How to bee-friendly in your backyard
Sun 25 September 10 am to noon
The Southland Bee Society will be holding a free workshop for families at Southland Community Nursery 185 Grant Road Otatara.
Park at the 183 Grant Road car park and follow the bees to the Education Centre!
Posted: 31 August 2016
The Community Nursery is now closed on Fridays from August to October 2016 but there are still some exciting events below
Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) Event – Building weta motels – Saturday 13 August 2016 - Southland Community Nursery Education Centre – 2-4pm. (Bronwyn KCC 213 0017 – [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
Apple Grafting Workshop with the Guytons - Saturday 24 September 2016 1-3pm. Booking Essential (Workshop limited to 10 people - $20 including a grafted tree. More grafted trees to purchase $5 each). Contact for Bookings Lesley Catterall [Enable JavaScript to view protected content] Ph 021 916 124
Bee Friendly Workshop for families with Southland Bee Society – Sunday 25 September 2016 - activities for children, bee advice, planting for bees. 10am-noon. Community Nursery contact Bronwyn Graham[Enable JavaScript to view protected content] Ph 213 0017. Southland Bee Society Sonya Crook [Enable JavaScript to view protected content]
Natural Body Products Workshop Saturday 15 October 2016 Honorlea Mangion 9.30-2.30pm Bookings essential. $60, BYO lunch to share.
Contact for bookings and more information Honorlea Mangion [Enable JavaScript to view protected content] Ph 03 2254652
School Bookings for the Education Centre – Contact Bronwyn Graham - Bronwyn Graham [Enable JavaScript to view protected content] Ph 213 0017
Posted: 1 August 2016
Winter Breakup was held on Friday 22 July 2016 and a good crowd gathered to celebrate the season ending and looking forward to spring. The nursery will re-open in September. Also, Chris’ birthday, it was a special day to celebrate with friends, Chris’ Mum Marjorie and Brian had even taken a day off work!
See you all in September
Chris
Posted: 25 July 2016
Apple Pruning Workshop 24 July 2016
In atrocious weather, Robert and Robyn Guyton held a “Pruning Workshop” at the Community Nursery on Sunday. The Education Centre proved its worth again with the Guyton’s able to explain the principles of pruning (with live plant examples) in the relative comfort of the building! They were also able to show a slide presentation about the Southland Open Orchard project – a really inspiring project that you can be involved in – read all about it at http://www.sces.org.nz/open-orchard-project. As Robert commanded the rain to abate so we could get outside – indeed it did! Participants then went out to Rances orchard to do some real life pruning on a range of different aged trees (under the anxiously watchful Chris and Brian).
Dates for your diary in September
Another workshop - “Apple Grafting with Guyton’s” will be held on Saturday 24 September 2016 (afternoon). Booking Essential (Workshop limited to 10 people - $20 including a grafted tree. More grafted trees to purchase on the day $5 each). Email Chris as there are only a few places left. Close off for bookings will be 6 August 2016.
A Bee Friendly Workshop for families with Southland Bee Society – activities for children, bee advice, planting for bees – Sunday 25 September 2016 – 10am-noon.
Posted: 25 July 2016
A very keen group of 8 people from the Clyde Community Nursery came on Friday 8th July 2016. It was a minus 5 frost so they probably felt very at home!
I was lucky to attend their inaugural working bee at Clyde in April 2016 mainly as we have some mutual members of both nurseries who informed us about it – Maggie and Stephen! I was most impressed with the high number of volunteers who were there working away at the old DOC nursery at the railhead in Clyde. The group were steadily making progress uncovering the structures and plants that had been neglected in the last little while.
I had been told the group had also been seed collecting and were keen to learn about propagation from cuttings so Bill Nagle arranged a visit here.
The group came armed with scrumptious treats for morning tea (they put us to shame actually!) and we toured the nursery and restoration area while our vollies carted gravel and did cuttings under Linda’s charge! After lunch Chris and Linda ran a cuttings workshop using a wide range of plant species, before the group headed off back to Clyde later in the afternoon.
Some comments from Bill and Connie were “Great learning, great company, great weather and a great example of what can be done with knowledge, commitment and enthusiasm. What a wonderful inspiration for us”.
Posted: 14 July 2016