🌞 On the Summer Solstice

Kia ora

Summer has arrived with warm highs and long bright evenings. Along the bush edges, the ferns have surged into incredible growth, reminding us of resilience, new life, strength and peace, qualities we will carry with us into the coming year.

In the garden, the beans are thriving, herb tea leaves are hung to dry, and insects hum through brightly coloured blooms. It is a good time to pause, notice the bumblebees, and feel gratitude for the life around us.

A plateful of this season’s gifts: kowauwau/hound's tongue, also called bush lettuce, hangehange, dwarf linden tree leaves and flower petals.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Today, as we celebrate the Summer Solstice, with Christmas and the New Year approaching, we take a moment to reflect on the year that has been. This is our final newsletter for the year, and we want to honour and celebrate the people and kaupapa that make Toru what it is.

Recently, we were grateful to gather with permaculture elders Gary and Emily Williams. Their message was simple and grounding. The most important thing is that we keep coming together. Meeting in person, strengthening local relationships, and building resilience close to home. This same message continues to surface across generations in different ways.

We have also held close the words of Jane Goodall. Hope is active. It is not a passive wish, but something we create through our everyday choices, through what we do, what we support, and how we care for one another and the natural world.

And then there is the spark of Dick Van Dyke, who, as he reached 100, reminded us that anger and hate only eat away from within. His advice is simple. Never stop singing. A joyful reminder to hold on to lightness whenever we can.

Looking ahead, new gatherings, workshops, and the next Toru Trail are beginning to take shape for 2026, with more to share early in the new year.

Thank you for walking alongside Toru this year, for your care, curiosity, and commitment to learning, connection, and place.

An overnight Summer Solstice gathering at a stone circle in the Wairarapa. Watching for the first star and welcoming the turning of the season.

👉 See what’s on the horizon

We are also holding excitement around a new piece of work that has begun to stir. It is rooted in careful observation, listening deeply, and honouring lived wisdom. The intention is simple: to harvest what is already here, tend it with care, and allow something useful and nourishing to emerge in its own time. This work is still finding its form and may take shape through shared learning, research, or future gatherings. We look forward to sharing more as it unfolds.

Ngā manaakitanga,

Emma Ellison

on behalf of the Toru Education Team

P.S. If you’re feeling inspired, pass the word along. Forward this email directly to a friend or neighbour. We hope there’s a little something for everyone.

Educator Spotlight: Garry Foster

Last year, Garry Foster hosted a Toru Trail at the Matahiwi Forest Garden, sharing insights from decades of observing land, ecosystems, and community.

Garry has generously shared a thoughtful reflection on his journey into permaculture and what he has learned through professional permaculture design. His writing speaks to patience, observation, collaboration, and the quieter lessons that emerge when design is treated as a living process.

👉 Read Garry’s reflections on the Permaculture Design process

Our Past Toru Trail

Earlier this season, we gathered in Paekākāriki for a Toru Trail hosted by Doris and Bob, exploring how permaculture can flourish in a suburban coastal setting.

From sheltering food gardens shaped by salty winds, to compost systems full of life, shared kai, and reflections on balance, the day offered practical insights alongside a powerful sense of abundance and belonging. It was a reminder that permaculture is as much about community and care as it is about growing food.

👉 Read the full blog on the Toru website

Grow our community with us

We have a humble request of you (yes, you!). Please share this newsletter with anyone who might enjoy it. We’d love it to reach people right across the lower North Island, especially those who care about learning, connection, and the land.

You can help by:

Forwarding this email to a friend or neighbour
Encouraging them to sign up to receive it directly
Sharing it within your community networks

And if this newsletter was forwarded to you - welcome! 👋

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If you’re hosting an event, workshop, or course that aligns with our kaupapa, we’d love to hear from you. Check out our event listing guidelines and create a free account with us. Listing local events through Toru is always free, and is part of how we support learning and connection across the region.

Upcoming Event

Mangaroa Farms Harvest Festival

Saturday 21 March 2026 | 10am–3pm

📍 Mangaroa Farms, Whitemans Valley

A community celebration of harvest, kai and connection, the Mangaroa Farms Harvest Festival brings together local growers, makers and whānau to mark the changing of the seasons. Expect fresh local produce, regenerative farm and orchard tours, shared food, nature play for tamariki, live music and a Pumpkin Competition.

This special event also kicks off Upper Hutt Food Week (21–29 March) — a new region-wide celebration of local food, culture and community.

See more about the event

Also Happening

Upper Hutt Food Week

21–29 March 2026

📍 Upper Hutt

A new celebration of the people who grow, gather, make and share kai. Across the week, expect workshops, shared meals, films, foraging walks and community events hosted throughout the region.

See more about the event

Looking Further Ahead

Aotearoa NZ National Permaculture Hui 2026

10–13 April 2026

📍 Whakatū Nelson

Bringing together people from across the motu for learning, connection and hands-on permaculture experiences. Optional property tours will follow the Hui in Nelson, Motueka and Golden Bay.

See more about the event

Media Picks

Film: The New Peasants

By Happen Films

An intimate and beautifully crafted documentary that follows one family’s long-term journey away from industrial culture toward a life rooted in simplicity, land, community and care. Living largely outside the money economy, they explore what real wealth can look like when measured in food, skills, relationships and time.

The film offers a thoughtful and hopeful glimpse into the kinds of futures we can create at the home and community level. Imperfect, challenging, and deeply human.

👉 Watch the film or host a screening

Resource: Regional Zero-Waste Directory

By The Rubbish Trip

Practical, region-by-region guides to zero-waste and low-waste shopping across Aotearoa, including an interactive map. A useful tool for finding local packaging-free options, community initiatives and co-ops, and for planning more intentional shopping trips.

👉 Explore here

Community: Tree Crops NZ

Founded in 1974, Tree Crops NZ supports the growing of productive trees, food forests and perennial systems across Aotearoa. The Association is organised through local branches, each with a high level of autonomy, creating opportunities for regional events, shared learning, and connection. Where branches are not currently active, members are encouraged to help seed new local groups.

👉 Learn more or become a member

👉 Join the Facebook group

As the year draws to a close, we wish you a summer filled with rest, connection, and moments of quiet beauty.

We’ll see you again in February.

Why We Share

This newsletter grew from a simple observation. Across our bioregion, there are incredible people sharing knowledge, hosting workshops, and nurturing connection, yet many others do not know these opportunities exist.

We wanted to help bridge that gap and weave together the threads of learning, creativity, and community already thriving here. Each edition celebrates the people and places offering ways to learn, connect, and care for the land, right in our own backyards.

If you resonate with our vision, we would love you to be involved. There are many ways to take part.

Please share the good news far and wide. Sharing really is caring, and we would love to find our people.

If you have an event or educational opportunity, you can check out our guidelines, sign up and list it with us if it aligns with our kaupapa.

You’re also warmly invited to join one of our events. Learn with us and our partner organisations, and invite a friend along.

If you have an idea or a bright spark to share, reply to this newsletter or email us at info@toru.nz

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