Cultivate Christchurch

By: Bailey Peryman

PledgeMe.Loans

Food,



NZ $165,127 pledged


140 people pledged


Closed


NZ $160,000 minimum target


Min

NZ$160,000

Max

NZ$200,000

100 100% Complete

This campaign was successful and closed on 2017-11-20 08:08:06.

Make a Pledge

About

Cultivate Christchurch

We think organic/green waste and compostable packaging in Christchurch CBD should be composted, but we need your help.

 We’re borrowing $160,000 to expand our composting programme. If we do not reach our goal, the pledges will not be processed and we will not expand our service.

 Cultivate Christchurch is a social enterprise that combines productive urban farming, youth development and community participation.

We generate revenue to sustain our work through three products: Produce, Compost, and Edible Landscaping (Urbundance).

We have launched this campaign to grow our infrastructure to be able to keep up with demand for our CBD green waste collection and compost processing.

We are the ONLY Compost facility in Canterbury to accept compostable packaging (PLA). 

Over the past two years, collecting from our 14 current accounts in CBD, we have diverted over 2 tonne EVERY WEEK from landfill. 

 

Help us end the coffee cup packaging issue. Join our community today!

 

Our Broccoli Bonds

The Broccoli Bonds are a little different. We wanted to create a loan that helped feed our purpose of inspiring young people to live lives they value in an urban farm setting.

You can choose to have your loan paid back in three ways. Either:

  1. Whole principal repaid in cash plus 5% cash interest; or
  2. Half principal repaid in product half cash plus 10% cash interest; or
  3. All principal repaid product with 15% cash in interest

You can find out more about the Broccolli Bond offer in our Investment Memorandum

Creative Ways Our Broccoli Bonds can Work For You

 

  1. Edible Landscaping services - a little time goes a long way in a backyard; our team of organic gardening experts has boundless inspiration you can tap into. Simply redeem your vouchers for design, build or maintenance support in a garden of your choosing.

  2. Compost! A $500 pledge amounts to 7 tonnes, delivered within Christchurch only. Grow your own Broccoli instead!

  3. Compost Collections and Produce Deliveries. Businesses in the CBD can use the vouchers for our urban farm services.

  4. Partner with us to deliver our project at scale. Custom collaborations where our values align. You know it's the right thing to do!

 

 

 

Our core mission

Inspiring young people to live lives they value in an urban farm setting.

Our spaces and our products help us with our core mission: to train and support young people. We help young people have more meaningful and deeper connections with others and the land. There is an urgent need to find innovative, affordable ways to re-engage our most challenged young people and enable them to play a valuable and rewarding role in society. 

We directly address a range of complex problems including: 

  • 6400+ Young People (ages 15-24) not engaged in education, training or employment and needing high levels of support.
  • 40+ tonnes per week of organic material (food waste and compostable packaging) from the Christchurch CBD going to landfill every week.
  • The total number of New Zealand farmers is falling and their average age is getting older. Our next generation of food producers are going to come from predominantly urban backgrounds.  
  • There are limited accessible opportunities for people, particularly children, to connect with the source of food and the natural world in an urban environment.

 

Our land

We currently have 2.5 hectares of land across three locations under Cultivate management in Christchurch. Of that, 2,500sqm is currently in effective production, which equals 12% capacity in terms of potential revenue generation from the total land area we have available. 

We are aiming to grow to 50% capacity by March 2019, and can grow out to 90% over time. At 50%, or 1 hectare of effective production, the ‘Produce’ division of Cultivate will be performing at the scale we need to sustain our operations.

 

Our products

C Closed loop infograph (2).jpg

1) Cultivate Produce 

We convert vacant and underutilised space into productive urban farms growing high quality salads, herbs and niche gourmet crops for 12 cafes and restaurants in the Christchurch CBD. We also sell direct to the public from the Peterborough Urban Farm.

We follow a combination of organic and biodynamic horticultural standards although the short term tenure of our land base means that certification is not currently possible. 

 

2) Cultivate Compost

From Sep 2015 - Sep 2017 we took over a voluntary composting initiative from Agropolis. This has grown from 4 to 14 customers, which is from 7 to 22 bins per week. We charge $20 per bin.

We offer a CBD collection service for organic material including food and commercially compostable packaging (think: takeaway coffee cups). Organic material is then composted on our farms and used to grow our crops for Cultivate Produce. 

Our E-Bike and Trailer known as ‘The Iron Kermit’ currently collects 2-2.5 tonnes of food waste per week, from 5-10% of the CBD market. At our Peterborough Urban Farm we have built 500 tonnes of new soil enabling production on top of a rubble site. 

Cultivate is the only service in the region that currently accepts commercially compostable packaging in its organic waste bins. 

  

 

3) Edible Landscaping (Urbundance) 

We construct and manage productive ‘commons’, meaning public or shared greenspace areas, while supporting local groups and neighbourhoods to become guardians of these spaces in the long term.

Our first construction contract begun in mid-September 2017 with the Halswell Commons housing exemplar. The first stage of the project involves the Halswell Menzshed who will be pre-fabricating the raised vegetable planters for the two community gardens. This community engagement is led and coordinated by Cultivate on behalf of the developer and has strong initial buy-in from key community partners and local suppliers of materials for the construction work. 

Concept design for Stage 1 Halswell Commons Community Gardens (source

  



About our Team

 

 

We have a core staff of 11 people working on Cultivate, which currently works out to 6.0 FTEs. On top of that we have 8 paid youth interns who work with us 4 days per week as well as some receiving support with gaining formal qualifications and further education. 

A core central services team supports the administration, marketing and HR functions of all of Cultivate’s enterprises. All our staff are naturally caring, genuine and nurturing types with leadership, mentoring and many varying strengths that provide high quality role models to the young people participating on our farms. 

  • Fi Stewart - Co-Founder, General Manager, Chief Human Wrangler. Committed youth worker, general lead for all things people and wellness, for staff, for our young people and our community. 
  • Bailey Peryman - Co-Founder, General Manager, Underground Scientist: most comfortable in the midst of a compost heap, Bailey is responsible for the design and conditioning of the environments from which we then cultivate the best versions of each plant, person and the community. 
  • Sarah Chapman - Head Storyteller, significant local hospitality experience and connections, as well as experience in the compostable packaging industry and high level sales and customer and community relationship management capabilities. 
  • AJ van Dam - Produce Peddler and Organic Urban Counsellor:  A formally trained social worker who performs counselling organically during the flow of life on the Peterborough Urban Farm. Also a natural salesperson, musician, cook, Father and Husband. 
  • Amra Wallace - Urban Farm Manager: Amra came to us via the BHU Organics College at Lincoln University and has 2 years of full-time study in organic horticulture under her belt now. She’s also extremely good at organising the daily task schedule for all people expected to be on site.
  • Kolle Collis - Urban Farm Technician: Kolle gets all the technical stuff done around the farm and we’ve barely seen the beginnings of his full skill set in action. A committed permaculturalist.
  • Aaron Rowe - Farm Hand: Aaron is with us one day a week while studying organic horticulture at the BHU. We can’t wait to have him around more for so many reasons. 
  • Rhea Deacon - Iron Kermit Pilot: Rhea collects the organic material from our CBD customers and returns clean bins on a reliable and uber-friendly basis. Also fluent in French just FYI. 
  • Renee - Administration Guru: Renee is moulding our internal systems and practices into all sorts of efficient and powerful forms. We’re excited about what this will enable in terms of the level of information we can provide to our supporters, customers and community regarding Cultivate’s impact and how relationships with people make this happen.
  • Fi Laird - School Holiday Youth Programme: Fi brings in a range of young people during school holidays, mostly those needing to complete community service hours (which means they can get discharged from the Youth Court). 
  • Ryan Mattingly - Urbundance Foreman: Ryan has landscape, residential and commercial construction experience as well as a design degree and a significant background coaching and mentoring kids in sports teams. Also a pounamu carver! 

 

 

What we've done so far

Since beginning in 2015, we have:

  • Secured 2.5 hectares of land for our urban farm network, making sales every week from December 2015
  • Offered 16 youth internships and 540 work experience opportunities for young people between the age of 15-24
  • Diverted over 100 tonne of food waste from landfill, currently 2-2.5 tonnes per week - using an E-Bike and Trailer
  • Completed two trials for collection and processing of commercially compostable packaging
  • Initiated a landscape construction contract with a developer for a 700-unit subdivision
  • Established a partnership with the Canterbury District Health Board to transform an unused hospital facility into a community resource
  • Raised $700,000 in Grants and Donations as startup funds

 

What's next?

We have the land, the products, the core mission and the people. Now we need to implement our plan to get to self sustainability!

But, Cultivate Compost was not factored into the original business plan. In fact - our co-founder Bailey has even tried to bury it several times in order to keep Cultivate focused (despite starting it and being an avid composter himself!). 

The demand and potential for Cultivate Compost beyond servicing our own composting needs has been so overwhelming that we have decided to put it to our crowd to see if this is really something we should take on for good. 

So, we’re issuing our Broccoli Bonds to raise up to $200,000. This money will fund the infrastructure to grow our organic waste and compostable packaging collection services in the CBD. 

 

What does this mean if you pledged $500 to be repaid over 5 years? 

If you chose

 Cash Principal (quarterly)

Product Principal (quarterly)

Interest Paid Over Loan (average quarterly)

Total Value of all Loan Repayments

Whole principal in cash with 5% cash interest

$25

$0

$3.41

$568.20
Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

Half principal and interest in cash with 10% cash interest rate (other half in product)

$12.50

$12.50

$7.07

$641.50

($391.50 in cash)

Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

Principal and interest fully in product with 15% cash interest rate

 

$0

$25

$10.98

$719.60

($219.60 in cash)

Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

The produce options are just for locals who can pick up their produce from the markets, or for you to gift to loved ones. Produce repayments will be in the form of vouchers issued each quarter and redeemable through Cultivate. These vouchers will expire within 3 months from the issue date (i.e. quarterly). 

A little bit of your loan is paid back each quarter (known as a “Principal & Interest” loan - a mortgage works the same way), so your principal amount is reducing gradually over time. The interest you’ll earn at each repayment date will be a little less each time, because your chosen interest rate (5%, 10% or 15%) will be applied to an ever-reducing principal.

Note that Resident Withholding tax will be withheld by PledgeMe and paid to IRD on repayments.

 

How the money will be spent?

 

 

Description

Amount

How it will help us grow

Plant & Machinery

$70,000 - $85,000

Our existing home-style community composting system can handle 20 bins per week. With a successful raise, we can upgrade our composting facilities to process 35 bins per week and transport surplus to an existing industrial composting facility, rather than attempting this scale all at once. We need: 1 x Tipper Truck with Double Cabin - $40,000 1 x E-Bike and Trailer upgrade - $5,000 (new bike battery and re-design of trailer) 1 x Waiheke community composting bay system + training with Richard Wallis - $15,000 1 x Bin Tipper - $10,000

Marketing & Comms Manager Financial Sustainability Officer

$24,500

$24,500

A Marketing and Communications Manager (relationships with customers and our crowd) - 0.4 FTE A Financial Sustainability Officer (grant funding, create true reporting/triple bottom line accounting framework, up-spec financial management systems) - 0.4 FTE

Marketing collateral

 

$10,000

Design work, website upgrade, site signage and sponsor-advertising hoardings, flyers, in-store stickers, branded clothing

Consents and Environmental Compliance

$10,000

Primarily to ensure our control measures for managing organic waste are accepted by local and regional council planning officers.

Professional services

$10,000

Tailored support for social enterprises to manage CCC procurement and tendering processes

Riverside Farmers’ Market shop design & fitout 

$20,000

Design work, labour and materials

Contingency

$2,800

 

PledgeMe fees

up to $13,200

5.5% of loan (if the campaign meets our goal by our deadline)

 

 

 

Risks and Challenges

Risks.

How we'll mitigate it.

Invest in infrastructure for CBD and then don’t get contract

• We are already part of the council process, and know our competition.

• We have a distinct advantage with social procurement.

• We know what they charge, we can compete on price.  

• We also have a social impact.

• Can include compostable packaging, whereas our main competitors won’t go there.

• Clear communications.

• Still have other products / services to offer.

 

Loss of key staff

• Documenting processes
• Vision is bigger than individual sta , so we are con dent the mission would continue.

 

Third party involved in composting and they are currently going through consenting process

• We won’t engage until the consenting is complete.
• We are completing due diligence, and have clear require- ments for them.
• We would build our own facilities if this relationship doesn’t work. This would extend out our timeframes.

 

Not hitting forecasts etc

Attempt to provide realistic forecasts etc, but we will have a long repayment term for this loan to allow for plenty of time to repay.

Note from PledgeMe

We have completed a Veda check on the company and their directors, as well as a google check. There were no adverse findings.

Updates 8

2018 Update on Cultivate's Broccoli Bonds Campaign

18/02/2018 at 9:30 PM

Dear Pledgers and Supporters of Cultivate’s Broccoli Bonds Campaign

 

Happy 2018!!! As usual, it’s hard to believe we’re well into February already.

 

Running this campaign last year produced a major positive outcome in the form of the willingness of our community to join in supporting Cultivate on a deeper level. That shows a level of trust that we value highly in return, so thank you once again for your commitment.

 

Since the campaign began, three central members of the Cultivate team have signalled that they need to wind back their time over the coming year, as they prioritise other personal life events. They make up half our full-time equivalent staff!

 

In light of this, as a small social enterprise startup we've had to take a good hard look at our plans, to make sure that we are focused on our core activities during this period of change.

 

While the commercial model for the composting initiative remains solid, we have always known that this would take a lot of our focus. We also stated in the Information Memorandum that changes to key staff was a critical risk factor. We’ve come up against that and it has changed our confidence levels.

 

Right now we've decided to focus on continuing to create productive urban farms and edible landscapes that support positive youth development and local community participation. We won’t be drawing down your pledges and proceeding with the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

 

We will be maintaining the current level of service provided by Cultivate Compost. We will be in contact with all of our current Compost customers separately to discuss what this will mean for our Compost collections service in the long run.

 

There has been some exciting new interest expressed by two highly respectable local charitable organisations who may be able to takeover the collection and processing operation we have built. That’s all we can say on this for now, however we will keep you posted within the next month or before if anything changes.

 

Many thanks again for your patience and support for Cultivate’s mission.

 

Kind regards,

 

Bailey and the team at Cultivate Christchurch

Changes to the campaign

07/12/2017 at 9:59 AM

Dear Pledgers and Cultivate Supporters,

 

Thank you all for your patience in the follow-up from the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

 

Some significant changes have arisen, mostly to do with staff wellbeing and staff changes happening at short notice. This concerns key roles that are directly involved in growing the Compost service and implementation of the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

What this means for you and for Cultivate as a whole is that we need to put delivery of the Broccoli Bonds campaign on hold until the New Year. No pledges will be coming out of your accounts and if that has occurred already then PledgeMe will be refunding your money immediately.

 

We will then make a decision in the new year, about whether we have the team necessary to proceed with composting or not. At that point, we will confirm with you if you are still willing for us to process your pledge.

 

The options from here are still being formulated and will include meaningful ways you can still be involved in supporting Cultivate to grow and deliver exciting, valuable and necessary services for Christchurch.

 

We’d love to hear from you about why you pledged and what you think is most important about what Cultivate continues to do. You can do that by simply replying to this email. Please note we may not reply to each and all of you, but know that we’ll be reading and carefully considering all your feedback!

 

With gratitude to you all,

 

Bailey and the Team at Cultivate Christchurch

Thank you again!! + Next steps…

24/11/2017 at 8:51 PM

To our newest supporters and Broccoli Bond holders,

 

We’re really so thrilled with the success of the Broccoli Bonds campaign. It’s a bold plan and for those 4-5 weeks we put full our trust in our community to carry us forward - and did you what?! Crowdfunding is nerve-wracking and we’re so glad for your support throughout - it’s been heartwarming.

 

I said to our crew the day after we extended the campaign for a week, that it felt like the whole process had been successful already, without having reached our funding target. And that was because the funding part of the crowdfunding process was always secondary to our number one interest - connecting on a deeper level with our crowd in order to do meaningful stuff together.  

 

PledgeMe is now verifying your identities based on the information your provided when you registered. This is required under some pretty hefty legislation, and could take up to a week. After that, you will receive payment details. We'll have the loan contract established in the next two weeks, and any later payments will be added to the contract just before Christmas.

 

Standby for more updates and we look forward to inviting you down to the farm on Peterborough sometime soon to share more about our plans for the immediate future.

 

You’re all awesome.

 

Warm regards,

 

Bailey

 

p.s. check out some pictures of our first Edible Landscaping job completed at the Halswell Commons subdivision.

 

 

 

Extending our campaign til next Monday at 9pm

13/11/2017 at 6:20 PM

Hi Pledgers,

 

The time for Cultivate to grow is now, with our crowd.

 

This crowdlending process has been pretty amazing for us. We’ve gotten such great support from people like you, and everything up until now has been a success in our minds. To fully realise this campaign though, we need one more week to harvest all the good stuff that is growing with our crowd.

 

We have some pledgers in the works, but need to provide them a bit more info. We’re confident we’ll get them on board, but just need a bit more time. That’s why we’ve gotten a week extension from PledgeMe.

 

The campaign will now close at 9pm on Monday, 20 November.

 

If you have any questions just send me an email ([email protected]).

 

Cheers,

Bailey and the Cultivate Team

 

(ps. The link to the campaign is pldg.me/broccoli if you wanted to pledge or share with your crowd).

7 more hours to go!

13/11/2017 at 12:27 PM

Hey pledgers,

 

Today’s the day!

 

The final day to pledge to our campaign. We’ve had over $111,000 pledged so far, but we still need just under $50,000 in the next 7 hours to get us over the line.

 

Thank you so much for your pledge so far.

 

We need your help. Now more than ever. Can you please:

  1. Share why you’ve pledged on your social medias (with the link: pldg.me/broccoli)

  2. Shoulder tap anyone you think might be interested

 

We are currently the only means of green waste collection in the Christchurch CBD but need to raise money to grow our infrastructure to keep up with demands, and continue to turn green waste into beautiful lush compost.

This is a lending campaign, so you get your money back, either in cash, fruits, vege, and compost, or edible landscaping services.

 

Cheers,

Bailey and the Cultivate Team

Find out more here https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/loans/35-cultivate-christchurch - there is only 7 hours to go!

Three days to go!!

10/11/2017 at 10:30 AM

Cultivate Christchurch is growing and we’re opening up an unique investment opportunity for our community to get on board!

 

There’s nothing new that Cultivate is proposing to do here, for two years we’ve been successfully operating across all our enterprise branches: Produce, Compost and more recently Edible Landscaping.

 

This campaign is targeted at securing the resources we need to build infrastructure to service more of the CBD with food waste and compostable packaging collections.

 

Over summer 2016-17, we ran a trial composting all the PLA - coffee cups, soup bowls, plates and cutlery - from the Night Noodle Markets, Sparks in the Park and Christchurch Lantern Festival. This was in partnership with the Christchurch City Councils Events Production Team.

Building a simple hot heap - containing 150kg of PLAFinished product - over to the worms to do the work

The amount was small, something in in the order of 18,000 units, as we know there are millions in circulation in Canterbury each year. The trial has been a success and certainly captured the interest of the compostable packaging companies.

 

Together, as a community, we can divert more than 40 tonnes of compostable packaging and food waste each week from the CBD alone. And not only that, we use it to build nourishing soils and create training and employment opportunities for young people.

 

Please share this campaign with your family and friends, even just one other person - and they too can enjoy the healthy rewards, cash or produce (plus interest!!) in return on your loan to Cultivate!

You need to pledge to see this update.

We are 15% funded!

22/10/2017 at 7:11 PM

Thank you to those who have pledged so far!! Also a big thank you to the people who have been supporting through sharing what we’re doing and sending us plenty of awesome, kind encouragement. 

 

Urbundance begins! 

It’s been a big week for us getting our first Edible Landscaping project going. The site will become a community garden for residents of the new Halswell Commons subdivision. The timber for the planters comes from Halswell Timber (over the back fence), got prefabricated by the guys at the Halswell Menzshed, and put in place by our team including interns who have come through our youth programme. We’ll be managing the space ongoing as well, supporting the community to take ownership of the space in the long term. 

 

We’ve had some questions pop up a few times that we want to answer here, so here goes:

 

Do you send out produce to other parts of the country (I live in Wellington)? And what sorts of veges and herbs you are growing?

One of our main focuses is to produce food that is eaten locally, so shipping produce around the country isn’t part of our kaupapa. You can still pledge, but you would be better off going for the 5% option (or gift the produce on to someone who can collect locally).

We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018. 

 

What range of produce do you offer?

We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018. 

 

Can the vouchers be redeemed for other goods or services?

Yes! You could choose to redeem your vouchers for compost, organic waste/PLA collection and edible landscaping services. There’s also room for some strategic partnership opportunities. Want to discuss? Get in touch with us here: [email protected] 

 

Can I gift my voucher on?

Yes! You totally can. Just notify us of the name and details, and we’ll get it sent to them so they can collect their produce.  

---

We’ve made it past 15% of our target and we’re stoked. But, we really need to keep getting the word out there so people remember to make their pledge. Can you help us by telling your friends?

 

The media coverage we’ve had has led to some amazing recognition, now we need to convert that awareness to investment! You can help by sharing the various bits of media coverage we’ve had with your own crowd, through social media, or even to just one other person who you think might be interested and can help. The links are here:

RNZ’s Nine-to-Noon: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201860779/christchurch-urban-garden-provides-purpose-connection

RNZ’s Business Report: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/341323/broccoli-bonds-a-different-kind-of-greenback

Article on Stuff (with video): https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/97487229/dogooding-companies-hunt-for-investors-with-a-conscience

    Details

    Financial Summary

    Prev Year Current Year Est. FY 2024 Est. FY 2025
    Revenue NZ $324,486 NZ $554,000 NZ $874,000 NZ $1,109,000
    Operating Expenses NZ $256,990 NZ $360,000 NZ $780,000 NZ $907,000
    EBITDA NZ $0 NZ $184,000 NZ $94,000 NZ $202,000
    Net Profit NZ $67,496 NZ $179,000 NZ $76,007 NZ $187,446

    Organisation Information

    Organisation Name: Cultivate Christchurch

    Organisation Type: Company

    Organisation Number: 5886429

    Incorporation Date: May 2015

    Street: 16 McCombs Street

    Suburb: Somerfield

    City: Postcode

    Organisation documents

    This campaign has closed, so its documents are no longer available for download.

    Director details

    Name Role Profile URL Invested?
    Bailey Peryman Co-Founder, General Manager https://www.linkedin.com/in/bailey-peryman/
    Fiona Stewart Co-Founder, General Manager https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-stewart-24177513/
    Jeska McHugh Director (Environmental Specialist) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeska-mchugh-516a2825/
    Jared Connolly Director (Organic and Biodynamic Farming and Gardening) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-connolly-1b64a7a4/
    Sam Elder Director https://www.linkedin.com/in/samelder/

    Questions 3


    Do you send out produce to other parts of the country (I live in Wellington)? And what sorts of veges and herbs you are growing?

    Posted on 17-10-2017 by Terumi Isogai

    Hi Terumi,

    Thanks so much for your interest in Cultivate!

    One of our main focuses is to produce food that is eaten locally, so shipping produce around the country isn’t part of our kaupapa. You can still pledge, but you would be better off going for the 5% option (or gift the produce on to someone who can collect locally).

    We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018.

    Cheers,
    Bailey

    Answered on 18-10-2017 by Bailey Peryman


    I have a question about the urban farmland - are you going to growing in raised beds, or directly into the soil?

    Posted on 10-11-2017 by ALex

    Hi Alex,

    Thanks for your question. We have 2 different answers to that for each of our sites we're currently growing on. At both we grow directly into the soil but it's important to have some more context about their history.

    At Peterborough, when we first secured the site it had a thin layer of topsoil over compacted rubble as this was a site cleared of its buildings post-EQ. We tested the soil (no contamination) and then begun building our own through a combination of composting and an in-ground soil-building technique called 'trenching', mostly using food waste.

    At Halswell, we had soil tests made available to us by the developer of the subdivision. The area we are growing in is clean and a beautiful deep loam typical of the Halswell area, although it's quite wet ground in winter!. It's a pleasure to work with once we get the twitch grass cleared (without using nasty chemicals).

    Answered on 10-11-2017 by Bailey Peryman


    Hi team,
    Thank you so much for all ideas and action you have been doing. This is future! Good job guys!
    P.s. I have one question:
    Where do you get all seeds from? Is it surely non GMO?
    Thank you for your time, much appreciated.
    Renata

    Posted on 15-11-2017 by Renata

    Pledgers 140

    Rachel Smith
    07/11/2017 at 7:45pm
    DANA LOUISE ROWLAND
    07/11/2017 at 6:06pm

    "Beautiful idea, incredible people, you are making an impact. It would be amazing if there was a garden/compost plot in Wellington "

    Dave Allison
    07/11/2017 at 3:56pm
    Hannah Sim
    07/11/2017 at 3:02pm
    Renee Cornelius
    07/11/2017 at 11:15am

    "Only wish I could to pledge more. C'mon Christchurch — let's lead NZ in creating sustainable, resilient, healthy, happy communities."

    Jeremy Ray
    07/11/2017 at 8:01am
    Andrew Day
    06/11/2017 at 3:05pm
    Barry Grehan
    06/11/2017 at 9:45am

    "Beautiful broccoli bonds!"

    Philip Lee
    05/11/2017 at 2:24pm

    "Spread the love and the compost!"

    Peter
    05/11/2017 at 1:34pm
    Nina Perez Izadi
    03/11/2017 at 10:09am

    "Really love what you do!"

    keira
    02/11/2017 at 8:08pm
    Jonathan Brown
    02/11/2017 at 12:47pm
    Adam Millen
    02/11/2017 at 12:57am

    "I love what you're doing and I'm excited to be able to support it!"

    Gaynor O'Sullivan
    01/11/2017 at 9:34pm

    "Great idea:Great outcomes for several community sectors"

    Alison & Ian O'Connell
    01/11/2017 at 2:09pm

    "Fantastic social enterprise. Great to see a business plan with a heart and soul. Christchurch is lucky to have you."

    Kerrie
    31/10/2017 at 9:26pm
    Charlotte Rebbeck
    31/10/2017 at 3:43pm

    "please can we have compost instead of veges as I have my own garden. all the best"

    Dugganopoly
    30/10/2017 at 10:17pm
    Ben Taylor
    30/10/2017 at 9:16pm
    Sean Barnes
    30/10/2017 at 8:52pm

    "Love your work Cultivate Crew 🌲"

    Gerald Hargreaves
    28/10/2017 at 2:33pm

    "Compost please as arrangement with Fi. What a great campaign. "

    Rosie Souter
    27/10/2017 at 8:59pm
    Di & Bob Tanner
    26/10/2017 at 11:20pm

    "Great initiative; Great greens"

    Jeska McHugh
    26/10/2017 at 7:31pm
    Shane Kelly
    26/10/2017 at 12:21pm
    Robyn Pelvin
    25/10/2017 at 10:59am

    "Good luck, great initiative!"

    Lyneke Onderwater
    25/10/2017 at 9:57am

    "Sound like a very sensible project. Unfortunately I won't be able to eat from it due to distance."

    emily
    23/10/2017 at 8:10pm
    Matthew Baird
    23/10/2017 at 3:50pm

    Followers 24

    Followers of Cultivate Christchurch

    Cultivate Christchurch

    We think organic/green waste and compostable packaging in Christchurch CBD should be composted, but we need your help.

     We’re borrowing $160,000 to expand our composting programme. If we do not reach our goal, the pledges will not be processed and we will not expand our service.

     Cultivate Christchurch is a social enterprise that combines productive urban farming, youth development and community participation.

    We generate revenue to sustain our work through three products: Produce, Compost, and Edible Landscaping (Urbundance).

    We have launched this campaign to grow our infrastructure to be able to keep up with demand for our CBD green waste collection and compost processing.

    We are the ONLY Compost facility in Canterbury to accept compostable packaging (PLA). 

    Over the past two years, collecting from our 14 current accounts in CBD, we have diverted over 2 tonne EVERY WEEK from landfill. 

     

    Help us end the coffee cup packaging issue. Join our community today!

     

    Our Broccoli Bonds

    The Broccoli Bonds are a little different. We wanted to create a loan that helped feed our purpose of inspiring young people to live lives they value in an urban farm setting.

    You can choose to have your loan paid back in three ways. Either:

    1. Whole principal repaid in cash plus 5% cash interest; or
    2. Half principal repaid in product half cash plus 10% cash interest; or
    3. All principal repaid product with 15% cash in interest

    You can find out more about the Broccolli Bond offer in our Investment Memorandum

    Creative Ways Our Broccoli Bonds can Work For You

     

    1. Edible Landscaping services - a little time goes a long way in a backyard; our team of organic gardening experts has boundless inspiration you can tap into. Simply redeem your vouchers for design, build or maintenance support in a garden of your choosing.

    2. Compost! A $500 pledge amounts to 7 tonnes, delivered within Christchurch only. Grow your own Broccoli instead!

    3. Compost Collections and Produce Deliveries. Businesses in the CBD can use the vouchers for our urban farm services.

    4. Partner with us to deliver our project at scale. Custom collaborations where our values align. You know it's the right thing to do!

     

     

     

    Our core mission

    Inspiring young people to live lives they value in an urban farm setting.

    Our spaces and our products help us with our core mission: to train and support young people. We help young people have more meaningful and deeper connections with others and the land. There is an urgent need to find innovative, affordable ways to re-engage our most challenged young people and enable them to play a valuable and rewarding role in society. 

    We directly address a range of complex problems including: 

    • 6400+ Young People (ages 15-24) not engaged in education, training or employment and needing high levels of support.
    • 40+ tonnes per week of organic material (food waste and compostable packaging) from the Christchurch CBD going to landfill every week.
    • The total number of New Zealand farmers is falling and their average age is getting older. Our next generation of food producers are going to come from predominantly urban backgrounds.  
    • There are limited accessible opportunities for people, particularly children, to connect with the source of food and the natural world in an urban environment.

     

    Our land

    We currently have 2.5 hectares of land across three locations under Cultivate management in Christchurch. Of that, 2,500sqm is currently in effective production, which equals 12% capacity in terms of potential revenue generation from the total land area we have available. 

    We are aiming to grow to 50% capacity by March 2019, and can grow out to 90% over time. At 50%, or 1 hectare of effective production, the ‘Produce’ division of Cultivate will be performing at the scale we need to sustain our operations.

     

    Our products

    C Closed loop infograph (2).jpg

    1) Cultivate Produce 

    We convert vacant and underutilised space into productive urban farms growing high quality salads, herbs and niche gourmet crops for 12 cafes and restaurants in the Christchurch CBD. We also sell direct to the public from the Peterborough Urban Farm.

    We follow a combination of organic and biodynamic horticultural standards although the short term tenure of our land base means that certification is not currently possible. 

     

    2) Cultivate Compost

    From Sep 2015 - Sep 2017 we took over a voluntary composting initiative from Agropolis. This has grown from 4 to 14 customers, which is from 7 to 22 bins per week. We charge $20 per bin.

    We offer a CBD collection service for organic material including food and commercially compostable packaging (think: takeaway coffee cups). Organic material is then composted on our farms and used to grow our crops for Cultivate Produce. 

    Our E-Bike and Trailer known as ‘The Iron Kermit’ currently collects 2-2.5 tonnes of food waste per week, from 5-10% of the CBD market. At our Peterborough Urban Farm we have built 500 tonnes of new soil enabling production on top of a rubble site. 

    Cultivate is the only service in the region that currently accepts commercially compostable packaging in its organic waste bins. 

      

     

    3) Edible Landscaping (Urbundance) 

    We construct and manage productive ‘commons’, meaning public or shared greenspace areas, while supporting local groups and neighbourhoods to become guardians of these spaces in the long term.

    Our first construction contract begun in mid-September 2017 with the Halswell Commons housing exemplar. The first stage of the project involves the Halswell Menzshed who will be pre-fabricating the raised vegetable planters for the two community gardens. This community engagement is led and coordinated by Cultivate on behalf of the developer and has strong initial buy-in from key community partners and local suppliers of materials for the construction work. 

    Concept design for Stage 1 Halswell Commons Community Gardens (source

      



    About our Team

     

     

    We have a core staff of 11 people working on Cultivate, which currently works out to 6.0 FTEs. On top of that we have 8 paid youth interns who work with us 4 days per week as well as some receiving support with gaining formal qualifications and further education. 

    A core central services team supports the administration, marketing and HR functions of all of Cultivate’s enterprises. All our staff are naturally caring, genuine and nurturing types with leadership, mentoring and many varying strengths that provide high quality role models to the young people participating on our farms. 

    • Fi Stewart - Co-Founder, General Manager, Chief Human Wrangler. Committed youth worker, general lead for all things people and wellness, for staff, for our young people and our community. 
    • Bailey Peryman - Co-Founder, General Manager, Underground Scientist: most comfortable in the midst of a compost heap, Bailey is responsible for the design and conditioning of the environments from which we then cultivate the best versions of each plant, person and the community. 
    • Sarah Chapman - Head Storyteller, significant local hospitality experience and connections, as well as experience in the compostable packaging industry and high level sales and customer and community relationship management capabilities. 
    • AJ van Dam - Produce Peddler and Organic Urban Counsellor:  A formally trained social worker who performs counselling organically during the flow of life on the Peterborough Urban Farm. Also a natural salesperson, musician, cook, Father and Husband. 
    • Amra Wallace - Urban Farm Manager: Amra came to us via the BHU Organics College at Lincoln University and has 2 years of full-time study in organic horticulture under her belt now. She’s also extremely good at organising the daily task schedule for all people expected to be on site.
    • Kolle Collis - Urban Farm Technician: Kolle gets all the technical stuff done around the farm and we’ve barely seen the beginnings of his full skill set in action. A committed permaculturalist.
    • Aaron Rowe - Farm Hand: Aaron is with us one day a week while studying organic horticulture at the BHU. We can’t wait to have him around more for so many reasons. 
    • Rhea Deacon - Iron Kermit Pilot: Rhea collects the organic material from our CBD customers and returns clean bins on a reliable and uber-friendly basis. Also fluent in French just FYI. 
    • Renee - Administration Guru: Renee is moulding our internal systems and practices into all sorts of efficient and powerful forms. We’re excited about what this will enable in terms of the level of information we can provide to our supporters, customers and community regarding Cultivate’s impact and how relationships with people make this happen.
    • Fi Laird - School Holiday Youth Programme: Fi brings in a range of young people during school holidays, mostly those needing to complete community service hours (which means they can get discharged from the Youth Court). 
    • Ryan Mattingly - Urbundance Foreman: Ryan has landscape, residential and commercial construction experience as well as a design degree and a significant background coaching and mentoring kids in sports teams. Also a pounamu carver! 

     

     

    What we've done so far

    Since beginning in 2015, we have:

    • Secured 2.5 hectares of land for our urban farm network, making sales every week from December 2015
    • Offered 16 youth internships and 540 work experience opportunities for young people between the age of 15-24
    • Diverted over 100 tonne of food waste from landfill, currently 2-2.5 tonnes per week - using an E-Bike and Trailer
    • Completed two trials for collection and processing of commercially compostable packaging
    • Initiated a landscape construction contract with a developer for a 700-unit subdivision
    • Established a partnership with the Canterbury District Health Board to transform an unused hospital facility into a community resource
    • Raised $700,000 in Grants and Donations as startup funds

     

    What's next?

    We have the land, the products, the core mission and the people. Now we need to implement our plan to get to self sustainability!

    But, Cultivate Compost was not factored into the original business plan. In fact - our co-founder Bailey has even tried to bury it several times in order to keep Cultivate focused (despite starting it and being an avid composter himself!). 

    The demand and potential for Cultivate Compost beyond servicing our own composting needs has been so overwhelming that we have decided to put it to our crowd to see if this is really something we should take on for good. 

    So, we’re issuing our Broccoli Bonds to raise up to $200,000. This money will fund the infrastructure to grow our organic waste and compostable packaging collection services in the CBD. 

     

    What does this mean if you pledged $500 to be repaid over 5 years? 

    If you chose

     Cash Principal (quarterly)

    Product Principal (quarterly)

    Interest Paid Over Loan (average quarterly)

    Total Value of all Loan Repayments

    Whole principal in cash with 5% cash interest

    $25

    $0

    $3.41

    $568.20
    Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

    Half principal and interest in cash with 10% cash interest rate (other half in product)

    $12.50

    $12.50

    $7.07

    $641.50

    ($391.50 in cash)

    Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

    Principal and interest fully in product with 15% cash interest rate

     

    $0

    $25

    $10.98

    $719.60

    ($219.60 in cash)

    Minus $5 (1% fee on principal repayment)

    The produce options are just for locals who can pick up their produce from the markets, or for you to gift to loved ones. Produce repayments will be in the form of vouchers issued each quarter and redeemable through Cultivate. These vouchers will expire within 3 months from the issue date (i.e. quarterly). 

    A little bit of your loan is paid back each quarter (known as a “Principal & Interest” loan - a mortgage works the same way), so your principal amount is reducing gradually over time. The interest you’ll earn at each repayment date will be a little less each time, because your chosen interest rate (5%, 10% or 15%) will be applied to an ever-reducing principal.

    Note that Resident Withholding tax will be withheld by PledgeMe and paid to IRD on repayments.

     

    How the money will be spent?

     

     

    Description

    Amount

    How it will help us grow

    Plant & Machinery

    $70,000 - $85,000

    Our existing home-style community composting system can handle 20 bins per week. With a successful raise, we can upgrade our composting facilities to process 35 bins per week and transport surplus to an existing industrial composting facility, rather than attempting this scale all at once. We need: 1 x Tipper Truck with Double Cabin - $40,000 1 x E-Bike and Trailer upgrade - $5,000 (new bike battery and re-design of trailer) 1 x Waiheke community composting bay system + training with Richard Wallis - $15,000 1 x Bin Tipper - $10,000

    Marketing & Comms Manager Financial Sustainability Officer

    $24,500

    $24,500

    A Marketing and Communications Manager (relationships with customers and our crowd) - 0.4 FTE A Financial Sustainability Officer (grant funding, create true reporting/triple bottom line accounting framework, up-spec financial management systems) - 0.4 FTE

    Marketing collateral

     

    $10,000

    Design work, website upgrade, site signage and sponsor-advertising hoardings, flyers, in-store stickers, branded clothing

    Consents and Environmental Compliance

    $10,000

    Primarily to ensure our control measures for managing organic waste are accepted by local and regional council planning officers.

    Professional services

    $10,000

    Tailored support for social enterprises to manage CCC procurement and tendering processes

    Riverside Farmers’ Market shop design & fitout 

    $20,000

    Design work, labour and materials

    Contingency

    $2,800

     

    PledgeMe fees

    up to $13,200

    5.5% of loan (if the campaign meets our goal by our deadline)

     

     

     

    Risks and Challenges

    Risks.

    How we'll mitigate it.

    Invest in infrastructure for CBD and then don’t get contract

    • We are already part of the council process, and know our competition.

    • We have a distinct advantage with social procurement.

    • We know what they charge, we can compete on price.  

    • We also have a social impact.

    • Can include compostable packaging, whereas our main competitors won’t go there.

    • Clear communications.

    • Still have other products / services to offer.

     

    Loss of key staff

    • Documenting processes
    • Vision is bigger than individual sta , so we are con dent the mission would continue.

     

    Third party involved in composting and they are currently going through consenting process

    • We won’t engage until the consenting is complete.
    • We are completing due diligence, and have clear require- ments for them.
    • We would build our own facilities if this relationship doesn’t work. This would extend out our timeframes.

     

    Not hitting forecasts etc

    Attempt to provide realistic forecasts etc, but we will have a long repayment term for this loan to allow for plenty of time to repay.

    Note from PledgeMe

    We have completed a Veda check on the company and their directors, as well as a google check. There were no adverse findings.

    2018 Update on Cultivate's Broccoli Bonds Campaign

    18/02/2018 at 9:30 PM

    Dear Pledgers and Supporters of Cultivate’s Broccoli Bonds Campaign

     

    Happy 2018!!! As usual, it’s hard to believe we’re well into February already.

     

    Running this campaign last year produced a major positive outcome in the form of the willingness of our community to join in supporting Cultivate on a deeper level. That shows a level of trust that we value highly in return, so thank you once again for your commitment.

     

    Since the campaign began, three central members of the Cultivate team have signalled that they need to wind back their time over the coming year, as they prioritise other personal life events. They make up half our full-time equivalent staff!

     

    In light of this, as a small social enterprise startup we've had to take a good hard look at our plans, to make sure that we are focused on our core activities during this period of change.

     

    While the commercial model for the composting initiative remains solid, we have always known that this would take a lot of our focus. We also stated in the Information Memorandum that changes to key staff was a critical risk factor. We’ve come up against that and it has changed our confidence levels.

     

    Right now we've decided to focus on continuing to create productive urban farms and edible landscapes that support positive youth development and local community participation. We won’t be drawing down your pledges and proceeding with the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

     

    We will be maintaining the current level of service provided by Cultivate Compost. We will be in contact with all of our current Compost customers separately to discuss what this will mean for our Compost collections service in the long run.

     

    There has been some exciting new interest expressed by two highly respectable local charitable organisations who may be able to takeover the collection and processing operation we have built. That’s all we can say on this for now, however we will keep you posted within the next month or before if anything changes.

     

    Many thanks again for your patience and support for Cultivate’s mission.

     

    Kind regards,

     

    Bailey and the team at Cultivate Christchurch

    Changes to the campaign

    07/12/2017 at 9:59 AM

    Dear Pledgers and Cultivate Supporters,

     

    Thank you all for your patience in the follow-up from the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

     

    Some significant changes have arisen, mostly to do with staff wellbeing and staff changes happening at short notice. This concerns key roles that are directly involved in growing the Compost service and implementation of the Broccoli Bonds campaign.

    What this means for you and for Cultivate as a whole is that we need to put delivery of the Broccoli Bonds campaign on hold until the New Year. No pledges will be coming out of your accounts and if that has occurred already then PledgeMe will be refunding your money immediately.

     

    We will then make a decision in the new year, about whether we have the team necessary to proceed with composting or not. At that point, we will confirm with you if you are still willing for us to process your pledge.

     

    The options from here are still being formulated and will include meaningful ways you can still be involved in supporting Cultivate to grow and deliver exciting, valuable and necessary services for Christchurch.

     

    We’d love to hear from you about why you pledged and what you think is most important about what Cultivate continues to do. You can do that by simply replying to this email. Please note we may not reply to each and all of you, but know that we’ll be reading and carefully considering all your feedback!

     

    With gratitude to you all,

     

    Bailey and the Team at Cultivate Christchurch

    Thank you again!! + Next steps…

    24/11/2017 at 8:51 PM

    To our newest supporters and Broccoli Bond holders,

     

    We’re really so thrilled with the success of the Broccoli Bonds campaign. It’s a bold plan and for those 4-5 weeks we put full our trust in our community to carry us forward - and did you what?! Crowdfunding is nerve-wracking and we’re so glad for your support throughout - it’s been heartwarming.

     

    I said to our crew the day after we extended the campaign for a week, that it felt like the whole process had been successful already, without having reached our funding target. And that was because the funding part of the crowdfunding process was always secondary to our number one interest - connecting on a deeper level with our crowd in order to do meaningful stuff together.  

     

    PledgeMe is now verifying your identities based on the information your provided when you registered. This is required under some pretty hefty legislation, and could take up to a week. After that, you will receive payment details. We'll have the loan contract established in the next two weeks, and any later payments will be added to the contract just before Christmas.

     

    Standby for more updates and we look forward to inviting you down to the farm on Peterborough sometime soon to share more about our plans for the immediate future.

     

    You’re all awesome.

     

    Warm regards,

     

    Bailey

     

    p.s. check out some pictures of our first Edible Landscaping job completed at the Halswell Commons subdivision.

     

     

     

    Extending our campaign til next Monday at 9pm

    13/11/2017 at 6:20 PM

    Hi Pledgers,

     

    The time for Cultivate to grow is now, with our crowd.

     

    This crowdlending process has been pretty amazing for us. We’ve gotten such great support from people like you, and everything up until now has been a success in our minds. To fully realise this campaign though, we need one more week to harvest all the good stuff that is growing with our crowd.

     

    We have some pledgers in the works, but need to provide them a bit more info. We’re confident we’ll get them on board, but just need a bit more time. That’s why we’ve gotten a week extension from PledgeMe.

     

    The campaign will now close at 9pm on Monday, 20 November.

     

    If you have any questions just send me an email ([email protected]).

     

    Cheers,

    Bailey and the Cultivate Team

     

    (ps. The link to the campaign is pldg.me/broccoli if you wanted to pledge or share with your crowd).

    7 more hours to go!

    13/11/2017 at 12:27 PM

    Hey pledgers,

     

    Today’s the day!

     

    The final day to pledge to our campaign. We’ve had over $111,000 pledged so far, but we still need just under $50,000 in the next 7 hours to get us over the line.

     

    Thank you so much for your pledge so far.

     

    We need your help. Now more than ever. Can you please:

    1. Share why you’ve pledged on your social medias (with the link: pldg.me/broccoli)

    2. Shoulder tap anyone you think might be interested

     

    We are currently the only means of green waste collection in the Christchurch CBD but need to raise money to grow our infrastructure to keep up with demands, and continue to turn green waste into beautiful lush compost.

    This is a lending campaign, so you get your money back, either in cash, fruits, vege, and compost, or edible landscaping services.

     

    Cheers,

    Bailey and the Cultivate Team

    Find out more here https://www.pledgeme.co.nz/loans/35-cultivate-christchurch - there is only 7 hours to go!

    Three days to go!!

    10/11/2017 at 10:30 AM

    Cultivate Christchurch is growing and we’re opening up an unique investment opportunity for our community to get on board!

     

    There’s nothing new that Cultivate is proposing to do here, for two years we’ve been successfully operating across all our enterprise branches: Produce, Compost and more recently Edible Landscaping.

     

    This campaign is targeted at securing the resources we need to build infrastructure to service more of the CBD with food waste and compostable packaging collections.

     

    Over summer 2016-17, we ran a trial composting all the PLA - coffee cups, soup bowls, plates and cutlery - from the Night Noodle Markets, Sparks in the Park and Christchurch Lantern Festival. This was in partnership with the Christchurch City Councils Events Production Team.

    Building a simple hot heap - containing 150kg of PLAFinished product - over to the worms to do the work

    The amount was small, something in in the order of 18,000 units, as we know there are millions in circulation in Canterbury each year. The trial has been a success and certainly captured the interest of the compostable packaging companies.

     

    Together, as a community, we can divert more than 40 tonnes of compostable packaging and food waste each week from the CBD alone. And not only that, we use it to build nourishing soils and create training and employment opportunities for young people.

     

    Please share this campaign with your family and friends, even just one other person - and they too can enjoy the healthy rewards, cash or produce (plus interest!!) in return on your loan to Cultivate!

    You need to pledge to see this update.

    We are 15% funded!

    22/10/2017 at 7:11 PM

    Thank you to those who have pledged so far!! Also a big thank you to the people who have been supporting through sharing what we’re doing and sending us plenty of awesome, kind encouragement. 

     

    Urbundance begins! 

    It’s been a big week for us getting our first Edible Landscaping project going. The site will become a community garden for residents of the new Halswell Commons subdivision. The timber for the planters comes from Halswell Timber (over the back fence), got prefabricated by the guys at the Halswell Menzshed, and put in place by our team including interns who have come through our youth programme. We’ll be managing the space ongoing as well, supporting the community to take ownership of the space in the long term. 

     

    We’ve had some questions pop up a few times that we want to answer here, so here goes:

     

    Do you send out produce to other parts of the country (I live in Wellington)? And what sorts of veges and herbs you are growing?

    One of our main focuses is to produce food that is eaten locally, so shipping produce around the country isn’t part of our kaupapa. You can still pledge, but you would be better off going for the 5% option (or gift the produce on to someone who can collect locally).

    We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018. 

     

    What range of produce do you offer?

    We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018. 

     

    Can the vouchers be redeemed for other goods or services?

    Yes! You could choose to redeem your vouchers for compost, organic waste/PLA collection and edible landscaping services. There’s also room for some strategic partnership opportunities. Want to discuss? Get in touch with us here: [email protected] 

     

    Can I gift my voucher on?

    Yes! You totally can. Just notify us of the name and details, and we’ll get it sent to them so they can collect their produce.  

    ---

    We’ve made it past 15% of our target and we’re stoked. But, we really need to keep getting the word out there so people remember to make their pledge. Can you help us by telling your friends?

     

    The media coverage we’ve had has led to some amazing recognition, now we need to convert that awareness to investment! You can help by sharing the various bits of media coverage we’ve had with your own crowd, through social media, or even to just one other person who you think might be interested and can help. The links are here:

    RNZ’s Nine-to-Noon: http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/201860779/christchurch-urban-garden-provides-purpose-connection

    RNZ’s Business Report: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/business/341323/broccoli-bonds-a-different-kind-of-greenback

    Article on Stuff (with video): https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/better-business/97487229/dogooding-companies-hunt-for-investors-with-a-conscience

      Financial Summary

      Prev Year Current Year Est. FY 2024 Est. FY 2025
      Revenue NZ $324,486 NZ $554,000 NZ $874,000 NZ $1,109,000
      Operating Expenses NZ $256,990 NZ $360,000 NZ $780,000 NZ $907,000
      EBITDA NZ $0 NZ $184,000 NZ $94,000 NZ $202,000
      Net Profit NZ $67,496 NZ $179,000 NZ $76,007 NZ $187,446

      Organisation Information

      Organisation Name: Cultivate Christchurch

      Organisation Type: Company

      Organisation Number: 5886429

      Incorporation Date: May 2015

      Street: 16 McCombs Street

      Suburb: Somerfield

      City: Postcode

      Organisation documents

      This campaign has closed, so its documents are no longer available for download.

      Director details

      Name Role Profile URL Invested?
      Bailey Peryman Co-Founder, General Manager https://www.linkedin.com/in/bailey-peryman/
      Fiona Stewart Co-Founder, General Manager https://www.linkedin.com/in/fiona-stewart-24177513/
      Jeska McHugh Director (Environmental Specialist) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeska-mchugh-516a2825/
      Jared Connolly Director (Organic and Biodynamic Farming and Gardening) https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-connolly-1b64a7a4/
      Sam Elder Director https://www.linkedin.com/in/samelder/

      Do you send out produce to other parts of the country (I live in Wellington)? And what sorts of veges and herbs you are growing?

      Posted on 17-10-2017 by Terumi Isogai

      Hi Terumi,

      Thanks so much for your interest in Cultivate!

      One of our main focuses is to produce food that is eaten locally, so shipping produce around the country isn’t part of our kaupapa. You can still pledge, but you would be better off going for the 5% option (or gift the produce on to someone who can collect locally).

      We grow to the seasons and currently our focus is on producing high value salad greens, baby root crops and herbs for local restaurant customers. Our plan is to add more to this range by the time we start making repayments at the end of March 2018.

      Cheers,
      Bailey

      Answered on 18-10-2017 by Bailey Peryman


      I have a question about the urban farmland - are you going to growing in raised beds, or directly into the soil?

      Posted on 10-11-2017 by ALex

      Hi Alex,

      Thanks for your question. We have 2 different answers to that for each of our sites we're currently growing on. At both we grow directly into the soil but it's important to have some more context about their history.

      At Peterborough, when we first secured the site it had a thin layer of topsoil over compacted rubble as this was a site cleared of its buildings post-EQ. We tested the soil (no contamination) and then begun building our own through a combination of composting and an in-ground soil-building technique called 'trenching', mostly using food waste.

      At Halswell, we had soil tests made available to us by the developer of the subdivision. The area we are growing in is clean and a beautiful deep loam typical of the Halswell area, although it's quite wet ground in winter!. It's a pleasure to work with once we get the twitch grass cleared (without using nasty chemicals).

      Answered on 10-11-2017 by Bailey Peryman


      Hi team,
      Thank you so much for all ideas and action you have been doing. This is future! Good job guys!
      P.s. I have one question:
      Where do you get all seeds from? Is it surely non GMO?
      Thank you for your time, much appreciated.
      Renata

      Posted on 15-11-2017 by Renata

      Followers of Cultivate Christchurch

      Rachel Smith
      07/11/2017 at 7:45pm
      DANA LOUISE ROWLAND
      07/11/2017 at 6:06pm

      "Beautiful idea, incredible people, you are making an impact. It would be amazing if there was a garden/compost plot in Wellington "

      Dave Allison
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      06/11/2017 at 9:45am

      "Beautiful broccoli bonds!"

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      "Spread the love and the compost!"

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      "Really love what you do!"

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      "I love what you're doing and I'm excited to be able to support it!"

      Gaynor O'Sullivan
      01/11/2017 at 9:34pm

      "Great idea:Great outcomes for several community sectors"

      Alison & Ian O'Connell
      01/11/2017 at 2:09pm

      "Fantastic social enterprise. Great to see a business plan with a heart and soul. Christchurch is lucky to have you."

      Kerrie
      31/10/2017 at 9:26pm
      Charlotte Rebbeck
      31/10/2017 at 3:43pm

      "please can we have compost instead of veges as I have my own garden. all the best"

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      Gerald Hargreaves
      28/10/2017 at 2:33pm

      "Compost please as arrangement with Fi. What a great campaign. "

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      "Great initiative; Great greens"

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      "Sound like a very sensible project. Unfortunately I won't be able to eat from it due to distance."

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      This campaign was successful and got its funding on 2017-11-20 08:08:06.

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