anita croft

As a qualified early childhood teacher with a belief that all young children should know how to grow their own food, Anita started Growing Kiwi Gardeners in 2018 with a vision to be the leading provider of sustainable gardening and professional development programs for early childhood services in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Phonetic Planet is delighted that Anita was able to take time out from her busy schedule to tell us more about her commitment to providing children with a chance to experience the joy of gardening.

Anita, where in the world did you grow up?

I grew up in North Loburn, a rural area in North Canterbury, about 55 minutes north of Christchurch City in the South Island of New Zealand. This was predominantly a farming community and I grew up on a sheep and crop farm with my Dad, Mum, and younger brother.

I went to a very small rural school that only had sixty pupils, and we had a lot of nature-related learning. Each year we had a pet day where we brought along our pets. I always had a pet lamb to take. We also did a gardening project every year. I still have the Certificate and documented vegetable garden project I did in 1982, where my garden was judged on Growth & Healthiness, Cultivation & Tidiness, Layout & Planning and Diary Record.

What are some of your favorite memories from childhood?

As a child I enjoyed playing in ‘houses’ that we built in different parts of the farm. My brother and I built a ‘house’ under the macrocarpa hedge beside our garage and spent hours playing there. We also built a ‘house’ beside a stream that was dry in the Summer with friends who lived nearby. I remember we cut steps into the side of the clay bank to climb up and down, and made a shelter under old pine trees using old grain sacks made of hessian. We found old pots and tins that we pretended to cook in. Each year when the stream became dry again, we would go down and fix our ‘house’ up again.

Do you remember one special place with particular fondness?

Every New Year’s Day, while my Nana was alive, we would go to Hanmer Springs in North Canterbury for the day. Hanmer Springs is an alpine village surrounded by mountains with natural thermal hot pools. We would have a picnic lunch with my Nana, aunties, uncles and cousins and after lunch we would all go to the hot pools. In those days there were just three hot pools to choose from, each a different temperature, and a freshwater swimming pool. I still enjoy going to Hanmer Springs and soaking in the hot pools, although there are a lot more options and temperatures to choose from now!

How has nature inspired you to live the life you are currently living?

 Growing up on the farm taught me to love and respect nature. When I think about how I live now and the work I do with Growing Kiwi Gardeners, it is because I learnt to grow my own food as a child. I remember spending hours in the garden with Mum and Dad, although not always willingly! But it was these foundations that I think have now set me on the path to teach young children how to grow their own food and to support their teachers to also garden with the students they teach.

When I bought my first house, one of the first things I did was build a vegetable garden, and where I live now, I have a large vegetable garden and a glasshouse so that I can grow vegetables year-round and preserve the surplus to use during the year, just as I watched my Mum and Nana do when I was a child. There is nothing better than harvesting your own fresh vegetables and eating them, and this is what I want children to learn to love too.

 Growing up and living in New Zealand meant that I was surrounded by some stunning scenery that is easy to access. I took up tramping (hiking) as an adult and through this met my partner. New Zealand has unique species of flightless birds that are very endangered and vulnerable to introduced mammals such as ferrets, stoats, weasels, and possums that feed on eggs and young birds. Seeing the destruction of these introduced species on our native trees and birds has led to both of us to become involved in conservation. Firstly, through volunteering for the New Zealand Conservation Trust in their trapping program

(I have since become a Trustee), and secondly, by purchasing a 9-hectare block of regenerating native bush on Banks Peninsula in the South Island. We are protecting the bush through trapping pests and removing invasive weeds so that we can help bring back more native birds to the valley.

My involvement in conservation also helped to inspire me to start Growing Kiwi Gardeners. Gardening is one way we can help reduce our impact on the planet and if I can support young children to learn about gardening in a sustainable way then I believe I am helping future generations to protect the planet, as they will be able to produce food that doesn’t have to travel miles to get to their plate.

Anita, can you recommend a special book, or books, from your childhood?

As a young child my favorite book was Fun for Hunkydory by May Justus, about a dog who was left at home on his own and went out to find his own fun with other animals, only to find what was fun for them wasn’t fun for him. As I got older, I enjoyed The Silent One by Joy Cowley. Set in the South Pacific, it was about a 12 year-old boy named Jonasi who is an outcast in his village. He finds a white turtle and develops a magical bond with it.

You can find out more about Growing Kiwi Gardeners at www.growingkiwigardeners.co.nz and you can also connect with Anita via Facebook at Growing Kiwi Gardeners. Anita maintains a beautiful blog on the website, and she offers the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter that is designed to promote sustainable gardening practices in the home or school garden. We are so grateful to Anita for the gift of her time in participating in this interview! What a lovely resource she is for educators worldwide, who are hoping to spend more time outdoors with their young students! We are happy to send two of our Phonetic Planet readers to North Loburn School in New Zealand, which is the primary school that Anita attended as a child.