We’ve just passed our 10-year anniversary on the farm and want to celebrate by sharing some of our successes.

Our kaupapa is ‘eco-thrifty’, which means we do everything to a high environmental standard but keep to a lean budget, saving money by sticking to the fundamentals of good ecological-design. We have applied this approach to renovating an 80 year-old home, building a high performance new building, managing our orchards, growing a productive garden, bush and wetland restoration, animal husbandry, and earning multiple incomes on the land.

Join us Labour Weekend to see what we’ve accomplished.

Come for one session or for the whole time.

Sunday 27th October

3:30 – 4:30 The high-performance and low-cost approach to building. Learn the basics of simple and effective design along with plenty of tips for building in New Zealand.

4:30 – 5:30 First and best investments for renovation. We have renovated our 1935 bungalow to improve its energy performance by about 400%. In other words we heat double the space using half the firewood. The home also never overheats in summer.

6:00 Shared Meal. Bring a plate to share along with stimulating conversation.

Overnight ‘B&B’ available: Camping or marae-style $20 p/p. Or find a place to stay in Whanganui just 4 km away.

Monday 28th October

This morning focuses on water management in both winter and summer.

9:00 – 10:00 Tour of gardens and orchards. Learn about our low-input and high-productivity systems for growing plentiful and healthy food.

10:00 – 11:00 Tour of bush regeneration, wetland restoration and stream corridor protection. This is a walking tour of our regeneration projects that include over 4,000 native trees and over 300 poplars and willows.

12:00 – 3:00 Nature Play Reunion! For children and whanau that have come to our Nature Play programmes over the years. Bring a picnic lunch and come on back for more great fun by the stream!

Kaitiaki Farm is located on the outskirts of Whanganui.

Free to attend. Registration essential. theecoschool@gmail.com.