27 November 2010

*Our 350 event

*We farewell Henry

*Summer events not to be missed

Also click on this link to read our 2010 Annual Report

Our 350 Event Here was the preamble… The 10th of the 10th at 10am we will be holding a working bee for Climate change and following that at noon we will meet on Riverton’s ‘viewing platform’ beside the museum. The ‘Great Unfurling’ of as many umbrellas as we can get, is all about sending a climate change message - if we don’t do something soon, we’re going to see a lot more rough weather (like that we watched recently, destroying our buildings and hammering our farms). So, grab an umbrella and some friends (make sure they grab theirs too) and join us for the ‘Great Unfurling. Bring your camera. It’ll be a colourful event. Shouldn’t take long either and you’ll be able to chat with others who are concerned about what’s happening to our climate…. Then came the reality! We were practically blown to bits! Riverton treated us to the very worst of her winds and didn’t relent ‘til we had all gone home! Nevertheless, after a half hour wait until we thought the worst of the gale over, we took our places on the platform and unfurled for the cameras. The sound of the wind on all the umbrellas was unexpectedly loud and the only other sound was laughter! There were casualties, inside outies and complete de-frocking! No one grizzled, mind you and great stoutness of heart was shown as expected, by the campaigners for a better world. Our turn-out was less than hoped for but more than conditions deserved. ( 35 instead of 350) There were umbrellas of all persuasions: beautifully printed art-pieces from the markets of Hong Kong, cute kiddie-brellas in the form of mice and ducks, striped golf umbrellas-turned-rags, natty self-deploying gents black city-brellas and heaven knows what else - it was all a swirl of colour, nylon and sea spray! Never again, I vowed, til next year, that’s certain. Congratulations all of you rugged Southlanders for your show of solidarity and your willingness to take part in what must be one of the decades vainest efforts to turn the tide of climate change! We will not be beaten (locked up perhaps, but not beaten!)

Henry Harrington passed away Henry was an old friend, a remarkable gardener who had an astonishing knowledge of seeds and getting them to grow and was a leading light in our southern organic garden circles. He was the founder of the Southland Seed savers network in 1999 and sent a great number of seeds in every year since- even this autumn from his rest home in Cheviot he sent us some salsify seeds and a long encouraging letter.

We sent this message up to Henry's daughter in Cheviot: ''Henry was the kind of gardener we all aspired to be – learned, meticulous, generous, and skilled and most importantly, successful. It seemed he could grow anything and had most of the plants known to mankind growing in his close-packed garden at Ohai. Bulbs, annuals, perennials, shrubs, vines, trees – whatever could be grown there, was. The special aspect of Henry’s garden and of Henry himself, were the seeds and the year by year collecting, drying, sifting and sorting that he did in order to supply his own garden for the following season and the gardens of who knows how many others as well. Henry taught us how to do those things, he taught our children the wonder of seeds and the tricks they needed to know to save their own, he gave seeds away to all and sundry, he posted them, hand delivered them, invited people to come and pick them. He advised, admonished, encouraged and entertained us with his deep knowledge and respect for the world of plants and we are very much the richer for it. Henry left us with a legacy that we act upon every day and we are grateful to him. Robert Guyton Chairman South Coast Environment Society''

Environment Centre News We are having a quieter time to catch up with filing, tidying and refreshing displays before the busy time over summer when the town doubles in size and holiday makers and travelers call in to our Centre. Our profile is very high now and the Centre, our displays and the services it offers is appreciated by all. We are about to print a new advertising postcard that will need to be dropped of around Southland so if you are travelling around let Carolyn know as she will co-ordinate their distribution. The cards will feature our new mural and be quite striking we hope. We have had some great spring courses, such as introduction to keeping poultry and cheese making with Sherry Elton. We have another set of courses on offer before mid December then courses will start again in mid February. Registration essential for all courses. Let Carolyn know what types of courses you would like next year. Carolyn usually works 10-2.30 Tuesdays so ring the centre or email her at education@sces.org.nz 2010 annual report is enclosed; it’s no wonder our year has been so busy

Coming up: December: Cob Oven (outdoor pizza oven) course Beginners guide to beekeeping course

‘Earthcrafts day’ Family event mid December once school finishes: $10 unaccompanied child or adult, $20 family pass Home made gifts, knitting, kite making, paper making, cooking and more. 10-3pm Flecks Hall date to be confirmed.

Jan 8th Riverton 175 year’s street day We will be adding to this day by running a scavenger hunt – only things that could have been in Riverton area 175 years ago will be required! Our Heritage Harvest Festival is on again the last weekend in March and will include a selection of Harvest theme workshops so keep that weekend free. Course lists for this will be out mid January.

Farmers’ Market building up again After a quiet winter we are now enjoying the first of the new seasons produce and also have a lot of seedlings, seed potatoes etc for gardeners. Delorus (a.k.a nightcaps tomatoes) will come as soon as the tomatoes are ready; She will also be bringing some veggies and home made pickles etc. Remember if you have excess home grown produce that is spray free bring it along to sell or swap. Within 70km of Riverton we have lots of organic produce: meat, milk, cheese, yogurt, ice-cream, honey, eggs, fresh fruit and vegetables, herbs and plants and even fresh baked bread. Come and support these growers and they will always be there for us. You may have noticed how the shelves emptied in the supermarkets after the earthquake? This is due to the fact that most products in supermarkets aren’t sourced from Southland. Let’s create a Southland wide network where Southlanders grow a range of food for Southlanders.

Fruit and Veggie Box scheme We are looking to start this again as soon as there are enough local fresh products on line. Louise is keen to take over now that Anna is working full time in town. They are redesigning the scheme to make it easier to manage and spreading the workload but also expanding the areas these will be available as a result. If you have a free space in Invercargill that could be used as a base a day or two each week let them know. If you are unable to grow enough of your own fruit an veggies and would like to be part of this network email Louise at: organicfood@sces.org.nz

Library news We have bought several new books - all paid members can take these out (four books for up to one month). Thanks Derek for these reviews:

Edible Garden Planner: Growing organic fruit and vegetables year-round D. Anthony & J. Muller

Creating an edible garden doesn’t take a lot of money and effort. Once you have a space for growing, you can get started with some basic tolls and seedlings or seeds. You can grow edibles in an extensive raised garden, or simply in a pot on a deck. Edible Garden Planner will help you to plan your garden over a year, making decisions easier and more effective. It contains a quick guide calendar, a planting calendar, storage methods, an A-Z to vegetable, herb, and fruit varieties. The Edible Garden Planner will take the guesswork out of gardening, maximising your enjoyment of both the garden and its produce.

The Good Life: Your Guide to Greener, Cheaper and More Fulfilling Life in New Zealand by Francesca Price

In The Good Life journalist and TV presenter Francesca Price offers a positive guide to a greener, cheaper and more sustainable life in New Zealand. She covers the ethical issues in a wide range of everyday subjects including shopping, parenting, food, building and renovating, holidays and community life. Each chapter includes interviews with well-known Kiwis who are looking for the greener options in life: David Trubridge talks about his approach to furniture design, Kay Baxter shares her wisdom on gardening and self-sufficient living, Laurie Foon tells of her determination to make fashion more sustainable. There are comments from celebrity greenies including Robyn Malcolm and Keisha Castle-Hughes. A key selling point of the book is the inclusion of websites and details for recommended suppliers, enabling instant access to more information. Full-colour photographs throughout make this an attractive and inspirational guide.

Mastering the Art of Self Sufficiency in New Zealand Author Murray Carolann

Making wine, spirits, dairying, milking, making butter and cheeses, keeping chooks, sheep, bread making, renewable energy, vegetable and fruit growing, beekeeping and making soap. The author has been doing it all on her 4 hectare block near Wellington.

Food Co-op News We had a lovely volunteer’s social event last Friday night - a great chance for volunteers who work on different days each week to meet each other. A big welcome to Kevin, Rosemary, Carol and Julie to our team and welcome back Dave, Doetie and the Aalders. Things are now going well with our new computerised system. The last corrections are now being made as we go and then administration time will be minimal just in time for the summer rush... As volunteers get used to it, both them and the customer will find it is much quicker. Everything pre priced, and with automatic adding up and change worked out. Robyn has made a great job of setting out the screen all colour co-ordinated and is providing on the job training to go with the easy to follow and also colour co-ordinated instructions. The hand written sales pages will slowly be phased out over the next few weeks but will be kept for emergencies e.g. if there is a power cut. As usual December is our lean month as far as the range of fresh produce that is available but the new seasons fruit and vegetables will start filtering in over January.

Green Fingers Garden Club We were fortunate to receive COG’s funding for this new project to keep the packs at $2 each (half the cost price) and already several schools are offering this Summer Holiday gardening project for their students. We will have them available to children by ‘Correspondence’ for $5- this includes postage $1.80 to post the pack out and another $1.80 for the certificate sent out once we receive the journal and pictures/drawings of their square metre vege garden. These will also be available from the Centre for $5 as a gift pack. A great gift idea for any primary school age child seeds and instructions on how to grow their first garden! When they return their journal we will post out their certificate.

Hot Day in the Orchard Today I baked an apple ... tree. I hadn't meant to and should have been more careful but up it went, the tree, in flames. It was an Alfriston, a rare heritage apple tree (of course) about 5 years old, recently pruned to about my height. It was the prunings I was burning nearby, all carefully controlled and watched over. I even draped some burlap over the tree to protect the new leaves from the heat of the fire. The phone rang (thanks Bob!) and I went up to the house to take the call. While I was there, the burlap caught fire and the tree followed soon after. I've not told Robyn. She'll not be pleased. I've pruned the tree again, down to knee height and it'll be alright, as I hope I will be too. (from robertguytonblogspot.com) P.S. The rootstock only survived…I will luckily be able to graft it again next year and Robert has been banned from starting any more ‘food forest fires’!

Buy eco friendly gifts this year we have a great range at the Centre including the Global Soap Company range which are so beautifully presented and not expensive.

We are endeavoring to get the Coastline out monthly and did well the first half of the year. We will turn a new leaf in 2011 and aim to be monthly all of the year!