PAPAMOA COMMUNITY GARDEN AT WAR OVER MYSTERY KALE
Half the committee thinks someone donated it. The other half thinks someone's taking the piss.
A community garden in Papamoa has descended into quiet civil war over a row of kale that nobody will admit to planting, with half the committee convinced it's a genuine donation and the other half certain it's a wind-up.
The kale turned up in late September. Six plants, in the bed between the silverbeet and the courgette. No one signed the roster. No one claimed it at the working bee. It was just there one Tuesday.
Committee chair Beverley Tasker, 71, said the matter had been raised at two meetings. "Some of us think it's a lovely gesture. Some of us think it's the Hendersons being smart. I'm not naming names, but it's the Hendersons."
Member Roydon Pierce said he hadn't seen the place this divided since the mulch disagreement of 2019. "Back in '74 you planted a vegetable and that was the end of it. Now it's a bloody inquest."
A garden spokesperson, contacted via the noticeboard, said the kale would stay in the ground pending further discussion, and nobody was to eat it until ownership was sorted. The Hendersons could not be reached, having gone to the Mount for the weekend.
The courgette, meanwhile, continues to struggle.
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Reader Letters
Royce_Tauranga
Typical Papamoa nonsense. Honestly, people are fighting over kale? The courgette would make a better story.
Linda_Hastings
Community gardening should be about unity. Plants are going in the ground, not nuclear codes.
MargaretPapamoa
Why is everyone blaming the Hendersons? Just because they grow the best tomatoes, doesn't mean they're guilty here.
Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, people were grateful if something extra showed up in the garden. Now it's all conspiracy theories. Sounds like the time we found strawberries growing where we'd only planted carrots in '88.
couchgremlin
Lol, mystery kale. Let the rabbits have it.
Pedantic_Pete
It's actually spelled 'courgette', not 'zucchini'. FYI. Also good luck growing anything in Papamoa's sandy soil.