market re. Plastic bag free Lyttelton and over 129 of 165 people asked thought reduction of plastic bags was very important and that they would be happy to pay around $2 for a non-plastic bag if available.
A group of women around Project Lyttelton have sewn dozens of cloth bags in the last few years, mainly used to give away as welcome bags to new Lyttelton residents.

So how can we go forward and turn Lyttelton into another plastic bag free town?

written by Bettina Evans

relocalising economies.

2011-07-15T04:10:00.000-07:00

I often feel grateful for the good life my family has living in Lyttelton.

The rich web of active local economies that exist here mean that we as a four person family can live on a single income comfortably.
We have a quality of life that we wouldn't manage in other places because these human-scaled economies maintain a strong social life here and build healthy, mutually supportive neighbourhoods.
I was reminded of this yesterday.

I spent my day based at home and around this town with my two children as we often do.
We engaged in the myriad of tasks which maintain our household economy, as most of us do on any particular day.
You know most of this list: cook, build, administer healthcare, mend, resolve conflict, grow food, comfort, preserve, make medicine and body products, feed and care for livestock...the list is long.
Although we strive to maintain our household as a unit of production rather than a unit of consumption, none of this counts as part of the "Economy." It's worth however, is obvious and indisputable.

in the morning we picked up firewood from the community garden and took it to a family with a newborn, a request I happened upon on freecycle. Both time and wood was gifted.
Elsewhere in Lyttelton yesterday, the Community House prepared dinner for an armload of people, volunteers organised events, ran the Information Centre, the volunteer fire brigade trained, people took food to their neighbours and others gave food to the community foodbank. These people all took part in the local gift economy.
Gifting is still part of what we do here.

Later in the day as the sun came out the girls and I walked to Cass Bay and along the way foraged some parsley. Foraging could perhaps be a classed as an economy in itself.
You too might contribute to this foraging economy by hunting, fishing, upcycling, and rescuing mislaid treasures from rubbish skips.

That evening we used Timebank to find someone to be with our girls while we went out. The Timebank is embedded into this community's culture and is a network of people who trade services using time credits rather than cash as the currency.
Other less formal elements of a healthy bartering economy are when we trade or swap goods, share seedlings and simply when we return favours to our friends.

A pot-luck dinner preceded the meeting I went out for. Pot-lucks are a brilliant way that Kiwis "do" collective economies, as are consumer co-ops, community land trusts and any other innovative way we figure out how to pool resources. Here in Lyttelton a group called "The Harbour Pool" is innovating new ways in which we can pool and share financial assets without involving crippling interest. This will provide a model for further groups to set up and keep money circulating and benefiting families in the Harbour.

Lastly a thread strengthening this web of localised economies are the business cooperatives that Project Lyttelton is currently investigating. Community-owned cooperatives are primarily created to serve the members and therefore, benefit a broad sweep of the people living in that particular community rather than a comparatively few investors who may live far away.

As we go about our lives we can be unaware of all these different human-scaled economies that we take part in daily and how these positively affect the quality of our lives. These local economies is what keep people alive when they lose their job or their business; it is these local economies that shone through the chaos of late February here in Lyttelton. Naming and valuing all these local economies helps transform our understanding of wealth and reminds us that we are in fact receiving all the time. Antidotes to a sense of scarcity cultivate empowerment in our lives and lift our spirits.

written by Jacinda Gilligan, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

putting the "community" into the garden

2011-07-13T00:34:00.000-07:00

always blessed with a stunning view whatever the weather.

Our community garden has been a source of inspiration, connection, and purpose for me.

We meet together every Wednesday for some digging in the dirt and then we share a meal together. These days it has been more of sharing the meal than the actual gardening and I am just fine with that – for now.

salad greens from the garden - thank goodness for the chickweed right now.

What we share is so treasured that it is the one day that I work my entire schedule around to make sure that I can be there. We share food, stories, lives, hopes, dreams and disappointments and all in the most incredibly open and supporting manner and we focus on ‘possiblity’ instead of things that are not right – that in and of itself makes a huge difference in the tone of our group.
We don’t complain or talk badly of people and new people who come into the group understand that pretty much right away.
We don’t tell them that; they just get it from how things are.
We think of ourselves as ‘chosen’ whanau – not the families we were born into but rather the one we have chosen to be part of as that just feels right.

a range of ages mixing and sharing stories.

We have a core group who have been coming for the last three years – Jacinda and her daughters Ruby and Sky and I all started coming just about the same time.
That was just over 3 years ago.
Jacinda is a great gardener and so she guides us in many things.
She also inspires me to come with an open heart.

knowledge passed down to the children.

I greatly value my relationship with her. For a bit of time she was the coordinator (completely unpaid) for our collection of gardeners but when she moved across the bay, she gave up this role. We discussed a few ideas about someone else taking that role on, but I talked everybody into trying a really flat approach of having no appointed coordinator at all. I really love the way in which we each take up the leadership mantle when we feel strongly about something.
We have tried it this way for a year or so and we find it works pretty well.

chickens integrated into the garden system, scratching up, fertilising and giving us eggs.

I know that we miss things and truthfully our seed sowing this year has been horrible but I also know that when we get our heads back into this, we will be off again. We thought that this Wednesday we should actually focus on either getting seeds sown or planning for the spring sowing – it turns out that we have all pretty much forgotten about sowing.

welcoming all who arrive and pleased to have wee ones in the garden with us.

Today is garden day and I am looking forward to being together. A few of us have been away and so today gives us an opportunity to catch our breaths, breath in together and enjoy being together – silently or noisily however that works out.

We might garden a lot and we might not and for me, that is all ok.

enjoying the seasonal fruits as they last

written by Sarah Van Der Burch

the list

2011-07-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting piece recently which I'd like to write about. It has a connection to our situation in Earthquake Country as it relates to managing or preparing for the stresses and strains that life brings, in so far as one can prepare for these things.
Dr Roger Walsh is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Irvine, and has written about and researched issues around mental health, and health generally for many years. In a piece he has written for the journal American Psuchologist, he points out how 8 simple lifestyle choices can have a profound effect on health, mental and otherwise. His article reviews the research into these issues and makes some telling points.

Looking at the list of lifestyle choices, you would think that its largely a matter of common sense and whats the big deal? Yet Dr Walsh states that only 10% of health professionals recommend these activities to their patients and thats because they themselves do some or all of them. Here are the 8.

Exercise
Nutrition
Nature
Relationships/community
Recreation
Relaxation
Religion/meditation
Service

He goes on to say that the benefits of healthy forms of the above are grossly underestimated by health professionals and in the culture at large. These benefits have an impact on a host of conditions and ailments. Using indicators such as depression, prevention of illness, quality of life, and an extended life span, the research shows what an impact these 8 lifestyle practices could have on the health system.and on peoples lives. There is evidence that they have a positive effect on prostate cancer, reversing some heart disease, and can be as effective as medication and psychotherapy in managing depression. A further advantage is that they encourage people to take more control over their own health. Yet, it seems this kind of approach to health is largely ignored by the majority of health professionals.

We who have been through recent earthquakes are perhaps more acutely aware of the kinds of consequences that such crises produce; fear and anxiety, depression, mental health symptoms and even early death, especially in older people.All this is understandable and we are all subject to one or other of these kinds of conditions. It seems to me that quite apart from natural disasters, it makes sense to consider these lifestyle options as a means of managing life itself. Then as crises come and go through life, we would be better prepared for the ups and downs.

Written by guest writer, John Cardwell

out of the chaos

2011-07-06T03:27:00.000-07:00

Out of the midst of chaos, destruction and a certain flatness of spirit wrought by the earthquakes, leaps a flame that is igniting a number of us. The flame is ready to spread like wildfire all around the community.

The potential isolation of this Lyttelton Harbour community highlighted by road and tunnel closures at the hands of the earthquake, is catalyzing our understanding and experience of what communities world wide will face as the present trends of climate change and peak oil play out.
We have an insight of what isolation can mean for a community. Currently it is the earth that is doing this to us. Later, as it will be for many communities world wide, as we move along the downward slope of Hubbert’s peak oil graph, it will be the lack of cheap fuel that will isolate us.

Oil is present in everything we eat! It’s in the form of fertiliser, fuel for farm machinery and in the transportation of food to our dinner plate.
I have been looking at the idea of food security for some time – at how we might address this issue in our community and the community of the Lyttelton Harbour Basin.
Now because of our increased awareness of our vulnerability we are ready to take some action.

A form of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is an answer. A CSA adapted to our particular needs that links all levels of food production from farms, to community gardens, to home gardens, to planted public spaces. Our production needs to be local and organic for our community to survive any isolation and to start to thrive.

This CSA will run as a co-operative. As the co-operative gains momentum and the number of stakeholders increases, the community business could expand into other services as well. Basically the community will be creating wealth for itself. (Remember wealth is derived from the meaning ‘well being’). Profits will be reinvested into this community. The community sector with this entrepreneurial arm will become significant for the economic vibrancy of this area. Our culture is shifting from ’I’ solutions to ‘we’ solutions; thinking more collectively.

Well, with the agreement of the Project Lyttelton Board I completed a weighty funding application to the Community Development Scheme to make such a dream possible.

Our application was successful!

Now we are at the beginning of a whole new adventure.

This Sunday (10 July) all those I have already shared the idea with and who are excited by the project are meeting to broaden and deepen the vision.

Written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton.

meeting country

2011-06-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

Besides being Earthquake Country Lyttelton aswell as the whole of Canterbury has become Meeting Country:

meetings about rebuilding ( Where? Preserve old? Destroy old? Re-create old?Make new buildings look old? Who will do it? Who will plan it ? Who will control it? Who will control the planning? Who will plan the controlling?),
meetings about geology (Why earthquakes here? Why not in Wellington? When is an earthquake an aftershock and an aftershock an earthquake? Is a 5.4 quake 45km deep the same size than a 4.5 quake 4.5km deep?Can I buy shares in geonet?),
support-groups for people in red-stickered houses, people living in the red zone and for people with red faces,
meetings for people in affected suburbs, in the CBD, or made homeless through quakes,
business meetings,
and possibly meetings for people who are sick of talking about earthquakes!

After an initial enthusiasm with huge turn outs everywhere I sense a bit of meeting-weariness at the moment. But on on Monday night I attended the inaugural Lyttelton Arts Collective meeting, and I am glad I went: it was chaired by Trent Hiles, Lyttelton teacher, organiser and artist, and Elfi Spiewack, a Lyttelton silversmith (originally from Germany).

Elfi's jewellery's workshop, situated in the Magma gallery, went down with the February earthquake. While first feeling understandably downcast by this, Elfi then went into action to make her vision come true: create a place for Lyttelton artists and the community to celebrate art, become engaged in art and enjoy all the different facets of art.

The mood of the meeting was buzzy, music from the belly-dancing class next door lent an exotic flair, great ideas were thrown around: design ideas ranged from re-using existing warehouses to pyramid, whare and waka shaped buildings. Earthships were also mentioned. Besides the expected ideas of cinema, theatre, music, studios and galleries, other suggestions included running art competitions, having annual stone-symposiums, creating courtyards and spaces for outdoor art and swapping artists with arts centers in other countries.

Not ones to sit around and waste time, Elfie and Trent were off today to meet with the Christchurch Council to share ideas from the meeting and discuss practicalities such as available land and spaces, possible funding etc.

While the destruction of the Magma gallery by the earthquake gave Elfie the push to start down this path, the idea of the Arts Collective spans time and space : Art and community go together like earthquakes and liquefaction, like Harbour Union music and tapping feet, like a giant London Street Dairy icecream and a brain freeze, like Joe Bennet and his dog, like a stitched heart on a Lyttelton chest: they belong together.

Written by Bettina Evans.

love in a little town

2011-06-27T22:25:00.001-07:00

A beautiful short film about the love and the embrace of our town.

It captures the essentials about this place and the reason why most of us couldn't think of any other place we would rather be.

Thanks James.
If you like the film please vote for it here and you can read more about James the filmmaker here.

Love in a Little Town from James Muir on Vimeo.

posted by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

2011-06-27T22:22:00.000-07:00

This is what I like to term "My Spot". This place has a way of restoring my body and soul.
This place does not belong to me and is one of the many lovely restful places so close to us all here in the harbour.
Lately I have taken to the outdoors as a way of renewing my faith in Mother Nature like many of you who will have been thrown off balance by the quake.
She is no disappointment. Far from it.
In a few minutes I walk down to where there is no traffic, no buildings or walls, just the sweet smell of Winter closing in and the glorious expanse of still waters and statuesque hills.
It never ceases to amaze me with it's infinite beauty and life giving abundance, how the renewing vibrations seep into me every time.
I give thanks for being so lucky to live here and to be able to enjoy and appreciate Mother Nature's Gifts.
How lucky are we really?

Have pride in where you live and enjoy it.
It only takes a few minutes and you can be walking around the hillside through a wooded track.
Or listening to the gentle lapping of the water on the beach while the early winter sun glistens and sparkles it's reflections.
Take time to lose your thoughts , meditate or reflect while enjoying Nature's gifts.
Use this time to regain some faith in Mother Nature and gain perspective.
Gather your strength from the resilience of Nature.

written by Camille O'Donoghue

celebrating anyway

2011-06-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

After Monday's further major shakes, there is a lot of brokenness here in Lyttelton as you can see here and here.

There is sadness and loss.

There is also a continuation of trying to imagine a future with such unstable ground.

One thing that isn't broken though is our community spirit and with Matariki and Winter Solstice upon us and the Festival of Lights postponed, a good local crowd decided to gather and celebrate anyway.

Friends had already bought ingredients for a warming chai tea and had organised a yurt to put up on the old Ground site. Music folk from The Harbour Union played and everyone rejoiced to see a bunch of us stitching hearts and came and joined in.

These two young women held down the fort serving up warming chai and love.

The lovely Paige, local belly-dancing goddess brought delicious cakes to share with families. She confessed it had been a personal therapy to get through these shaky times; an ancient way for women dealing with crisis.

We all encouraged her to continue this particular therapy and share the results.

Community therapy through baking and eating

Music, chai and community togetherness was served up into the evening.

With much of every new day uncertain at the moment, living in a loving, creative and resilient community is the certainty I stand firm upon right now.

Written by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

festival of the lights

2011-06-05T15:33:00.000-07:00

Masked parade - everyone welcome to join in. Begins at the Recreation Centre. Gather from 5.30pm
Stalls, food and drink.
Performers from The Loons and others.
Homegrown musicians:

Amiria Grenell, Unfaithful Ways,
The Eastern, Lindon Puffin and others.

Always a great night.

This year in particular we all have good reason to gather together and celebrate the shift towards the light again.

See you there.

crying

2011-06-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

I cry frequently these days.
Not a full blown cry but the welling up of tears that then flow down my cheeks. It causes people to stare a bit and sometimes ask if I am alright.
When they hear I am from Christchurch, they seem to agree that this response makes sense.
I don’t cry necessarily because I am sad as much as because it seems to be what my body and soul require to keep myself ‘righted’. It typically begins by hearing that someone has done something thoughtful and encouraging for someone else – particularly in response to supporting us here in Christchurch or those folks in Japan who seem so indelibly linked to us right now. I don’t feel that it is bad to cry – not at all, it feels as though I am honouring the situation that my family, my community and others like us have are facing .
It also comes from some deep inner feeling of being blessed to have survived and to feel so cared for by others in this world. I feel touched that out of their busy lives they put so much effort into ensuring that we have something more to hold onto and to remind us that we are not alone.
How could that not touch my heart?

Posted by Sarah van der Burch

the cooperative.

2011-06-04T02:08:00.000-07:00

The cooperative movement began in Europe in the 19th century as a response to the industrial revolution and the threat that mechanisation of labour had had on people's livelihoods but has just as much relevance in the economic and social climate we find ourselves today.

As communities world-wide grapple with possible far reaching consequences of climate change and peak oil, the carbon footprint of communities are put under the microscope and solutions are sought on how to reinvigorate and strengthen local community's . The term "localisation" encompasses a range of strategies for building resilience and self-sufficiency in communities.

For instance, looking at ways to localise as much of it's food production as possible minimises a communities food miles, cuts transport costs in the food we buy and maintains local control and security for as much of that community's food needs as possible. Another example is creating community work spaces so that we have facilities for people whose work allows them to remain in the community during the day. This prevents "suburbia syndrome" in which communities are left empty during the day as people leave to work in other places. Instead it invigorates the health and well-being of a community and keeps people connected to where they live.

Cooperatives can be part of a community's resilience.

A cooperative is an association of people who have come together voluntarily in a jointly-owned and democratically controlled business to meet the economic and social needs and aspirations of a certain community. It is based on values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity.

Imagine the residents of Lyttelton being shareholders in a network of local cooperative businesses.

Imagine local members of these cooperatives deciding on what businesses are priorities for this community and being employed to manage and run these businesses.

Imagine the economic benefits of owning these businesses locally, sharing these benefits with the broad base of resident members and keeping the money circulating within this community.

As we look toward the future for Lyttelton we need imagination and courage to find solutions to our current situation which will also set the foundation for our strength and resilience in the future.

If you are interested in reading more about coopratives check out www.ica.coop, www.nz.coop and this interesting article.

imaginal cells

2011-05-31T14:33:00.000-07:00

The February 22 earthquake has catapulted us into different times.

Suddenly we find ourselves on a new path; a new Lyttelton is about to emerge.

Nature shows us how this emerging process happens.
Look at how the caterpillar metamorphoses into a butterfly. Understand the role of the imaginal cells.

The Imaginal Cell Story

Adapted from Nori Huddle

The caterpillar’s new cells are called ‘Imaginal cells’.

They are so totally different from the caterpillar cells that his immune system

thinks they are enemies…and gobbles them up…

But these new imaginal cells continue to appear faster and faster!

Pretty soon, the caterpillar’s immune system cannot destroy them fast enough.

Then an amazing thing happens!

The imaginal cells start to clump together.

They all resonate together at the same frequency.

The clumps of imaginal cells start to connect,

passing information from one to another.

This web suddenly realizes all together

that it is something wonderfully different from the caterpillar.

They have become a butterfly!

Each new butterfly cell can take on a different job.

There is something for everyone to do.

Everyone is important.

Each cell begins to do just that very thing it is most drawn to do.

Every other cell encourages it to do just that.

Are you an imaginal cell?

Written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

thinking as a community

2011-05-23T12:35:00.000-07:00

"There is no personal enlightenment.
Awakening occurs only in the activity of loving relationship."
-source unknown

Self-sufficiency, the term, is bandied around quite a bit these days.

I guess I just don't quite get people's thinking around it.

Don't get me wrong; I am committed to growing as much of our food as possible for our family, preserving the surplus, making as much from scratch as possible or recycling, upcycling or just doing without.

In a nutshell, keeping our home and family as a unit of production rather than of consumption.

But self-sufficiency has never been our goal.

Self-sufficiency surely is an illusion.

We live in a community with others and are part of the awesome web of life on this planet.

There is no me without you; there is no self separate from the whanau of others.

And so when we think about future-proofing the way we live we inevitably think about the community in which we live.

We practice thinking as a community.

(All photos taken while at our local Farmer's Market recently.)

For example, we live in a village which faces in the main southwards.

Not ideal growing conditions here in the Southern Hemishere, so when we look at food production as a community, we think about how we can design the community as a whole on permaculture principles.
We imagine dividing the village into microclimate zones so as to grow suitable crops for the particular climate of each backyard and sharing out the harvest.
When we get excited about becoming kaitiaki for honey bees we think of people in the community sponsoring the care of village beehives for the benefit of everyone.
When we think about the local economy, we think about an economy that will support everyone in the community not just line the pockets of a few. We barter where we can, we support the Timebank and we investigate cooperative ownership of business and land.
And when we think about growing our children, we look to our village and all the wisdom and skills embedded there and we rely on this to be the foundation upon which our children can grow safe and happy
.

So when we were asked why we were returning to Christchurch while at Auckland airport recently (the woman who asked was truly shocked that we would be doing such a thing), the answer for us was obvious.
We feel deeply thankful to have found this community after so many years of searching.
To dig our feet in here and to commit to the place means that we can call it home.

Published also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

Hugs

2011-05-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

Not only people, but also animals have been affected by the earthquake.

So there was no surprise when the greyhound-rehousing society had sleek and gentle hounds
in residence at the Saturday Lyttelton arty market a week ago. Lolling on the grass, waiting for a pat and rewarding you with a grateful look from their beautiful doe-eyes.
There was a litter of fluffy kittens to give away also. 10 out of 10 on the
cuteness scale.
I watched as many people, young and old, strolled over to those animals,
rubbing their tummies, stroking their beautiful fur, feeling their wooly warmth.

If you preferred human embraces there was the group of young women with
cardboard signs around their necks advertising 'free hugs'. They had come from
'the other side' (Christchurch), feeling they wanted to do something to cheer
people up. Some people were reluctant to accept the hugs, some went for it full heartedly, but everyone smiled.

We all need love and affection.
Nothing works better to forget the increasing cold and the rumbling earth

Go on, hug your hamster, give your Gramps a bear hug,squash all the children on the sofa with you for a group hug, and give those dearest to you a footmassage or a backrub.
Love in action, creatively expressed.

unexpected consequences

2011-05-10T03:09:00.000-07:00

Earthquakes,like any natural disaster, change things, sometimes in a small way,
or as a significant life change. One small way it changed things for me was the
location of my recreation.
Recreation for me is hill walking and I used to walk in the Port
Hills until the earthquake put a stop to that. All the tracks up there are
closed for safety reasons, so my options became very limited.

Orton Bradley Park, across the harbour from Lyttelton, where I live, is quite

abit further than my usual spots but as I especially like it over there, I
decided to make the journey 2 or 3 times a week, and walk in those hills. I
have been doing that for a few weeks now and have revelled in the natural
beauty of that region as well as the human created beauty. I have not only found spots
I never knew existed but what I try to do on my walks has been enhanced.

I enjoy walking for its own sake; there is the healthy exercise to start off
with, good for the ticker, the limbs and so on. But it also loosens up the creative
flow which we all possess. I'm not given to speech making, especially before an
audience, but I've made inspiring speeches up in those hills surrounded by
sheep and cattle, and they don't seem to mind.
Thoughts flow when the legs get moving. To gain a bit of concentration, I
focus, amongst other things, on nature's beauty.
Orton Bradley is full of expansive views, especially as one climbs the hill tracks, such as Tableland.
Mt Bradley looms over to the right, the valley is below and the sound of the stream is clear as it meanders down the valley. The autumn colours are striking at the moment, breaking the green of paddocks and native bush with glimpses of yellow and scarlet.
There is wildlife; hares for instance, but not rabbits I've noticed, and paradise duck, bellbirds and magpies. I've also spotted three-pointed spoors on muddy farm tracks, hinting at the presence of a certain
native bird that loves marshy swamps.

So, noone wants earthquakes or any natural disaster. But I have been reminded
lately that Mother Nature takes many forms and one of those is natural beauty
It is a beneficial and healthy antidote to earthquakes and their nasty
aftershocks.
One that I recommend.

written by guest writer, John Cardwell

gaps

2011-05-09T04:35:00.000-07:00

I tell her that the gaps won't be there forever.

She says: "A bit like London Street....."

It sure is nice to inhabit our main street again.
Nice to have the town's heart beating with our footsteps again.

Welcome back London Street.

...and farewell to the Camping Ground food caravan and from next Monday, to the Higher Ground Cafe.
Our heartfelt thanks for being there during the difficult last couple of months.
Witnessing our local favourites opening up in new and creative ways gave us strength and hope (and a coffee) when we needed it.
Enjoy the break Jenny and crew.
We'll continue to enjoy Ground's goodness at the Farmer's Market until you return.

posted by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

Lessons from Derry, Ireland

2011-05-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

This article appears also in the lastest edition of The Lyttelton News which comes out once a month as part of the Akaroa Mail. The Lyttelton News is one of the projects that are driven by Project Lyttelton.

Derry in Northern Ireland could hold the answer for our community as to how our town and city moves forward in its regeneration following the earthquakes.

There are many parallels between Christchurch’s and Derry’s situations. Both were ravaged; one my nature, one by war. There was widespread destruction of both buildings and lives. The people felt disempowered – in New Zealand by the creation of a top down solution by the government appointed CERA and in Northern Ireland by Direct Rule at the time (the Thatcher Government).Just as Christchurch has a divide between east and west (affected and not so affected), Derry was divided by the River Foyle.
Derry was in a war zone, there were no communications, but at the same time others were wanting to raise families and work. The local council was in disarray. Rather than being directed from London the people of Derry craved a new way with community based workers and activities. They recognised that it was OK to be angry and complain but that it had to take them in a positive direction.

What Derry has managed to create over the last 15 years is inspirational.

Conal McFeely who has been engaged in the whole Derry process since its inception, spoke recently with community members in Christchurch. This gathering of people, keen to use our earthquake situation as an opportunity, learning from what has worked elsewhere in the world in similar situations, were interested to hear the Northern Ireland story and to see the possible ramifications for Christchurch.

Conal McFeely sees our present situation as a chance for the social sector to take a leadership role in regeneration. He described the mechanisms by which Derry did a huge turn around by engaging the local citizens.

In Derry there was a range of social partners, the community sector was quite strong.
Also there were the two main churches, Church of Ireland and Catholic. They had two dynamic bishops who were both interested in the people, not politics. They acted as the champions of the process.
The Trade Unions were also seen as one of the vehicles for change.
The sector got together and recognised that they needed to establish a structure to move forward on the task of urban regeneration. A Trust was set up. This was supported by the Local Authority.
Then another social enterprise – the Credit Unions - became involved giving access to capital. This became a self help situation; people doing things for themselves.
The first task for the Trust was to identify what land was owned by the public sector. There was concern that if land lay derelict, it would be moved on and used for development, an asset stripping of the people’s own land.
The next step was recognising that the people have a community of knowledge. Every household, every business and every young person in Derry, population 108,000, were and still are consulted. There was a demystifying of all jargon. Questions were asked. Was it possible to acquire land, how do you access resources from the government? This was a huge task, a “tall order” said Conal as there was a history of non engagement in the community.
So they started small, going for the creation of a community hub. They identified one destroyed building that was owned by the public sector and using resources such as unemployed people and recycled materials got things started. People began to rally around that one. The regeneration process was underway. They created a craft village in the main street with micro businesses on the ground floor.

This started to gain everyone’s confidence and to attract government support. Larger projects followed. The Tower Museum was the result of clever community sector thinking. The land was given to the Trust, this was used as the community owned asset that attracted government grants (heritage, lotteries) and a major European grant. The Tower Museum was built by people who had been long term unemployed.Other pieces of land became available, the residents became shareholders in their own regeneration.
The Calgach Centre is a big community and conference centre. Adjacent the city’s first hotel built in 25 years. It was constructed and rented to a hotel chain. Rent from that went into new projects. One of the Credit Unions built with its own resources its head office in Derry. All of the major amenities in the city are now owned by the community. The city won the European ‘best practice of neighbourhood renewal’ award. Recently Derry won the cultural capital of the UK award.Conal MeFeely talks about renewal, revival and regeneration as opposed to rebuilding and recovery. He sees that by bringing all the social sector people together - community groups, small businesses, progressive trade unions, local champions, credit unions and establishing a structure and a vision; identifying public land ownership; creating a hub for, by and with the community – all this creating a new movement, one where social enterprise becomes the vehicle of transformation. Not a top down approach but a process that engages the citizens. As a result of all this learning from Derry’s experience, those who attended the meeting are talking with all their networks, the first stage in gathering the community sector together. Identification of land ownership is the next urgent step.

written by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton: www.lyttelton.net.nz

the wunderbar & the harbour union cd.

2011-05-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a big weekend.
Many of us here in Lyttelton celebrated the reopening of the Wunderbar.
After rumours of whether it was on or off the demo list, most of us were just keen to get down there, celebrate it's survival and enjoy some good music.
It was also the launch of The Harbour Union CD pulled together by some fine local bands and musicians such as The Eastern, The Unfaithful Ways, Delaney Davidson, Lindon Puffin and Al Park with all profits going towards the rebuild of our town and Christchurch.
Superb music, a great venue and good people make for an excellent night.
Make sure to check out the CD.

posted by Jacinda Gilligan, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

reconnecting with her

2011-05-04T00:21:00.000-07:00

By ‘her’ I mean the earth, our mother. I hadn’t realised until I visited Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula last week that under the surface I’d felt a kind of mistrust of the earth, after all the shaking we’ve been having in the last six months. And it manifested as a kind of tension. Many of our local walking tracks above Lyttelton have been closed for danger of rock falls. And I just haven’t been getting the normal sort of exercise by biking to work, as I’ve been working from home mostly since the earthquake.

But walking among the forest and hearing the birds singing grounded me in an unexpected way. I felt centred and present in the moment, breathing the clean cool air, listening to the lovely forest noises and enjoying the light playing on the leaves. I could look around at the trees and have the sense of renewal and the cyclic nature of life. Even after an earthquake, the forest can look and feel the same. The trees bend and sway and keep growing.

written by Jodi Rees

the final grind.

2011-05-01T15:09:00.000-07:00

We all have different ways of coping with the loss and destruction of the many
Lyttelton buildings. We might take a few minutes to stand on the pavement,
watch the diggers and reminisce, but then we can carry on with our lives, meeting
friends in different settings, trying out a new cafe somewhere else. But it is
harder for the people who lived and worked in those buildings, whose dreams and
hopes and futures were interwoven with the fabric of those houses.

The owner, Jenny Garing and the staff of the Ground Delicatessen and Coffee shop came up with a
meaningful way of saying goodbye to their building.
The mother of a staff member is a potter and with her help they created a pot, middle-eastern in shape.
They embedded star anise and cloves into the clay. Star anise of course because it
features on the Ground logo.

Each staff member decorated a tablet of clay with their favourite spice,added patterns or inscribed it. The tablets were placed in the pot and given to the demolition person,
who carried the pot into the building before it was destroyed.
For the crew of Ground this symbolised 'the final grinding of the spices'
and they wanted the pot to merge with the rubble of the building.

After finishing the pot, they were a bit regretful to see it smashed as it had
turned out rather beautiful. So they made a second pottery dish, decorated it
again with spices and embedded the front door key of the old Ground building in
the clay. This dish will be fired and kept, a reminder of the great place that
Ground was, a pointer to the future when another key will unlock a new Ground.

Ground, the business, remains operational although in an altered form.
Ground sells it's spices and other tasty treats at the Farmer's Market each Saturday morning from 10am - 1pm.
'Upper Ground'is situated in the Top Club and offers meals, takeaway food, coffee, a small selection of delicatessen goods and a stunning view. 'Camping Ground' sells lovely take-away sandwiches and salads from a caravan opposite of it's old site on the corner of London street/Canterbury Street.

written by Bettina Evans

farewell harbour light.

2011-04-28T01:38:00.000-07:00

For two months not much happens and now, we must have most of the available diggers on the South Island.
The Empire, The Royal and The Albion have all come down.
The Harbour Light is still in progress.
The work they have been doing has been sensitive and thoughtful.
They brought the rotundas down so carefully that I expect they will be kept.
Someone mentioned that they looked like the bare tops of a bald man's head.
The progress on The Harbour Light keeps us all interested as we get up in the morning and peer out the window to see how much less of her is there.
From our deck, I can see 5 diggers, 2 cranes and a fire truck all working - all working to make our town a little safer and pave the way for the future.

written by Sarah van der Burch.

every saturday

2011-04-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Every Saturday morning I have a stall at the Arts and Craft market above the Farmers' Market.
Like everything in Canterbury, the market has been affected by the earthquake.
Both markets were closed for 5 weeks after the earthquake but have since started up again.

To a new visitor the market looks the same; small but vibrant, but as a stallholder I notice many differences. Often the most far reaching changes are those that are not obvious to the naked eye. Changes running like undercurrents, invisible but deep.

I love making and selling photoblocks, mainly of Lyttelton.
It gives me a thrill to produce something from scratch and see the joy people get out of them.
Before the earthquake some of my best-selling blocks sported stencils by
an anonymous Lyttelton artist. People liked the cryptic quotations - "I am part of all that I have never met" - and fun portraits of Max Groucho and Sir Edmund Hillary.
Every week I ran out of stock, but since the earthquake I have not sold a single one of those.

When people come to the stall now they look at the photos to find safe and
unbroken images.
Photos that remind them of 'before.'
Photos that will start stories:

of old Lyttelton stone churches where they worshipped and got married.
of restaurants and bars like the Loons and Volcano where they shared meals with friends and celebrated.
of historical places like the Timeball and the Harbour Light which connect them to their heritage.

Post-quake bestsellers are also photos of the hearts and banners that our Lyttelton Stitching group produced and gave away to strangers and friends, and with which we decorated the security fences surrounding the condemned buildings.
Buyers comment that those hearts represented the mood in Lyttelton in the weeks
after the quake - sitting with friends, laughing, crying, talking, looking after
each other, sharing food, coffees and hearts.

I especially remember one group coming to my stall - a Christchurch St John Ambulance officer
with two Australian collegues, who were returning to Australia the next day.
The Christchurch man offered to buy a photoblock for each of his Aussie friends as a momento and after
looking at photos of the Christchurch Cathedral, the harbour views and heritage buildings
all three choose heart photos.

What will my bestselling photos be in one year's time? I hope they will be
photos of new houses; houses to fill the gaps the gracious old buildings have
left. I hope those houses will be 'green' buildings, funky, safe and as
photogenic as the old buildings that have buckled under the earthquakes and
been finished by the diggers.

I will be back at my stall in the weeks to come to enjoy the easy
cameraderie with the other stall holders, the musical ambience provided by
Volcano Radio and the many talks with my customers.
But I will also always remember a young woman who sold beautiful handmade children's smocks and
dresses.
She was in the CBD when the earthquake hit and died there.
Four days before the earthquake her stall was next to mine.
Now there is an empty square of grass.
May she rest in peace.

written by Bettina Evans.

farewell no.6

2011-04-18T04:26:00.000-07:00

When I headed down to London Street today in the rain and wind the wrecking ball was poised,waiting for No. 6.

As I watched I was amazed to see the 'life' still in No 6 - the wires dangling, the light

fixtures still up and intact, and the door banging in the wind.

The digger driver seemed to want to be so careful as he plied his wares - or so it
seemed to me.

I felt sorry for him and the job he was there to do today.

I will miss that building, especially the café of which it bears the name. 
It was in the Café in 2004 that I realized that Lyttelton was the place for my family. 
I had looked around Christchurch for several years and never felt like I found the place
I wanted to call home. 
And then some mid-morning on some mid-week day, I was sitting in No. 6 and saw a 
friend crossing the street. She saw me so she came in and ordered a coffee. A few 
minutes later we saw her husband and another friend both walking down the footpath 
and we waved to them and they too came in and ordered coffee. Then my husband 
(knowing I would be in there having a coffee) also came in.
I looked around the cafe and almost everyone I knew from Lyttelton was in the café 
having coffee together in the middle of the day in the middle of the 'work week'. 
I realized at that moment that the 'home' I was looking for was right in front of me.

                                  

We all have such different ways of processing what is happening in our community. 
I feel as though I really want to mark and honour this as a rite of passage.

I want to see at least a portion of the buildings coming down so I can witness this 
moment in the history of our town.


by Sarah van der Burch

beekeeping workshop

2011-04-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

Check out this great looking workshop being held here at the community gardens early in May.
The workshop had been planned early in March at the Convent. It was obviously postponed but we are glad to have Marcia coming back here just a couple of months later.
You can check Marcia's blog out here.
Imagine community beehives supporting our food production here in Lyttelton.

TOPBAR HIVE BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP

Come and learn how to keep honey bees in a topbar hive

- a natural and gentle way to care for those important insects.

WHERE: Lyttelton Community Garden
54a Oxford St Lyttelton
WHEN: 7th May 2011
TIME: 10.00am till 4.00pm
TUTOR: Marcia Meehan.

For more information contact Marcia at marcia.meehan9@gmail.com for details and bookings.

farewell sweet volcano

2011-04-16T04:27:00.000-07:00

How do we respond when our main street begins to be demolished?

Some of us watch; some of us turn away.

Some of us talk with others; others stand in silence.

Some of us bring candles, acknowledging the pain of not being able to repair our treasured buildings.

Of course, some of us stitched.

How did you respond?

Farewell sweet Volcano.

Thank you to Lois, Peter and all the people who worked to make this a special place.

A place that we carry with us beyond the earthquakes, the bulldozers and the fences.

Written by Jacinda, also at www.watchingkereru.blogspot.com

how do we believe it to be?

2011-03-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

Last year I read Spontaneous Evolution by Bruce Lipton and Steve Bhaerman. I found it so compelling that I bought four or five more copies to share around the community.
The book explores what scientists are saying about where the world is heading.

The future hinges on community; humanity is the next evolutionary step.

Lyttelton has an amazing community, it is so palpable that visitors instantly see and feel it. What we have here, what we are allowing to unfold by being caring and loving is what is being identified by many as the way forward for this planet.

A quote that always inspires me is from the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh.

"It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual.

The next Buddha may take the form of a community –

a community practicing understanding and loving kindness,

a community practicing mindful living.

This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth."

I like to play with this idea in my mind.

What if we dared to think, “What if that community was us?”

Well it could be: or it couldn’t be.

But what if we believed it was us and acted as though it was? How would we do things differently? Would we strive to reach the full potential of what is intrinsically already here? Would we become conscious that the world is looking towards us which is indeed what is happening?

It was delightful to be called up by Bruce Lipton and have a long conversation about these matters.
He pointed out that Buckminster Fuller a well-respected futurist said (paraphrased),

”When the world changes come, New Zealand will be the template by which countries will organize themselves for the future.”

These times that Buckminster Fuller refers to are around us now – see what is happening currently in the Middle East, climate change, peak oil, monetary crashes, pollution of the planet, deaths of species.

The world is watching us.

Can we step into a leadership role by simply doing what we are already doing – consciously caring for one another?

by Margaret Jefferies, chair of Project Lyttelton

watching the buildings come down: 1

2011-03-30T02:06:00.000-07:00

It rained the day the front of the Bundy building was ripped away.

Just a light shower.
Enough for us to stop and acknowledge the passing of this historic building in the heart of London St.

We had watched Stephen Mateer, one of Lyttelton Coffee Company's owners, dismantling the facade during the week, moving from espresso master to construction worker.
On this day we watched him undo the last of the bracing on the verandah and then step back and let the crane do the rest.

"It feels good.

It doesn't feel like something's broken now.

It now feels like a building site"

by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

lyttel stitches

2011-03-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

In an environment heavy with destruction and grief there are always those things that will blossom and nurture new life.
Here in Lyttelton, the "heart project" has been one of those things over this last month.

A circle of people gathered together and a simple project; an old woolen blanket cut into the shape of a heart, buttons and wool stitched on with love, a safety pin to attach and given away freely to whomever may pass our way.

Mainly sitting vigil outside the library at what has become "the coffee corner," we sit and do our bit at stitching the community's heart back together.

People come and go all day. Some appreciate the chance to sit and chat, others stitch their own heart. All of us able to take a breath together, enjoy the chance to focus on a simple project and remember that we do not need to face uncertainty alone.

This is no small thing.

And as we sat among the rubble of our beloved buildings - the places that were integral to our lives here - we discovered a small way to grieve a little for what we had lost. We wanted to make those fences our own somehow and stitch a little beauty where there was lose and collapse and so hearts began to appear on the barricades.

And when the news came that the local schools were to reopen it seemed an obvious place to take the heart project. Creativity heals; it allows one to be alone and yet together with others. It allows the body to relax and the mind to focus on a single thing rather than worry about what is to come.

Families had moved away and children would be without their usual friends. The children needed their own heart and needed to be part of the larger story of Lyttelton stitching their community back together again

All through this project we have been deeply grateful for those people who brought supplies to us or sent them from other parts of the country. With these gifts we sat each day and stitched and as we gave these gifts to others we reminded ourselves and each other that the perfect way forward is with an open heart.

by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com

the coffee corner

2011-03-30T02:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks Lyttelton Coffee Company.
You were there right after the quake.
You provided a place for people to gather; to sit a while and to catch up.
Your coffee provided way more than the daily dose of caffeine.
When the social hub that we had all known was barred behind fences, you set up outside the library and became the new heart of town.
Restless hands brought baking to give away, rescue workers took a break from their work and the locals came because we knew someone would be there.
The coffee corner was the "normal" in the new chaos.

After the 22nd Feb the streets of Lyttelton remained alive, London St remained inhabited.
We owe you Lyttelton Coffee Corner; you made the difference.

by Jacinda, also at watchingkereru.blogspot.com