The enthusiastic No. 10 staff visited the nursery 26 September as part of their week of activities to acknowledge Mental Health Awareness Week. We shared with each other – who we are and what we do – great connections made. We also gave the No. 10 staff a taster of some of the activities we do with school groups that visit us, warming up with hot chocolate (and marshmallows) before venturing out into the invigorating weather for a bushwalk! We identified many NZ native plants and birds, potted up some seedlings, and the No.10 staff chose some plants to take back to their place to plant. By encouraging outdoor activity in nature, and improving the physical environment through planting and taking ownership and having pride in your living place are key to your own physical and mental well-being. A wonderful afternoon with a fantastic group of people. Number 10 is a youth one stop shop (YOSS) offering services to young people aged 10-24 years. Find out More at https://www.number10.org.nz/
Bronwyn
Posted: 30 September 2019
The Waverley Kea Scout group rugged up warm from the earlier hail, thunder and gale force winds, to enjoy a cold but dry time at the nursery. We took particular notice of the pest traps talking about what pests we target and why we want them gone from our native NZ forest and wetland habitats. We walked around the pond looking at some previous plantings the Scouting group had planted, the bug hotels and the NZ native trees. Back in the education centre we potted up some Mānuka seedlings before singing the “oh no Mr Possum” song. Some great questions and inquiring minds.
Bronwyn
Posted: 23 September 2019
Two new workshops are coming up at the Community Nursery in October - Apple Grafting with Guytons and Bird Drawing with Jo Ogier. From prior experience these workshops will be booked up very soon so if you are interested see the link below. For the Jo Ogier workshop there will be a limit of 12 people and prior payment will guarantee your place. The grafting workshop will be pay cash on the day but prior bookings are essential. Send me an email for either workshop to book your place.
The details of both workshops and costs are listed at https://www.southlandcommunitynursery.org.nz/education-centre/activities/workshops/
Posted: 16 September 2019
Connecting Communities – Good for Schools. Good for Children. Good for Communities - 4 September 2019
The Southland Community Nursery (Bronwyn, Chris and Edith) welcomed our involvement in Sport Southland’s Health & Physical Education (H&PE) day and we worked with other groups and agencies to highlight the importance of H&PE and the promotion of hauora (well being) to the participating schools. Over 900 students were registered and all got a taste of how a wide range of community groups can contribute to the physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well being needs and aspirations of children. While it was difficult to take the outdoors to the ILT Stadium we succeeded in providing a nature area to explore. We loved seeing the children choose, being engaged and empowered by their involvement in the day.
Hauora fits in so well with what we do at the nursery – through exploring nature we connect school children with the outdoors, connect schools with their communities and we link people to their environment and to their community. At the Southland Community Nursery we get outdoors where we connect with nature, and we let nature feed the soul. There is fresh air and we undertake physical activity, whether it be walking, digging a hole for a plant or running about the maze paddock! We encourage outdoor activity in nature and see the benefit of this for the mental and physical well being. Thanks to Sport Southland and their vision for holding this day.
Bronwyn and Chris
Ecofest – 7 September 2019
The Southland Community Nursery was also involved at the Spring Ecofest, at the Workingman’s Club where the themes were sustainability, new technologies, traditional crafts etc. People often need reminding that restorative tree planting and getting out into nature are a great response to todays problematic world – you do good for the environment and yourself! There were a wide range of stall holders, displays of goods and services and the showing of the inspirational Hugh Wilson Banks Peninsula restoration story movie which you can watch for free here - https://happenfilms.com/fools-and-dreamers
It was a day of connecting with those other groups such as QEII, Forest and Bird, Kiwi Conservation Club and the Otatara Landcare Group – all groups whose actions in the environment are making a difference!
Bronwyn and Chris
Posted: 9 September 2019
The Woodlands School Pukeko class inquiry this year is sustainability with a focus on bees. They have learnt a lot about bees already and have been looking at how they can make bees more sustainable at school and in their local Outdoor Learning Area in their community. So today at the nursery we had fun learning about planting plants that attract bees – with a focus on NZ native plants. We looked very closely at flowers or pictures of flowers (as at this time of year there are only a few natives flowering such as kowhai, kakabeak and fuchsia). The students used their fantastic knowledge of flower parts and pollination to identify all the parts, and we discussed aspects like colour, size and the shape of the flowers and how these flowers are used by plants to attract bees and other pollinators to the plant in order for it to be pollinated – plants really are quite clever! We explored who and what else pollinates native plants - native bees, moths and butterflies, flies, birds, other animals such as bats and geckos and wind. Chris got a bit carried away by the number of native bees – there are actually 28 species of native bee. Dodging the hail showers we went on a bush walk around the pond looking at all the different species of NZ native plants, and looking at the layers in the forest – an ecosystem of plants, insects, birds and other life. After lunch we potted up some manuka seedlings – bees love manuka flowers! The hail blasted us again as we potted up but it was fun (and the education centre was close by for shelter!).
There are many good reasons for planting trees, shrubs and flowers to attract bees to your place for the benefit of both the bees and the plants. Many Southland native species provide flowers that attract bees and there are a number of resources that have been compiled to help you choose appropriate species for our Region – see https://www.southlandcommunitynursery.org.nz/restoring-your-patch/planning-your-project/planting-for-bees/
Posted: 2 September 2019
