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5 May 2009Coastline May 2009Hampden Apple Day On the second Sunday in April we were invited to our Harvest Festival displays up to the Hampden’s first Apple Day. We thought it was a great way to get extra milage out of our display of over 60 fresh apple samples with their descriptions, so off Robert & I went taking 4 other displays as well all stacked highly in our station wagon. They had run out of time to complete some of their own displays and were grateful we filled half of the hall up with our informative and attractive displays. They had lots of other great things organised a working cider press outside making fresh apple juice, hot roast pork and apple sauce sandwiches, and stuffed apples baked in their cob oven – right beside their community hall. Inside they had some great speakers including two of the authors of the “Cooks Garden’ series. Robert spoke twice to large audiences about our Open Orchard project and Food Forests. They also had cooking demonstrations – apple strudel was the favourite. Jim Dunkley the elderly Palmerston man was there identifying old apples, Andy Barrett from Otago Tree crops and Jason Ross from Sutherland nursery which supply heritage fruit trees to their area were there also offering their services. We enjoyed seeing the obvious appreciation of all our displays from the large crowds that went through. We were very busy answering questions and giving advice on apples, orchards, seed saving and more. The Apple day was a great success and we were proud to be part of it- Their focus on food was very successful, we thought next year at our Heritage Harvest festival we could have a selection food stalls to add to the atmosphere. Veges for Free Lindsay Waldron from Invercargill had a problem- he grew more veges than his family could use- so he had an idea he would like to give them away to anyone willing to learn about starting their own garden. So he invited Robert Guyton well known for writing for the NZ gardener to come along with a square metre garden display and share some skills. Robyn made a great info sheet to give people first steps information to start a garden. The weather was perfect on Sunday 3rd May and the meeting spot was on a corner of a reserve in South Invercargill. Lindsay and his wife pulled up with a trailer full of veges and others arrived with more contributions. People came and lingered and talked from 12.30-3pm and everyone went home with a much appreciated bag of home grown veges. Other gardeners came and offered to give lessons and be mentors and three ladies are keen to start up a community garden. A resounding success and next year others have offered to put in some extra veges to give away and there is talk of displays and demonstrations to make it a very festive and informative annual event. Thanks Lindsay for your generosity it was a wonderful idea. Sustainable Business Forum The South Coast Environment Society was invited to join a Southland forum this week to discuss a joint initiative promoting sustainable business practices in our province. It was great to hear from the other community groups and councils about what they are doing in this area. Our offerings to the big picture were mainly practical skills- planting edible gardens, switching to eco friendly cleaners, helping with networking. Robyn as always had lots of other innovative ideas to bring to the discussion. It is going to be interesting to see what develops as more business see the need to develop in a more sustainable way to suit our fast changing world We also are a good example of a sustainable business Organic and fair trade food, recycling and worm farming systems in place, using eco-bulbs and the most efficient heating system for a building of our size. We use car pooling when ever possible, and organise a farmers market for a local food network. We are conscious of travel miles and get products and services from the closest source possible. We also try not to create extra waste- only using cellophane (vegetable cellulose) and paper bags. We accept back any containers we sell and reuse them- e.g. we use the honey containers to fill up with worms. I am sure we have lots more things to do to be perfect but we are well on the way. Let Robyn know if you would like to work with her on this project- we could do an assessment of our practises and make further improvements. The Orchard Hunt It may seem simple driving to orchards we got cuttings from last year to gather the fruit for identifying but it isn’t always easy! The network of rural roads around Southland is amazing- and once you have been lost you realise that having a GPS system might be very cost effective and eco friendly! We will see if H& J Smiths might sponsor one for our project. One elusive orchard took us an hour and half to find and we were only looking in a small area beside Woodlands. We had phone instructions to remind us and it seemed simple enough but when we found ourselves on a road heading to Edendale we lost faith and turned back, then took another approach. When that didn’t work we gave up on our own failing memories and so asked a few locals at various spots- we were determined not to give up as we had wasted so much time on it already. Finally we had the idea to re-ring our contact- and sure enough it was on that first road to Edendale and only 100 metres further down the road from where we lost heart and turned around! It was worth it as ¾ of the very large orchard had good fruit still on the tree or nestled in the grass below. It was great to see what the young grafts we have growing were. We also found out from the locals we asked directions from that woodlands area once boasted several commercial orchards as well and one lovely old gentleman recalls the orchard raids him and his buddies enjoyed when they were young. His favourite tree was close to a house in full view of the folk inside reading and but he was never spotted hiding in the branches having a feast. What is a living Museum? We have accessed several orchards from around1880 now and it is exciting when positive identifications are made, Golden Pippin, Allen’s Everlasting, Black Prince, Renette du Canada, Rhode Island Greening, Norfolk Beauty, and Yellow Ingestre. Robyn is now photographing them and hopefully we will soon have them on our website so people from around NZ can use the data to identify the trees in their area. Our next challenge is to find a temporary base for the trees we grafted last year that has shelter and good soil. We need to lease about 100 square metres of land for 3-4 years. Then we hope to have one of each variety saved in this living archive and growing in our ‘Southland Heritage Orchard Park or Parks’. These are managed sustainably where the sale of fruit pays for the caretaker and people can visit to picnic, study the trees (names and historical information will be available-panels or a brochure), and cuttings can be gathered and given out to anyone who would like to graft any of the varieties. There are many examples of these living museums around the world- the closest to us is in Tasmania. Southland will be the first one in NZ and hopefully it will attract world wide interest. We welcome more helpers for this project especially for planting and grafting- please contact Robyn if your are interested- we do have funds for your costs. We also need a sub committee to start working on getting support, funding and land for the park/s. Any ideas or support welcome. Open Orchard Fruit trees for sale With the massive demand Nationwide we have reduced numbers and selections of fruit trees this year-pre order a year ahead is recommended! Those who have pre ordered already will have first pick of what is available then I will put the amended list up on the website and late orders will be taken first in first served basis from then on (15th of May the amended list on the website). I have pre-ordered for next year already. Cue TV exposure We had only 4 minutes to talk on their ‘lifestyle show’ about the Centre and it’s projects- it is hard for either Robyn or Robert to talk for only 2 minutes each on this topic but we did our best! This was a follow up on Robert appearing on the news at the recycling expo held on the 18th April. If you missed both these cameos, the DVD will be at the Centre soon showing both. Recycling Expo 18th April This was held in Invercargill and organised by the Waste busters Trust –With 25 stalls, lots of recycling info and activities and a good crowd it was a great success. We provided several displays, gardening, permaculture, orchard project to add to this expo and enjoyed sharing stalls alongside all the other community groups. Robert represented us and was busy all day answering questions, talking and networking. If this is something that interests you please let us know as it would be great to have your help at events and I am sure you will enjoy the experience. We will let you know the opportunities to be involved in as they come up for you to choose from. Catching up Nick Kiddy and his new partner Trish called in to Riverton for a short stay to catch up on us all. Nick was a valued member of our group during the three years he was in Southland studying for his Environmental Management degree. He then headed off to Nelson and has been working with the Tasman District Council and the Nelson Environment Centre using his skills. They enjoyed seeing all the developments in Riverton and we all had some lively and inspiring conversations sharing our experiences and ideas. We even nearly convinced them to come back to Riverton and join us in our endeavours as we certainly would welcome their input….. Teachers Training day follow up Today 5th May a follow up day for the two teacher training days SCES helped run during the last 6 months, was held at the University of Otago Invercargill Campus. Robert represented us and answered a myriad of gardening questions while hearing about some of the neat garden developments at these Southland schools. The enthusiasm was obvious and the most successful ones had members of the wider community involved- If you live near a school and have gardening skills – why not offer to help out? Transition Town Invercargill Over the last tow months several DVD evenings have been held in Invercargill outlining the effects of Climate Change, the end of cheap oil and the concept that community’s world wide need to make the transition towards being more self reliant (providing for most of the communities needs locally). A follow up community meeting was held in Invercargill last week to see what the opportunities and needs were for the city. The group discussion centred on these 4 topics: Business as Usual (lets ignore the issues) In the Transition Town concept Riverton is highly regarded wider afield as being a town developing in a positive way with our food co-op and farmers market, seed saving and orchard project. Having the Environment Centre as a central base for meetings and networking is also so valuable. If you want to find out more about the concept of transition towns pick up a brochure at the Enviro Centre. Friday night soup nights start again this week Every night until the end of October we have a Friday Night Soup night. Bring along soup or bread or a gold coin donation per person and come and join us. We will have a 20 minute talk or DVD on something topical and the rest of time is free for chatting- some great conversations were had last year round the fire. This starts at 6pm, for the eating then 7pm for the presentation, we are usually still chatting at 8.30. Come for some or come for all….see you there soon. We also have a roster for Hosts of the night - we would like two people to share the welcoming, the co-ordination of the food and then the dishes. It is fun to be part of making these lovely evenings successful. |