The Patience of Seeds - May Newsletter
Kia ora,
Patience is the first thing a seed asks of you.
Twenty-two years ago, Robert McGowan (known to many as Pā) pressed kauri seeds into the ground. Rather than thinking about a return, he did so in the kind of faith that belongs to those who think in generations rather than seasons.
Recently, he shared a moment that made us stop: Surrounded by the canopy of those same kauri trees he had grown from seed, Pā gathered a new harvest of seed pods (above). These would then be grown into hundreds more seedlings in his nursery, many of which would be gifted and planted locally as part of wider community projects.
The seemingly small act of planting a seed - has over time, become an enormous taonga [treasure] for his local community - a real-life example of the proverb, "society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
Kauri - Agathis australis - are among the most ancient presences in Aotearoa's landscape. They grow slowly, reach heights of up to fifty metres, and live for thousands of years. Their root systems draw in water and nutrients and release them through a vast underground network that sustains the surrounding forest. They are, in the truest sense, community builders - though they ask nothing in return but to be left alone long enough to do their work.
To lose them, as kauri dieback disease has reminded Aotearoa in recent years, is to lose something irreplaceable. To grow one from seed is an act of care that reaches far beyond any single lifetime. To grow hundreds, tend them through two decades of seasons, and then gather their seed for the hands of your grandchildren - that is something rarer still.
What Pā describes is beyond gardening, beyond even conservation in the usual sense of the word. Kaitiakitanga is a guardianship rooted not in ownership but in obligation: the obligation to receive what the land offers, and to ensure there is something still offering when the next generation arrives to ask.
As a prominent Rongoā Māori practitioner, Pā is well respected for his work restoring Rongoā Māori practice and the traditional knowledge of native plants and medicines in Aotearoa New Zealand - and perhaps most notably for the kaupapa [philosophy] of Tīwaiwaka.
Tīwaiwaka rests on exactly this understanding:
“Ka ora te whenua, ka ora te tangata. When the land is well, the people are well.”
The wellbeing of people and the health of the land are not separate matters. To restore one, you must tend the other.
The grove Pā planted is both ecological restoration and cultural transmission. The seeds he gathers carry not just the genetics of an ancient tree, but the knowledge of how to grow it, the patience required to wait, and the relationship between a person and whenua [land].
In Aotearoa right now, where kauri face mounting pressure from dieback (below), land conversion, and a changing climate, a grove of trees thriving under decades of careful stewardship is not only beautiful. It is evidence that the long view is possible, and that it works. Pā is doing what he has always done - collecting what he planted long before many of us were paying attention, and offering it forward to those who will plant it long after we are gone.
That is the patience of seeds: the faith to tend something whose full flourishing you may never see, trusting that the land, and the next generation, will carry it on.
Below you will find highlights from Pa’s journey, along with our latest giftee updates and news from across the community.
Ngā mihi aroha,
Biome Trust
Kauri seeds & pods harvested from Pā’s 22 year old Kauri grove, which will be grown into hundreds of seedlings, gifted and planted locally as part of wider community projects. Watch video
Tāne's Tree Trust was co-founded by Pā in 1999 to support the propagation and protection of Aotearoa's precious indigenous species - a reminder that regeneration is not only about planting trees, but about restoring relationships between people and the living world. More More
Tāne Mahuta - "Lord of the Forest" - is the largest living kauri in Aotearoa, standing in Waipoua Forest for estimated between 1250-2500 years. More
Kauri logging was once New Zealand's biggest land export, and the same trees Pā now grows from seed were once felled by the thousand. Vast ancient forests - ecosystems that had stood for millennia - were cleared in just a few decades to make way for roads, farms, and colonial expansion. More
Kauri Dieback is the threat facing what remains. Caused by a microscopic spore that attacks the roots and trunk, it damages the tissue that carries nutrients and slowly starves the tree. It is a reminder of why Pā's work - growing, tending, and gifting healthy seedlings - matters more with every passing season. More
Tīwaiwaka was first written by Pā and named for the small bird that carries messages between worlds. At its heart sit six guiding principles that put the wellbeing of the whenua [land] before all else.
Above all, Tīwaiwaka is a message of hope, and a way forward for the generations to come. More
Publications with more information about Rongoā Māori & Tīwaiwaka are available on the website here.
Giftee Updates
Ma Earth Funding Round 3 features $500k in matching grants for 100 grassroots nature projects worldwide - applications close 31 May. More
Papawhakaritorito Charitable Trust is gathering support for the Mana Wāhine Declaration for Soil and Seed. Sign
Mangaroa Farms highlights 5 years of native planting in what was once a degraded gulley - now a thriving pocket of diversity & bird life. More
Koanga Institute celebrates the first potato seed varieties of the season, collected across Aotearoa for generations. More
The Learning Environment celebrates six years growing Hue for Toi Māori and Puanga celebrations. New seed from Kiritahi Firmin keeps the line going. More
Rewiring Aotearoa highlights the Peterborough Housing Co-op which has run on solar since the 1980s, powering 14 houses for around $1000 per month in summer. More
Islands for the Future of Humanity areworking to secure local islands as bastions of human resilience. More
Tolaga Bay Heritage Charitable Trust is nurturing cultural, environmental, & community resilience to safeguard Uawa heritage for future generations. More
Kelmarna Gardens transforms local food scraps into living compost through their bike-powered community collection scheme. More
Organics Aotearoa highlights NZ’s recent appointment of the world’s first dedicated Minister for Organics - a sector generating $1 billion annually. More
Kaicycle Wellington’s new tunnel house was hit by recent storms - but volunteers turned up, repaired it, and kept the veggies growing. More
Happen Films has raised over $22,000 to help co-founder Antionette through breast cancer treatment. More
Toru Education highlights a range of local events & workshops from growing permaculture gardens, planning food forestry, and preserving food. More
Underground highlights a festival workshop run by Conan Moynihan & Sam Lang from Groundshift - helping people identify lifeforms to better understand soil health. More
Kiwis In Climate has launched a mentorship program with 40+ climate action committed participants in the first cohort. More
The Gift Trust is connecting donors with community organisations across Aotearoa, making generosity easier to direct where it lands well. More
One Earth highlights how the places richest in biodiversity are almost always also the richest in culture. More
The Capital Kiwi Project has been a decade of hard mahi from locals, iwi and landowners to create a safe haven for Kiwi in Wellington, with 5,300 traps covering over 24,000 hectares. More
Additional News
Predator Free New Zealand highlights Capital Kiwi Project's 250th bird being released - meaning over 300 kiwi now raise chicks in the Wellington hills. More
Quorum Sense is hosting a regenerative & organic conference at Karapiro on 8-9 June, covering soil fertility, drought resilience, diverse pastures & trees on farms. More
PermaDynamics NZ Community Membership gives access to over three decades of research and action for growing food forests in multiple continents. More
For the Love of Bees is hosting courses and ongoing support through the Earthworkers Programme to help farms of all scales thrive with regenerative practices. More
Young Organic Growers Aotearoa is hosting a launch celebration & midwinter sociale at Monovale Blueberries in Cambridge on 12th June. More
“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings.”
