Kaipātiki Project

01/10/2026

What happens when great food, good people, and a little curiosity come together? 🍽️✨

Different Dinners is back. Join the community, win spot prizes with Bliss Box, discover new recipes, and celebrate your journey at our in-person wrap-up event with .nz

29/09/2026

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒈𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅..." 🌿💚

When people come together to grow food, they also bring different experiences, perspectives, and ways of doing things. One of our volunteers reflects on how sharing a garden can challenge assumptions and create unexpected opportunities for learning.

This is the second video in our 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 series for Adult Learners' Week He Tangata Mātauranga 2026. Keep an eye out for video three next week 👀

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29/09/2026

🌿 Star of the day spotted at Kaipātiki Ki Tai | Witheford Reserve! 🌿

Been walking this reserve lately? You might have caught a sweet scent drifting through the trees. Meet toropapa (Alseuosmia macrophylla), our native 'bush daphne' and today's superstar.

Three reasons we love it:

🌸 Scent before sight. Alseuosmia means "perfumed grove." Bright colour gets lost in the dim understory, so toropapa uses its fragrance to call in tūī and korimako. You'll smell it before you spot it.

🌸 Master of disguise. Some toropapa are thought to mimic the leaves of peppery horopito, tricking browsing animals into leaving them alone.

🌸 Flowers, then fruit. Drooping trumpets range from deep crimson to creamy white, and bright red berries follow.

Next time you're in the ngahere, take a deep breath and follow your nose. Spotted one? Share your photo in the comments ✨

Thanks to Auckland Council for supporting the Hands On Ecology workshop series!

27/09/2026

Thousands of plants. Countless hands. Ngaa mihi.
The planting season is wrapping up and we're taking a moment to look back at what we've grown together.

Nursery volunteers potted up seedlings week after week. Families, friends and community planted side by side. Our community partners collaborated, and our funders believed this work mattered enough to back it.

The result is thousands of native plants now taking root in the ngahere of Tāmaki Makaurau. In a few years they'll be shade, habitat and birdsong.

To everyone who played a part, whether you grew, planted, funded, partnered or cheered us on: this is yours too. Thank you.

Drop a 🌱 in the comments if you got your hands dirty this season.

27/09/2026

Thousands of plants. Countless hands. Ngā mihi.
The planting season is wrapping up and we're taking a moment to look back at what we've built together.

Nursery volunteers potted up seedlings week after week. Families, friends and community planted side by side. Our community partners collaborated, and our funders believed this work mattered enough to back it.

The result is thousands of native plants now taking root in the ngahere of Tāmaki Makaurau. In a few years they'll be shade, habitat and birdsong.

To everyone who played a part, whether you grew, planted, funded, partnered or cheered us on: this is yours too. Thank you.

Drop a 🌱 in the comments if you got your hands dirty this season.

24/09/2026

Fantastic news for the entire EcoFest whānau. 💚

This nomination celebrates exactly what makes EcoFest special: hundreds of organisations, community groups, businesses, venues, volunteers and participants coming together to create something bigger than any one of us could achieve alone. Congratulations to everyone who helped make EcoFest 2026 such a success. 🌿✨

EcoFest is a finalist in the 2026 Sustainable Business Awards! 🎉

We've made the Next List for the Outstanding Collaboration Award. This award celebrates partnerships that achieve things no single group could manage on its own.

That's EcoFest in a nutshell. This year, 222 hosts ran 576 events across Tāmaki Makaurau, from beach clean-ups and native planting to composting and repair workshops. More than 45,000 of you came along, and half our hosts were running an event for the very first time.

This recognition belongs to all of you: every host, venue, volunteer and person who turned up ready to get their hands dirty!

EcoFest is brought to you by four environmental hubs working together: EcoMatters Environment Trust, Kaipātiki Project, Beautification Trust and Waiheke Resources Trust & Sustainability Centre.

Wish us luck for the awards night on 26 November! Check out the full Next List via Sustainable Business Network 🌿

24/09/2026

EcoFest is a finalist in the 2026 Sustainable Business Awards! 🎉

We've made the Next List for the Outstanding Collaboration Award. This award celebrates partnerships that achieve things no single group could manage on its own.

That's EcoFest in a nutshell. This year, 222 hosts ran 576 events across Tāmaki Makaurau, from beach clean-ups and native planting to composting and repair workshops. More than 45,000 of you came along, and half our hosts were running an event for the very first time.

This recognition belongs to all of you: every host, venue, volunteer and person who turned up ready to get their hands dirty!

EcoFest is brought to you by four environmental hubs working together: EcoMatters Environment Trust, Kaipātiki Project, Beautification Trust and Waiheke Resources Trust & Sustainability Centre.

Wish us luck for the awards night on 26 November! Check out the full Next List via Sustainable Business Network 🌿

22/09/2026

"𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆..." 🌿💚

To celebrate Adult Learners' Week He Tangata Mātauranga 2026, 𝑽𝒐𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒂𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒏 shares the stories of our volunteers and the unexpected discoveries they've made while volunteering in the garden.

From learning new skills to building connections with nature and community, hear what surprised them most along the way.

This is the first of a series of videos, as part of Adult Learners’ Week He Tangata Mātauranga, supported by Adult and Community Education — ACE Aotearoa and the Tertiary Education Commission.

22/09/2026

🌳First bats, and now rats 🐀
🌳Great to be working with the Alato team 👂