We are not from here, but we belong here.

​

Up on a hill, there was a two hectare section of farm land for sale. It would have been bare land if it wasn't for two battered Kanuka trees and a power pole. It was June 2018. The section adopted us. It did so by combining childhood memories, amazing views, and dreams of materialising dreams.

Driving from town, we could see the place from the road five minutes before getting there. Our heart beats slowed down, breathing became deeper. It felt like home way before it was Home.

​

If we knew what we were getting into, it would have scared us.

By December 2018 there was a structure on the land. Almost a house. It would progressively become a house over the next two years. Slowly.

A deck around the house, a driveway, fences, gates and troughs were added to the picture. On the third year two shipping containers became the shed, finally.

​

As for trees, the plan was to plant thousands of them. After planting 50 the first year and more than 1,000 the second year, the cost of planting trees became clear, and prohibiting. By then, the neighboring section had been sold. The new owners started planting trees they had grown themselves. They gave us some seeds. I read every article, research, and book about propagating New Zealand native trees I could lay my hands on. In the third year, we planted around 1,300 native trees I had grown myself and sold the ones I couldn't plant.

That's how Kaweka Natives started.

​

​