2 July 2017 - Apple Pruning with Guytons - 2 sessions 10am-noon and 1pm-3pm at Southland Community Nursery, Otatara. Learn all about heritage apple varieties, the Southland Open Orchard project, how to recognise a fruiting spur and all about rootstock, equipment and techniques needed for pruning and do some hands on pruning at Rances. Subsidised by the Community Nursery - Only $5 per person - Bookings Essential – 12 people per session – first come first served - contact
Another very successful workshop was held at the weekend making lip balms, salt scrubs, bath salts and moisturising bars from natural materials. The cold didnt put off the enthusiastic participants and everyone benefited from Honerleas wealth of knowledge and experience as well as taking away the products made on the day. People keep asking me how we can run these courses for as little as $50 - the answer is that the Community Nursery is sponsoring the workshops, supported by a funding grant from the ILT Foundation. So thanks to the funders, to Honorlea and to everyone who has attended workshops so far. The Natural Body Products workshops will take a short winter break and then we will have more workshops from August to December, and the next will be making soaps. If you want to express interest and go on an email list for future natural body product workshops email Honorlea
Matariki Night Celebrations are going to be held on Saturday 17 June 2017 at the Community Nursery Education Centre and hopefully outside. Kiwi Conservation Club families are welcome from 5pm t0 7pm - bring along some food and a torch. The Matariki night activities will continue until 9pm - bring along some supper to share and drinks.
The date has changed from 24 June - so please put the new date in your calendar. This is a combined Family and KCC night of fun so come along with some supper to share and enjoy swede carving, candle making and other activities and farewell the old season and welcome in the new.
Please park at the 183 Grant Road carpark and follow the silver fern leaves to the education centre - bring a torch!
12 May 2017 Apple Pressing was fun as usual with a lot of apples turned into golden nectar – or that’s what I thought! At the end we pressed some crab apples and I was surprised how drinkable it was and others said the same. So being a good soul, I gave some away to a friend and I got the following email back “By the way, the crab apple juice is horrendous”! Oh well…… maybe a good one for turning into cider!
Around 20 people came to press apples and I estimate 90 litres of juice was made. It’s an energetic and fun activity and once again we are indebted to Malcolm McKenzie for bringing along his fabulous cider press for us to use and his honey for us to buy – thanks Malcolm.
Just like how our children grow, so do the trees in our forests. I lined the children up from tallest to shortest showing that like how they grow, so do the trees. The trees start as a tiny seed and grows bigger and bigger…
We then had a wonderful time looking for seeds around the Southland Community Nursery and nearby Bushy Point, finding and collecting harakeke/flax, ti kouka/ cabbage tree, kohuhu/ pittosporum, koromiko/ willow-leaved hebe, and Manuka/ tea tree seeds. We looked at what size and colour they were and how they can be dispersed around our forests to find somewhere to grow.
We talked about how we eco source seeds and propagate native plants at the Southland Community Nursery in order to grow around 10,000 plants per year for planting in and around the community.
We had fun climbing cabbage trees, completing the Mother’s Day scavenger hunt, seeing a nursery web spider (very well camouflaged in the mingimingi), seeing weta in the Bushy Point super sleuth bug motel, delighted in the numerous piwakawaka/ fantail follow us everywhere, and finished with a fabulous double rainbow over the nursery pond. We took seeds home to plant. This was a great way to spend a Mother’s Day afternoon. Bronwyn
