News and Events

Kindergartens South Nature Discovery Seminar

Monday 14th July Kindergartens South Nature Discovery Seminar was held in the Education Centre.  It was an inspiring day where all the Kindy’s doing nature discovery programmes reported back on their successes and challenges. The seminar was followed by a walk around the Rances facilities and tracks and after lunch we all went to see the Myross Bush section that Kindy South have bought for the purpose of nature discover.  It is visionary and we wish them every success and look forward to working together with children enjoying and learning from nature.

Community Nursery Closed for Winter!

Community Nursery Closed for Winter

We will be reopening on Friday 3rd October 2014. In the meantime winter is a great time for reflecting and planning what you will do in the coming season. See you in springtime!

Community Nursery activities in July 2014

Community Nursery activities in July 2014

 

After collection of seeds in February to June early July saw us seed cleaning and then seed sowing all the locally collected seeds for next season. Have a look on the website for instruction on how to grow seed and cuttings.

 

4 and 11 July - Cuttings workshops have been held – propagating plants that we didn’t manage to get seeds off and creating next seasons stock for the nursery

Matariki and Swedes!

What have Matariki and Swedes got in common I hear you ask! Well on Friday 20th June we celebrated the changing of the seasons at the nursery with a cuttings workshop in the morning (looking forward to spring and the new growing season), soup and sourdough bread (courtesy of Honorlea), followed by a swede carving workshop in the afternoon. The swedes were formed into lanterns to be used in a number of Matariki events in our community. Rosemarie Smith wrote up the swede part for her “gardening” column in the Southland Times

 

Waiau Area School Tuatapere “Creating a community nursery and garden”

 

It was all action as Waiau Area School arrived at the Community Nursery. The group split into two groups – the first with Honorlea and Chris Mangion exploring the vegetable and fruit gardens and the second with Chris Rance studying the structures and facilities needed to set up a community nursery and garden.  There was a lot of activity and enthusiasm as the nursery and garden were explored and ideas were put up on the whiteboard inside the Education Centre.  After lunch in the Nature Centre the whole group followed Chris around the ponds and bush tracks, collecting seeds and learning about native plants and animal pests along the way.