Kahui Manu Homebased education Group
22 September 2016 – Messy Fun!
Lots of messy fun had at the Community Nursery this morning down by the duck pond for our last session of the term! All sorts of crazy concoctions were in the making! :) Thanks heaps to Katie for a really nice relaxing way to finish what has been a very speedy but fun term of activities! Can’t wait to see what we get up to in Term 4!! Carmen
8th September 2016 - Predators
What a fantastic session today with Mark Oster on predators! (Thanks Kiri for organising). It was so cool to see the kids so engaged and having fun whilst exploring and learning. The children did a great job of getting up to present their posters to the group on what they thought made a good predator. There were 30 of us there in total today…..including a few awesome Dads! It was also really lovely to welcome Amy and wee Levi to the group today :) Carmen
25 August 2016 – Nature Exploration
Nice relaxing morning at the Community Nursery with 23 of us out and about exploring nature together. Insects, cool spider webs and a possum skull were some of the finds of our wee nature explorers! Carmen
19 August 2016 – Flax Weaving
Was a stunning day on Friday at the Community Nursery where 12 of us (including Katie Jo’s mum
Posted: 17 November 2016
On 24 September Robyn and Robert Guyton lead an apple grafting workshop for 20 participants organised by Lesley at the Community Nursery. This workshop follows on from the pruning workshops held in July where the “scions” are pruned off the particular species of apple you want to graft from, kept in the fridge until September and then grafted onto rootstock bought by Guytons as being the best rootstock to use in Southland. The “scions” are those named species you want for fruit – eg “Monty’s Surprise”. The SCES website has an excellent section on the process of grafting see www.sces.org.nz. Lesleys report follows.
A cold rain-sodden day in September found an eclectic group of enthusiastic would-be horticulturists gathered at the Southland Community Nursery. We’d come to learn the art and science of grafting heritage apple trees - a follow on workshop from the apple pruning some of us had done in July.
Robyn Guyton told the story of the apple and explained why grafting is the only effective way to duplicate the genetic code for a particular variety of apple. She talked about the different heritage apples that can be traced back to the earliest trees brought to and planted in Southland. And she shared how they have been systematically collecting their extensive range of heritage apples through the process we’d be learning.
Rob Guyton took over then with an extremely informative demonstration of the grafting process. He explained not only what to do but why it was important to do it that way. We were invited to choose from the many varieties the Guytons had brought with them and then we were let loose to try our hand at doing it ourselves.
Some of us were a little keener than others and wanted to keep on practicing. At $5.00 a tree, grafted and potted up, it was an excellent way to hone one’s skills and establish a foundation to a heritage orchard.
I came away with six grafted trees, each a different variety. Some eight weeks later they are all sprouting healthy leaves and branches - so I guess the grafts were successful. Lesley
Posted: 17 November 2016
KCC teamed up with the Southland Bee Society and Environment Southland and had a “How to bee-friendly in your backyard” event held at the Southland Community Nursery. This event coincided with Bee Aware Month with our aim of promoting how we can do our bit to help bees and other beneficial insects.
We had a bee-friendly flowering plants stall, showing both native and other species of plants that are great for bees. The activity for children involved matching the name of the plant on a card with the actual plant, and we got a bee friendly pack of seeds to bring home to plant. Families could also design a water supply for bees, learning how to do this without drowning the bees. This was great hands on fun! A table showing garden sprays highlighted how using these at your place can inadvertently kill bees. Families got a take home card listing the active ingredients to stay clear of to be bee-friendly. Honey tasting, spotting the Queen in the hive (she was busy laying eggs!), and looking at a bee keeper take a hive apart (with no bees in!) and looking at the honeycomb structure was amazing. Children also had activities including making a bee! A great day. Bronwyn
For more information about Southland Bee Society visit www.southlandbeesociety.nz
Posted: 17 November 2016
Honorlea held her third Natural Body Products workshop on 15th October and feedback from the 10 participants it was just as popular and successful as the previous two workshops and in most cases exceeded people’s expectations.
Most people also expressed interest in further workshops for making balms, soaps, moisturisers etc so watch this space for new workshops in the New Year.
Posted: 17 November 2016
The heavy steady rain didn’t deter the willingness of the Richmond Playcentre families to explore and get out in nature at the Southland Community Nursery.
The children potted up cabbage trees enjoying scooping up the dirt and patting it down. They loved the trolley that the re-potted plants went into.
The puzzles of the butterfly and the spider saw group cooperation and problem solving, the bug hunt saw the children observing the insects and how to keep them safe before returning them to their natural home, and the walk in the bush provided a sensory experience. A wet visit, but so such fun to catch raindrops on tongues! Bronwyn
Posted: 17 November 2016