• New Year Honours: Aunty's Garden founder awarded Queen’s Service Medal

New Year Honours: Aunty's Garden founder awarded Queen’s Service Medal

On the day Aunty Arohanui Lawrence is publicly outed as a New Year Honour recipient, she will be doing almost exactly what she has done every day for more than a decade – tilling the soil and producing fresh kai for her community.

Affectionately known as ‘Aunty Hanui’, Mrs Lawrence is the key driver and namesake of Aunty’s Garden, situated at Waipatu Marae.

It is her tireless toiling in the garden along State Highway 2 that has seen her awarded a Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) for services to Māori and sustainable food production.

However, the born-and-bred Hawke’s Bay local almost did not accept the prestigious accolade. “I just grow food, and everybody shares it,” she said humbly.

But it was seeing her grandchildren – all 11 of them – in the garden with her that made her rethink her decision.

“I didn’t do it for myself but for all those who have helped; my grandchildren, children, family, and the community. I thought of them and I will share this with them.

“I haven’t done this alone.”

Apart from her husband Hori, she did not tell anyone prior to the news going public today. “He’s a quiet man, so he just smiled at me,” she said of her husband’s reaction. “That’s all I needed.”

The idea came about “way back” in 2003 when she decided to convert a paddock next to her marae into a large vegetable garden.

Having grown food her whole life, Hanui’s intention was to grow food that could be used by the marae and educate Māori about gardening.

“It is my passion. I have grown things all my life and I just thought that it would be an opportunity to enhance the beauty of my marae, with a garden attached to it,” she said.

Back then it was simply a few “lines” in the earth before funding from organisations including Te Puni Kōkiri and the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board, seven years later saw it transform into what it is today – a koru.

She said the garden is about more than just food and has a “special feel”. "People come here and they feel there's something nice here." 

Although retired now, she says Aunty's Garden keeps her busier than ever, spending hours on end tending to the garden.

For a small koha locals can pick their own fresh, spray-free produce from Aunty’s Garden. Hanui says she derives a huge amount of satisfaction from watching visitors to the garden picking the produce she has grown. 

“Hundreds of people come along and walk around and it’s enjoyable to see their baskets full. I just want them to experience what I experienced growing up with the land.”

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