The nursery volunteers are busy each Friday morning with lots of spring tasks. Seedlings are sprouting, weeds are growing and potting is going on apace, we have even had to water the nursery (very early in the season). Volunteers on a Friday can take away some plants for free for their efforts and we are selling plants at $5 each PB3 size pots. We have had some big sales for spring planting so be in soon if you want plants that are ready now. Amongst all this activity there has been the Bushy Point planting day where the 29000th native plant has been planted. All plants grown in the Community Nursery by Linda and Ray – a massive effort.
Posted: 24 October 2018
Over a couple of days in September Kate De Silva came and re-measured the four vegetation plots in our covenant and at Bushy Point. The research is under the Urban Research Programme – Bushy Point Restoration Sites – Waikato University - People, Cities & Nature (Restoring indigenous nature in urban environments) https://www.peoplecitiesnature.co.nz. There are plots throughout the country to study how light, microclimate, and understorey conditions change over the first 40 years of development in a restoration project. Six months of ground temperature was downloaded directly from an “ibutton” and other vegetation parameters were measured.
Posted: 24 October 2018
After lunch we had a group of students from the Southern Institute of Technology, studying in the Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Health Sciences (Wellness and Rehabilitation) Programme. This group came to the community nursery to explore being in nature and how this links to wellness. We went for a walk through the orchard, looked at the vege gardens and worm farm and went on the bush walk past the 20-25 year old plantings and into the mature kahikatea swamp forest to soak up the grandeur of 400 year old trees. This was great to get a sense of why we do what we do in the nursery…to grow trees to plant out, to grow into forests that give us the experiences that existing areas of remnant forests do. Linda also came over to the Nature Centre and gave her perspectives on the benefits of nature for physical and mental wellbeing. We also talked about Bushy Point reserve – what is happening at this site with rehabilitation/restoration and conservation of the local natural environment. Their next visit we will do some hands-on experience of nursery life.
Bronwyn and Chris
Posted: 5 September 2018
In the morning we had the Makarewa Playcentre visit as part of their learning around nature (plants, bugs and worms) and conservation. At the worm farm the tamariki were either mesmerised or grossed out by the worms in the worm farm! We talked about how the worms in this bath ate all the food waste and made compost and worm juice which is great for growing vegetables and other plants. In the education centre we had some kai, explored the tunnel and then potted up some baby NZ native plants – kohuhu and cabbage trees. We noticed their roots and the leaves (or shoots) and talked about how to cover the roots with dirt and that plants needed water to grow. Chris noticed some kereru in the kowhai tree nearby so we set off for a walk, stopping to notice these treasures of the forest. The tamariki were fascinated by these huge birds as they ate the new shoots on the kowhai trees. We continued on around the pond noticing the leaves on the trees, feeling the prickly totara and smooth broadleaf leaves. Further exploration of the tunnel and opening the doors to find what lives in our environment and completing the big floor puzzles of the spider and red admiral butterfly, some bug hunting and identification, and listening to the “No Mr Possum” song completed the visit to the nursery.
Bronwyn and Chris
Posted: 5 September 2018
A beautiful sunny day meant that for this event we were able to wander outdoors, exploring all the way. We first noticed the monkey puzzle tree, feeling how prickly it was and learning that it is a native of Chile in South America. The 10 children and 6 adults then headed out towards the pond, stopping to feed the resident ducks and hearing all about how Chris and Brian have created the pond and planted NZ natives. Learning about the adjacent Bushy Point reserve and how the Otatara Landcare Group is restoring this area, and seeing the plantings over the years filled in the afternoon. We had a kai stop at the Bushy Point pond and it was great to just sit and be in nature. We look forward to the Bushy Point planting day on 8 September.
Bronwyn
Posted: 5 September 2018
