After working with social media grower Byron Austin last year to establish a community food forest at Maraeroa Mahinga Kai in Ōhinemutu, Healthy Families Rotorua travelled to Whakatāne yesterday to see what he has been developing on his own whenua.
Byron, who shares his growing journey online under the name Byron Grows, has built a large social media following by documenting the development of his orchard and food forest approach.
The team visited his thriving orchard, which spans more than 1.5 hectares. Rather than the more typical orchard layout of single-crop rows, the land has been designed as interconnected food forests, where fruiting plants grow alongside support species that strengthen soil health, biodiversity, and overall resilience.
“Things started out here very small scale, similar to the size at Ōhinemutu. Using social media and the local community here to build momentum has supported the growth of this whole system.
“The opportunity here is connecting with the community on something that everybody cares about, which is eating healthy food and spending time in nature. Everybody comes here, and they’re like, ‘Whoa, this is incredible.’ That opportunity doesn’t only exist here. You can create that demonstration anywhere. Inspire people to go take those same things and apply them at their house, at their marae, or wherever they are,” says Byron.
For Byron, the real value isn’t just the food forest itself, but the way projects like this can draw people in, build connections and strengthen communities. Reflecting on the planting day at Ōhinemutu, he said it was special to see people who hadn’t spoken in a long time come together, reconnect and catch up.
“That’s one of the best vehicles the food forest offers. It’s almost less about the food forest and more about the people that it attracts, and the people it can bring together about the idea. Yes, it empowers you with places to be and the skills and food, but it’s an opportunity that’s so much deeper than just planting trees. It’s an ancestral way of human connection in community.
“That’s the potent juice that is able to be unlocked in any of these kinds of projects.”
Byron is looking forward to returning to Maraeroa Mahinga Kai in May to check the progress of the maara’s first food forest.
“We’ll get to tweak things, adjust things and have an opportunity for another community day to come back and learn, and see what has happened and then move things forward from there,” he says.
The visit provided inspiration and practical insights that can continue to support community-led growing and local kai resilience across Rotorua.
