Another very successful workshop was held by Honorlea – Kakariki Natural Beauty on Saturday 25 May 2019. Booked up well in advance the 10 participants enjoyed the experience of learning about natural products – such as using different oils and gaining an understanding of the range of materials available and some of the pitfalls of using conventional products.
Then it was on to the making – with salt scrubs, bath salts, pour and melt soaps and a beautiful moisturising bar.
Everyone delighted in choosing their personal scents, essential oils and clays and natural herbs.
After a yummy shared lunch we all went outside around the bush and ponds to look at other products in nature such as horopito and manuka and just enjoying being out in nature.
As much as anything, such workshops give people the opportunity to relax, in a lovely scented environment, network and chat and take a “day out” for themselves.
Thanks to Honorlea for sharing her extensive knowledge and to everyone for the camaraderie, the shared food and the lovely waiata to close. It was a memorable day and we look forward to other workshops in springtime. Thanks also to the ILT Foundation for funding to make such workshops possible.
Chris
Posted: 27 May 2019
An informal pest workshop was held in the Education Centre by Mark Oster on Tuesday 21 May 2019. The aim was to familiarise Education Staff on the pest animals and techniques to control them, from a teaching perspective. Mark had on hand his box of stuffed critters (rats, mustelids, possums), traps and lots of stories – from the uniqueness of New Zealand’s, now vulnerable, biodiversity and the importance of protecting it, to the life cycle of the animals themselves, to the history of animal introductions to NZ, to the conversations about trapping and killing of creatures in order to protect the creatures that are unique in NZ. Then on to practical demonstrations of how to handle and set the traps and how to use tracking tunnels and chewtags to detect what you have got on your property or school. It was a very informative morning.
Chris
Posted: 27 May 2019
Again, we were very fortunate to have Artist Jo Ogier come down from Christchurch to tutor the Nature Journaling workshop. Day one was fine and sunny – great, after tutoring sessions, to be able to get out and do some field sketching around the bush. Close observation was one of the main themes for the day and really taking in the environment in which you are in. Lots of techniques were taught and Jo brought along her extensive selection of mediums for people to try. For day two the weather was wet and windy so not conducive for going outside. However, Jo had many subjects brought inside for people to paint and draw and the landscape could be well observed through the Nature Centre windows!
As always, it was a very concentrated, but fun, learning environment and an intense couple of days. Trying to get people to take a break from their work was difficult but the work produced by everyone was amazing to see.
Thanks Jo for your wonderfully relaxed style of teaching, everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t wait for the next workshop. Next day I took Jo to her “Happy place” - the Art Supplies Southland shop 130 Dee Street. This is an amazing art shop and they will give good deals if you mention that you have done a Jo Ogier workshop, they offer great advice so be sure you go and have a look around.
Chris
Posted: 14 May 2019
Another year’s apples have been juiced and maybe turned into cider! Around 20 people came with their crop of apples and Malcolm’s cider press was again in full production between 11am and 3pm. This year we collected, froze and pressed our cider apples separately and were pleasantly surprised how sweet the juice was (considering the apples themselves are virtually inedible!). Others brought thawed apples which produce a very clear juice. Matt added yeast to some of our cider apple juice and we await the result!! Other people brought fresh apples to be chipped and then pressed and the resulting taste tests all produced very nice juice for drinking. The apple crop in Southland seemed to be more prolific than previous years though it was apparently more difficult to find roadside trees in fruit this year – maybe the result of late frosts in springtime. Thanks once again to Malcolm for bringing the Cider Press and allowing us to use it for another good event.
Chris
Posted: 14 May 2019
Two Native Plant ID Workshops were held for SIT first year Environment Students on Monday 29 April and 6 May 2019. The Workshops are an adaptation of the two day NZPCN Course, condensed into one day. The tutors were Jesse Bythell and Chris Rance and the courses are specifically focussed on Southland native plants and environments and have a field and classroom component.
The students seemed to really enjoy the course – even though the rain made hearing (and talking) difficult at times! Some of the comments below:
“Absolutely fabulous day, thank you very much”, “This workshop was incredibly informative and I really enjoyed all the learning, I cant wait to do more!”, “Keep up the great work. It is really inspiring and its awesome to see restoration and conservation at work”. “Listening to someone who is super passionate on the subject… very interactive and hands-on”
Chris and Jesse
Posted: 14 May 2019
