The Southland Community Nursery’s Inspired by Nature activities set up alongside Lloyd Esler’s In the Wild at Kidzone this year. Lots of fun was had by adults and children alike creating at the nature art table, looking closely at insects…with responses varying from “eww luck” to “that’s cute”, having some laughs and giggles pinning the tail on the piwakawaka, working out how your adventure score, and the most popular of all the leaf rubbing activity! A big thanks to the lovely volunteers making fun for families. The highlight was seeing dads, mums, grandparents, aunts, uncles and older siblings or cousins spending time together with their children.
Posted: 22 July 2021
2021 Apple Pruning and Grafting Workshops at the Southland Community Nursery with Guytons
Apple Pruning Workshop
Date Saturday Morning 17th July 2021 10am-1pm
Apple Grafting Workshop
Date Wednesday Afternoon 15 September 2021 1-4pm
For more information about the South Coast Environment Centre Open Orchard project and Apple information see https://www.sces.org.nz/open-orchard-project
Cost for attendance of each workshop is $20 cash per person with an additional $6 per grafted tree (which you take home) for the Grafting workshop.
Bookings to [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
Workshop Location – Southland Community Nursery Education Centre – please park at 183 Grant Road and follow signs through the orchard and garden to the Centre. The workshop will go ahead regardless of the weather.
Posted: 9 July 2021
Sheltering under trees, and dodging hail we still managed a morning of bug searching and ticking items off our scavenger hunt list. We found spiders, weta, slaters, hoppers and a centipede. We spent a lot of time noticing closely the different habitats or homes that these creatures live in. We looked at bark, through cabbage tree leaves, in bug hotels and under logs. All the leaves of the trees were different - some rough, smooth, long or round - and some trees didn’t have leaves! We even saw worms - in the worm farm! In between outside excursions we looked at bugs, did the floor puzzles, counted the legs of different bugs, listened to the noises of different birds using the puppets and books, looked closely at bird nests, listened to a Matariki story and had some kai.
Bronwyn
Posted: 7 July 2021
It was great to be a part of the first mirco investigators hui at SIT. Students got to share their findings of their microplastics data collection from their local awa/river and take part in a range of fun activities. Huge thanks to Christine Liang and her team at SIT. It was encouraging to hear riparian planting being suggested by students as one solution to the wider view of river pollution. To find out more check out https://microinvestigators.nz/
Bronwyn
Posted: 7 July 2021
A super keen group left after visiting at the nursery today having been well and truly inspired to start growing and planting at their school place! The group started to think about what edibles they can focus on so that they are eaten and used by the school community, and were introduced to the possibilities of fruit trees as well.
Switching to NZ native plants the group learnt all about NZ natives, starting to identify the different species we grow and have at the Southland Community Nursery. The restoration forest and kahikatea swamp forest were explored, leaves smelt and tasted as we cemented our learning about NZ natives. Management of pests, traps and bait stations were noticed, and talked about, and the pest target species identified. We looked at seeds of NZ natives and potted up some mānuka seedlings into bigger pots.
It was great to connect to Middle School through Sport Southland’s Community School Connector Josephine who joined and supported this group on their visit today. I look forward to visiting the school.
Bronwyn
Posted: 7 July 2021
