16/03/2026
Being given a vege garden this year has meant more than just healthy veges on the table for one Hornby family: It’s about growing closer together.
They’re one of 31 Hornby families who have been gifted a garden bed, soil, tools and vege seedlings as part of our Grow Hornby project, which is now in its third year.
Their children range in age from teens to a baby, and they’ve all been able to get involved in their own way.
For the little kids, helping to grow the veges means they’re more likely to eat them. For the older ones, they’ve been able to join in and experiment, like testing out a theory about whether playing music to plants helps them grow better - their experiments suggest maybe it does.
It’s been time spent outdoors together, and really good for them mentally.
The fresh vegetables are a bonus.
One in three Kiwi families are now struggling to put nutritious food on the table, according to new data from a New Zealand Food Network survey of 3000 New Zealanders last year.
That comes on top of Ministry of Social Development data in 2023 around the cost of living crisis, which found almost half of New Zealanders had cut back on buying fresh fruits and vegetables.
Our Grow Hornby home vege garden project was started to help, in a real, sustainable way.
The goals of the project are to help families access healthy food at home, to help improve mental and physical health, to help families build connections within their community through sharing produce and advice, and to build joy, purpose and self-confidence for both adults and children involved.
The project has been made possible through support from the Hornby Community Menzshed who have built the garden frames, The Warehouse Hornby who have donated gardening tools, financial support from our Hornby/Hope Champions businesses, and many hours donated by the amazing volunteers who have shoveled soil, grown and donated more than 1000 seedlings this year, and helped with ongoing support for the families who are sometimes growing gardens for the first time.
Families given gardens have told us this is making a real difference to their health and their happiness.
Three years in, some of the families are now enabled to give back, by sharing some of the veges they have grown with others in their community.
And we’re now preparing to take the next step in the project, bringing a co-ordinator on board to expand Grow Hornby further.
A huge thanks to our Champion businesses, and all the wonderful people who have helped to make this possible
