Community Nursery Update and Winter Closing Date 27 June 2025
Our last day for Friday volunteers will be Friday 27 June 25. For regulars you’ll also know this is the day we will be drawing the Jo Ogier raffle for the amazing kaka print! Drum roll……..
For Matariki we sowed all of our seeds for the season with a hardy bunch of volunteers as the weather was again questionable! We also got a shout out on National Radio courtesy of Judy who txted in our intention to sow seeds for Matariki, which seemed very appropriate.
We have now sown over 8000 species of seed over the 30 years we have been operating – all locally sourced. This year we have sowed around 40 large trays and a similar number of small trays of seed for use in local projects next season. Last weekend another 100 plants went to the Oreti Totara Dune Forest where Barry Smith again arranged for Southland Tramping Club members and a few hangers-on, like ourselves, to plant and cover the plants near Matai Grove.
If you missed out on our seed collecting, cleaning and sowing efforts have a look at the following link https://www.southlandcommunitynursery.org.nz/restoring-your-patch/get-growing/seeds/
As you will see we sow all our seeds now, in winter, outside but under shadecloth enclosures (so birds and mice don’t eat them) and leave them out over winter for the rain and cold to get at them. This negates the need to “cold stratify” them and replicate winter – we don’t need to do that as we actually get a winter! We expect the seedlings to come up in September – probably more a response to day length than temperature as the timing seems to be consistent each year, regardless of the weather.
Next Friday we will be doing cuttings, drawing the Jo Ogier raffle prize, socialising and having kai so bring your best baking!! If you haven’t been for a while come along and share the camaraderie. We will then be taking a break, coming back in September.
A future date for your calendar is Saturday 18 October when we will be planting more of our plants at Bushy Point. It’s the 25th anniversary of the Otatara Landcare Group and the Bushy Point Project and all 37,000 plants to date have come from the Community Nursery. For many years Linda and Ray produced the plants in the Nursery and later years the Community Nursery took over all of the growing. Watch out for publicity nearer the time, but put the date in your calendar today!
Chris and Brian
Posted: 22 June 2025