Over 700 Katikati locals, young and old enjoyed a visit from ‘Buggin Around with Ruud’ presenter Ruud Kleinpaste on Friday 20th November. It was an action-packed day, with the scientist sharing his knowledge at Katikati Kindergarten, Katikati Primary School and Katikati College. The students at all three venues were captivated. Twenty people joined Ruud on a garden ramble in Jizzy Green’s highly productive food producing garden in Park Rd and the vege garden at Katikati College. Ruud’s ‘How to Murder your plants more slowly” event captivated a full house with around 80 people gathered in the St Paul’s Presbyterian Church that evening to hear Ruud’s enthusiasm for the insect world. Ruud touched on the critical role bugs have in our ecosystem and how they are becoming an inspiration for new design solutions. His presentation was well received, with a tangible mindset shift towards the insect world felt by the end of his presentation. “The big picture is to get a reconnection going with nature” said Ruud.

The event  was organised by Katikati Taiao’s Anne Billing and supported by Kings Seeds, Katch Katikati and the Tauranga Garden and Art Festival. Anne thanks Rudd and all those involved. The event helped to raise funds for Grow on Katikati, a project to grow vegetable seedlings and generate a move towards food security in Katikati. Read more on Ruud’s visit to Katikati click here