SUMMER 2007

Strategic planning meeting, Saturday 24th February 1pm Look back on our successes of the last 5 years- what we plan…we achieve! What do we want to have done by 2012? What roles and projects should we focus on? Come and have your say and be part of the solution for sustainability for Southland ….while enjoying coffee and cake!

Important workshop for Southland Seed Savers Tuesday March 6th 9.30 am Henry Harrington- Southland’s most experienced seed saver will be teaching us how to save seeds successfully and answering our questions. He has put a huge effort in to keeping Southlands Heritage seeds alive. It is now our chance to be part of a team taking on this vital role.

www.sces.org.nz save our website as a favourite to be informed and up to date about the activities of the South Coast Environment Society and the 10 groups who use the Environment Centre.

SOUTH COAST ENVIRONMENT CENTRE NEWS

A new plan Well, five years passes in a flash. What's happened at the Centre since 2002? We've moved to new, bigger premises, that's the most obvious thing to an outside observer. But there's much, much more, like starting a native tree nursery, educating school groups, supporting the Aparima Pestbusters, expanding the shop and starting a Farmers' Market. All of these things are in the Environment Centre's Strategic Plan 2002-2007. Reading through it, it's striking how successful the Centre and its staff and supporters have been in carrying out the many ideas which came from a public meeting way back in 2002. Now it's time to put together another 5 year plan! You are all invited to an "open forum" at the Environment Centre on the afternoon of Saturday 24th February. We'll start at 1pm (straight after the Farmers' Market) and carry on until we're finished. Bring your ideas and enthusiasm! Thank you jacqui for 10 years service When Jacqui and Tim arrived from the Waikato to take up a Southland dairy farm at nearby Ermadale it wasn’t long until they both became involved with environmental projects in Riverton. We provided a welcome break for Jacqui to take off her farming clothes, dress up a little and meet others besides cows! But it wasn’t long before we realised that out of the busy farming period she was a treasure for our district - she was a supportive friend, an incredible event organiser, and her carrot cakes became legend. She helped with our Estuary Festivals and ‘Recycled in Riverton’ festival and then went on to be the main organiser for two Appropriate Technology festivals, an a Recreate in Riverton weekend, and much more… She became a frequent office bearer for the South Coast Environment Centre. She recently resigned from her post as chairperson to focus on organising the self defence for girls programme in the North Island. Being away from home a lot she wanted Riverton to be a place to relax in and not worry about what had to be done here. She is still involved casually helping out as a Centre volunteer now and then which is marvellous. As she was always the one organising thank you gifts and pot luck meals, we are feeling a bit hopeless, as we still haven’t presented her with a suitable gift or event! But we are not forgetting and will surprise her soon….

Jottings from the office We're moving to broadband Internet connection. It won't cost much more than our current dial-up, and a high speed connection will make it much easier to search the Internet for suppliers, find out information for products and update the SCES website. All our mail boxes now end with @sces.org.nz office@sces.org.nz, organicfood@sces.org.nz etc. The old paradise mail box will still checked for a while but please up date your address list ASAP. Geoff has been working hard updating your email and other contact details as we have wanted a quick way of keeping you informed about up and coming events for some time. We often have a traveller with skills, knowledge or an interesting tale to tell and we hope to be able to make the most out of these opportunities in the near future. So thank you Geoff for your dedication. Please email us at the office with your correct contact details if you would like to be added on to our network.

SCHOOL VISITS / EDUCATION We had a busy end of year rush with school visits- 200 students in the last three weeks of the 2006 school term! Robyn, Lynne and our new teachers-aid Chris Thorne were creative and effective in dealing with the big groups, utilizing the community hall next door and adapting the programme. Water, Coastal eco-systems and native birds were the themes covered. As we post out our flyer advertising our service to schools we expect another rush of visits in the next few weeks!

TeAnau Environment Centre planned When Frana Cardno spoke at our 10th anniversary she said that she would like to see and Environment Centre in every Southland township…she wasn’t just being kind she meant it! Soon after we got a request to come and speak in her home town, Te Anau to inspire her community to start one up. Robyn, Hollie and Geoff travelled up to represent us at the public meeting and spoke as well as presenting a slide show of relevant pictures of our centre and activities. Initially the out spoken ‘old towns folk’ were reluctant because they have a DOC Centre and everyone is too busy with their tourism businesses- but after the meeting many others came up and put their names down to be involved in what they believed as a very needed addition to their community. They have established a committee and their next meeting will be in our Riverton Enviro Centre to pick our brains! Please come and support them if you are free - maybe you would also like one in your town!

NIWASHI SHARK Looking for a tool that will cut effortlessly through toetoe and flax? If you have shelter belts to tidy up or ornamental flax that need the old growth cut away, the Niwashi Shark is just what you need! The Japanese are rightly famous for the quality of their blades, from swords through to saws and this imported cutting tool is up there with the best. I’ve not found anything as strong, sharp and effortless as this ‘shark’ for slicing through fibrous tough plants. The 40cm blade of the Niwashi Shark is toothed and sharp and when drawn quickly through flax and other tough leaves, it certainly does the trick! I bought this wooden- handled tool from the South Coast Environment Centre in Riverton and have used it over and over. It is the primo tool for the job and far better than a Stanley Knife which snaps its blades after a while. Weavers of harakeke will find the Niwashi Shark to be the ideal tool for their craft. I’m thinking also that for cutting and collecting raupo and bullrushes for craft work or boat building, this little blade is number one. (For those gardeners who haven’t come across a Niwashi hand hoe yet, you are missing out on a treasure – it weeds garden plots quickly and effectively. Left handed and long handled versions are also for sale at the Centre).

Announcing WA$TED! Don’t miss this new series… TV3 starting 20th February at 8.30 and running for 10 weeks. Every week WA$TED! takes a different family, audits their waste and energy usage with the show's unique eco calculator and confronts them with the terrifying truth about their long-term impact on the planet. Eco-expert Francesca Price will put each family on a green regime to clean up their act. After tracking the family, Francesca re-calculates their household footprint and hands over their cash savings. WA$TED! is an information-rich series that transforms your average eco crim into your ultimate green convert. Website www.wastedtv.co.nz once up will include a carbon calculator.

Feeding School Children The battle for attention over the plight of our hungry students is quite a complex one. While implementing a new programme is a good way to be seen to care, such programmes already exist and have been overlooked by the big political players until now. The quality of food offered to hungry children provides opportunities for improving the situation all around and the quality of foods sold at school canteens would benefit from scrutiny. As a teacher, I have questions not just about the availability of food in homes but also the habits and expectations of the children themselves. Many students don’t eat breakfast because it is their choice and habit, not because there is nothing in the cupboard.

Riverton Estuary Care Society News

More ‘estuary side’ saved from development

The new owners of a small farm across the estuary from the reserve are going to protect the bush which covers half their property as well as enhancing their the estuary edge. This is a big thrill for us as at one time it looked like the whole estuary would be shoulder to shoulder farms. We look forward to exploring their stand of bush as a guide to restoring our own estuary reserve highlands. Thank You and Good Luck to Bala. Many of us were privileged to have met and worked with Bala Tikkysetti. As Land Sustainability officer for Environment Southland he was a conscientious and valued support person for Riverton Estuary Care for many years. At the end of last year he headed of for a new job in the North Island and will leave a big gap to be filled.

Metiria Turei to visit wetland.

We have an important visitor arriving this Friday to see our flax wetland – Metiria Turei, dynamic Green MP is visiting southern wetlands and speaking with individuals and community groups involved with the development and protection of wetlands and our Te Wai Korari Wetland has caught her attention. We have been busy this week making sure that the tracks are passable and the newly planted trees free of weeds so that she will enjoy her walk-about. It is gratifying to see a Member of Parliament getting right down to the grassroots and visiting even far flung sites in order to hear how things really get done – I’ll bet she doesn’t arrive in a limo! Two visiting Canadian women have spent some time working to spruce up the plantings and remove some gorse from the flax and they both hope to meet with Metiria as well.

We Need You at our Estuary Care Meetings the 3rd Tuesday of each month 7.30pm at the South Coast Environment Centre. We are keen to take our reserve to the next stage and would love some new members to help us with this exciting project-Last year we were awarded a National award for the best coastal restoration project! The original team who did all the work to buy it, develop it with ponds and walking tracks several years ago are getting old and worn out and we need some youthful or youth-like enthusiasm to give us a boost. There is lots of wider support out there we can tap into and they are waiting in the wings for our reawakening! Next meetings just remember the 20th (20th Feb, 20th March). See you there!

PLANTING IN THE TEETH OF A GALE. There are, unsurprisingly, windy spots in Riverton. Establishing native trees on exposed sites can be very slow because of the effects of wind and many of our projects are in such unprotected areas. We have tried a number of ways to shield our new plantings with mixed results. One suggestion for more effective development on the higher parts of our wetland reserve, from Graham Milligan, is to use eucalyptus as a nurse crop, as they establish quickly and can be felled once their job of sheltering native trees is done. This idea was not met with universal approval by members of the group, some of whom felt that the Australian import had several less than useful characteristics, so we kept thinking and now… the idea of sowing bush lupins, the kind that cover the dunes behind Riverton, has emerged. Lupins are a legume and improve the soil they grow in (a big plus for our degraded ex-refuse-site soils) They are free- seeds are easy to collect and as yet no one has cornered the lupin seed market. The shrubby lupins ought to grow well on poor soil and are easy to shred once they have done their job of blocking the wind. They will provide mulch for the trees as well and will push the aggressive grasses out of the ‘grow zone’ and allow the native trees to get going. How could we go wrong? Time will tell.

SOUTHLAND SEED SAVERS NEWS

We are grateful to the people who have adopted rare seeds to multiply and eventually feed back into the seed network- they are giving us hope that we will have the varieties available when they are needed in the future. It may not seem much but if 5 aging rare beans can be grown on and 30 fresh beans are returned then 10 more people can continue the process with more success and soon the beans will be plentiful once more. The south could have a sustainable supply of cheap vegetable seeds now and in the future. What we need is more active committed seed savers. We need to start now- it is too late to start only when it is necessary. Only a small percent of seed saver members return seeds the following year- the rest I think may just be using us for their seasonal needs!

If we neglect this important role of keeping our heritage of Southland vegetable seeds alive we will only be able to buy the expensive commercial seeds which are mostly hybridised, you can not save seeds from them. These seeds are not reproduced locally to our conditions. Once the seed companies have the only source of fresh seeds they can set their own prices, standards and varieties. Why give these multinational giants the power?

Henry Harrington, Southlands best known seed saver originally donated us most of our seed varieties. He is now unable to do much gardening himself as his health and eyesight are failing -but like us he wants to see the art of Seed Saving renewed in Southland with vigour. Henry is holding a workshop to help all new and old seed savers be successful and answer all our questions on the 6th of March- 9.30 on a Tuesday morning. This is a fantastic opportunity we encourage all interested to make the effort to be there- please phone us 2348717 and confirm you can attend. Cost $5, pay when you come.

Aparima Nursery Enterprise Update We have been selling hundreds of locally sourced and grown native trees for just $2.50 and it is wonderful to think how many gardens, creeks and re-vegetation programmes have benefited from this enterprise. With large grade plants we have been running a ‘12 for $10’ box. (Pittosporums and/or cabbage trees) This is because we really don’t want to have to re bag them to a larger size. This bonus has been appreciated by locals and it is great that we are nearly sold out. Be quick if you want these- orders taken at the centre 2348717. Marijke, Robert and Debbie are a fantastic team and their skills and dedication to this project is fantastic. If you have time and would like to help out with this project we would welcome your help, and you will learn how to propagate and grow and care for native seedlings.

An unexpected organic event

Terry and Robert were captured by word of the unique cheese rolling event north of Gore- an ancient sport from England…how bizarre..they just had to go. Terry, a cheese lover was keen to run madly down a hill in hope of winning a wheel of cheese for free. He was second in is race and scored himself a lovely boxed selection of mainly organic Whitestone cheeses. They also enjoyed an organic “Green Man Beer” brewed in Dunedin and selling there from the green faced van. Just goes to show there is a little bit of organics everywhere- even in a remote Northern Southland farm on a summers afternoon!

BLOSSOM ‘N’ BEES We saw blossom everywhere in early spring, despite the best efforts of the wind and hail to strip it from the trees. At Riverton in our mixed orchard, the plums finished their show of blossom and, we now see, set their fruit with the help of the bees from our hive. The plum blossom was very early and very short but every year seems to do the trick. The Kereru that swooped in to the tops of the plum trees were more interested in the unfurling leaves than the blossom so we didn’t bother trying to scare them off. They would probably have ignored us anyway- they were very bold. When the plum petals were on the ground, the cherry trees started their flowering. Sadly, our best cherry had grown quite tall due to lack of pruning in its early years and was too difficult to net once the fruit began to ripen, meaning the birds got all the fruit. Our neighbour at “Grammas Growers” had shorter varieties and harvests good crops from under netting. Riverton-grown cherries are a treat just after Christmas and prove that we are not too far south for the delicacies. Hail is the constant enemy of the cherry grower in the south and there seems to be not a lot that can be done about that. Belly-aching and griping help the grower but not the fruit! The apple trees were the next to blossom. Our orchard with its 60 or so apples was transformed by this and our bees were flat out. We are lucky too, to have bumble-bees and drone flies to help them out with the task. The number of flowers that set to fruit is quite astounding and we had to thin the crop heavily so that the weight of the developing apples didn’t break branches. We have a wonderful little crab-apple “Golden Hornet”, as a pollinator for all the other apples in the orchard. It produces masses of blossom followed by clean, yellow crabs that make a great crab-apple jelly, or just look great on the tree. Some crab apples hang on the branches well into winter and are eaten by the birds. The crab-apples are a bit sour for my taste but I’ve noticed that some Asian visitors like them when the crabs are still green if they have salt sprinkled on them. Robert

On the issue of bees and pollination…….Beekeepers throughout the South Island were on high alert with the arrival of the varroa mite in Nelson, (a situation that has worsened since the writing of this article). This mite spreads quickly and has a devastating effect on bees and hives, putting the honey industry under threat. A far greater threat perhaps, is that to farmers who rely on clover to maintain the quality of the pastures on which to graze their stock. Without clover and its ability to capture and store nitrogen, farmers have to greatly increase their spending on fertilizers to keep the grass green. If the honey bees fail, clover could disappear and we will all be very much worse off. What can be done? A very expensive effort could be made to destroy the varroa mite and keep it in the North Island but re-infestation could occur at any time. Commercial hives can be managed with a regime of ‘miteacide’ applications lessening the impact on the bees and this will happen but it would be very wise, I think, to explore other ways of keeping clover growing in the pastures by encouraging other kinds of pollinating insects to our farms and orchards for that matter. To help us with this, Remco Baars, a Royal Society of New Zealand researcher, came to Southland, Riverton more specifically, to talk to orchardists, beekeepers and farmers about the other flying things that can visit flowers. Remco Baars has published an excellent article on his work in “Organic NZ” and describes the role of hoverflies, native bees, drone flies and so on in pollinating in the absence of honey bees. His research might well be vital to our continued success as a farming region and will attract a good audience. This talk was on Saturday November 18 and followed the usual Farmers Market at the Riverton (South Coast) Environment Centre. Remco Baars flew down from Christchurch and provided us with a valuable opportunity to do something about the looming problem. To a non-farmer or non-orchardist, a dearth of honey bees might not seem a great problem, but given that farmers will need to greatly increase the amount of fertilizer they put on their farms by a massive 60%, everybody will feel the results of this through the significant effects this will have on our water quality both in the rivers and from our wells. An increase in fertilizer use is something farmers and townies alike want to avoid. It is expensive and very damaging to the environment.

Climate’s Changing, Globes Warming! Wave after wave keeps rolling in – the science says that we’ve created a blanket of gases around ourselves and we need to pull some of it back or we’ll over-heat. Already, canny businesses are acting to ride the wave of new technologies and practices to profit from the new environment and visionary governments are implementing practices that less astute countries are only beginning to debate. Where do we in New Zealand stand? It depends on which party you look at, of course, but in general terms we have all the information in hand to future-proof our country and contribute positively to the global issue. On a personal level, some of us have made changes already toward lightening our load on the system while others are at least talking about it. The number of adults riding bicycles in our town for example, has certainly risen. Coal burning is to become an issue for Southland in the near future for both households and councils. The Government and the Opposition have both signalled that they will support the extraction and burning of lignite, despite coal’s status as ‘worst’ of the gas emitters. Southland is sure to make the national news over this issue. The Whitehills wind farm is a graphic signal that changes are taking place and has caught the public’s imagination judging by the huge response to the open day held last week. Cautionary messages about the need for consumption to be reduced at the same time as production is increased have not been embraced passionately at this stage. ''' Winning Ideas Wanted''' Sir Richard Branson has offered 25 million dollars to the person who comes up with the best idea to clean greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Here’s one from Southland for him to consider – Plant fast growing trees to capture carbon from the air and harvest them when they mature. Convert the wood to charcoal then plough that into farmland - charcoal-embedded soils are the most fertile in the world. The charcoal will stay in the soil unchanged for over a thousand years, locking up carbon and satisfying Mr Branson’s criteria. Could this idea capture Sir Richard’s imagination? It’s worth a try – there are 25 million dollars and a whole lot of coastal property riding on this!

Thinking Inside the Box For years Toronto, Canada, a major metropolitan city with over 4 million residents has been scratching its head about its growing garbage gremlin. There is barely enough room for the influx of people, never mind all the waste that’s generated! The city continually pays millions of dollars to ship its trash into someone else’s backyard - out of sight, but still on the mind since more collects daily in households and businesses. Several years ago, an idea was born and a pilot project began in a suburb of Toronto. Not long after, the project was given the go ahead and was implemented all over the greater Toronto area. The idea was brilliant: instead of looking for another sucker that would bury our trash, Toronto was going to start dealing with its own garbage! And in a sustainable manner too!! Each house was given a ‘wet garbage container’ and instructions on how to compost any and all food waste. The city collects the containers on a weekly basis and sends them to a company that processes the waste and turns it into usable material. The composting project is industrial strength meaning that everything from fruit pits to meat bones can be put into the container. The only drawback to this great idea is that they haven’t figured out how to include apartment dwellers in the plan. Maybe they should all be given worm composting boxes??! Toronto now sports 3 different bins to make recycling easy for people: a blue bin for glass, tins, plastics, tetra packs, etc., a green bin for paper and cardboard products, and now a wet garbage container for all food waste. All are picked up by city workers and paid for by city taxes. Now, if we could only stop making products (or get people to stop buying these products…) with so much excess packaging, we might actually be able to make a major dent on our trash meter.

Christina (a Canadian WWOOFer passing through Riverton)

RIVERTON ORGANIC FARMERS MARKET every Saturday 11am-1pm

*All organic *All local *All fresh

Milk, butter, eggs, ice cream Beef, lamb, pork, mince, sausages Bread, eggs, honey, jam Full range seasonal veges Even some fresh local fruit at times

With the Food Co-op inside, everything else you may need is available low as possible prices- Dried goods, flours and grains, frozen chickens, canned products, wide range of NZ fruit and veges, household and personal products and more…..

All organic / All eco friendly

BETTER FOR YOU….. BETTER FOR THE PLANET

“Community Orchard” working bee.

With the transformation of the Community garden into a mixed orchard that took place over the past year, help is now needed to manage the new trees. The Riverton Organic Group will meet on site on the first three Saturdays in March, 11.30-1.30 while the Farmers Market runs. Pop over and see what we are up to before or after you have bought your fresh food. It’s to the left just before the bridge. We will be planting more fruit trees, interplanting with berries and vines and sowing seeds for a floral understory. The 5 ducks have done a marvellous job with cleaning up the snail population and manuring the new trees at the same time, and have earned a holiday back up in the gardens in Thames Street. We will attempt to build some sort of roof water collecting apparatus to take advantage of the neighbouring shed rooves and ensure that we have non-tap water right through the summer. To date we have planted: plums, apples, chestnuts, hazelnuts, passionfruit, grapes, gooseberries and a range of tall herbs. We will sow an assortment of legumes to help build up soil health over the winter. It is a great project, so come along and join in the orcharding!

A fruitful chance meeting As I was working on our roadside trees pulling out the persistent convolvulus, a car of strangers drove up our road and I waved and smiled…as you do. They turned at the top of the road and came down again slowly and paused beside me- opening their windows for a sunny afternoon hello. They were starting to drive on when …‘Is their still a spring on that land” a voice from the back asked. Ah ha…if that elderly man knows there is a spring here he must have lived here years ago as it had been buried for over 30 years before we re-dug it out and re-bushed it several years ago. ‘Why yes it’s still here- would you like to come and see it.’ What followed was a delightful afternoon hearing stories of our area during the second world war when the gentleman was a lad. Where the gardens and orchards were on our street and the adventures he got up to raiding his neighbours fruit on summer nights. He was thrilled to see what we had done putting back in so many vege gardens and fruit trees- so even though his house that was once on our land was long gone we spurred some pleasant memories- The old heritage apples we had gathered from throughout Southland were of particular interest to him.. He remembered a wonderful green apple with a grey seam- ‘We have some of them’ I was delighted to say-‘ it is called Keswick Codlin and was first discovered in the rubbish dump at Keswick castle in England in 1793’, proud that my recent internet researching made me seem so knowledgeable. He was even more amazed that within minutes he had a handful of the apples he hadn’t seen for 60 years to take with him as well as a newly grafted Keswick Codlin tree to plant in his new land in Nelson…..

                                                                  Robyn

FOOD CO-OP NEWS Summer is here although we have had some very changeable weather lately. Things can only improve from here! Firstly, a big ‘Thank You’ to all who helped with the annual stock-take. It didn’t take us too long to do and we can look forward to the next one! Now that we are into the warmer weather (?) it is a real pleasure to have “Granmas Growers” produce available again. Lindsay and Debbie keep us well supplied with fresh greens and other produce and Lindsay always has some words of wisdom when he delivers fresh supplies. Both he and Debbie have lots of invaluable information about food and they are always happy to discuss any food queries or food-related problems. Generally the Co-op continues to be busy. We have been able to start buying fruit, veges and other goods from ‘Fresh Direct’ in Christchurch. This will be saving us considerable cost because we do not have to pay freight from the North Island. The delivery time is obviously much shorter and we can sometimes manage next day delivery which means fresher produce. We will only buy from ‘Fresh Direct’ the things that ‘Granmas Growers’ do not have. I would like to try and stock a larger variety of fruit and veges and you may have noticed recently that we had passionfruit, asparagus and mushrooms available. The mushrooms were not organic but were as close as possible at the moment. If there is anything that you would really like us to stock, let us know and we will do our best. Just remember that we only have a limited amount of space! If you are looking for a marinade for meat for the barbeque season, then try out a new product we now have. It is ‘Willow’ organic blackcurrant or apple cooking/dessert syrup. It can be used as a marinade or as a dessert topping and I can recommend it. Also, I have been stocking a range of “Cyclops” organic yoghurts and sour cream which will be handy in the upcoming summer season. If there is a particular flavour of yoghurt you want, let me know and I will do my best! Check out the range of Pitango organic dips made by the same people who make the yummy soups so you know they will taste good! We are always looking for more volunteers to do a monthly 2 hour shift in the Centre and help with co-op work. In return for your time you earn a discount on the food you buy. If you are interested just talk to Robyn, Yvonne or Wendy and they will give you all the details.

Trust in the Trust The Organic Food Co-op has become more and more popular, providing safe, healthy food to Rivertonians , travellers passing through and a surprising number of regulars who come from far and wide in Southland. What comes with success is more paperwork and red tape. We now have to register for GST . One way of dealing with this could be to form a Trust, which would make the legal and bookkeeping side of the Co-op easier. We are looking in to this and will be taking about it at our AGM next month. Any ideas or thoughts please let us know or come along to the meeting. If you're interested in finding out more about this, or any other issue of how the centre or any of the groups that operate from it run, just ask at the Centre or email office@sces.org.nz '''Riverton Organic Food Co-op AGM Wednesday March 14th. 7.30pm. All Welcome'''

Where does it all come from? On the shelves of the shop at the Centre you can find all sorts of things for sale, from kiwifruit to shampoo to gardening tools. We have quite a few suppliers now, but are always on the lookout for goods which are cheaper, locally-sourced and environmentally friendly. Have you come across someone locally who might be interested in supplying the shop? Or is there a "green" supplier that is much cheaper than what we stock at the moment? Just contact the office at the Centre with the good news.

RIVERTON ORGANIC GROUP Promoting healthy and sustainable lifestyles.

Want to grow your own organic fruit & veges? Want to learn to have a healthier lifestyle then this is the group for you.

The group meets monthly with garden visits, workshops, plant exchanges , interesting speakers and more. Experienced gardeners are keen to share their knowledge and skills.

As most Autumn events are weather dependent will organise by phone/email tree so phone the Centre 03 2348717 and leave your contact details and they will keep you informed of events as well you can register for the following:

March: Tour of a Southland Permaculture food forest April: Introduction to Bio dynamics workshop using the preparations for compost, liquid manures and on the land. May: Pruning workshop: For fruit trees and berry bushes. This year we also hope have a couple of road trips to visit some Southland organic farms.

We also have a wide selection of interesting DVD’s and videos … if there is enough interest we would like to have a monthly evening watching these together and having a chat over a cup of tea afterwards. Might be nice in winters evenings around the fireplace when there is nothing good on the telly!

Please register you interest with the Centre office 2348717 or email office@sces.org.nz

PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE

6 Top tips to keep Healthy:

1. Drink 2 litres of pure water each day 2. Eat fresh organic local or home grown seasonal food 3. Replace household chemicals with natural alternatives 4. Exercise 30 minutes a day 5 times a week 5. Plentiful and refreshing sleep 6. Positive Attitude

Where can you get support for these healthy changes?

South Coast Environment Centre has:

1. Fill your own 100% purified water (reverse osmosis) then re-mineralised water. Only 50c a litre to cover cost of filters. 2. Organic food available cheaply in Centre plus organic farmers market 11am -1pm each Saturday 3. Buy our natural cleaners chart for only $2 or choose from our range of eco friendly NZ cleaners and body care products 4. Check out our info on local walks on our beautiful beaches, bush tracks and countryside. 5. We have a lovely selection of herbal teas to replace coffee and alcohol Try Evening Song, a blend of relaxing herbs. 6. Come and join one of our positive groups.

Also available some great books on gardening, health and herbs in our Organic Groups library are able to be lent by members

A cheap homemade solar shower… designed by the Guyton brothers using alkathene pipe, created on their front lawn with tent pegs to keep the shape, before tying at strategic points and hoisting on to a roof. Attached to the garden hose with a rosette at the other end, it heats up in a few hours… great following an afternoon of sailing. Only… you have to catch it when the temperature is right! If it is too hot, wait a while or if it is cooler than you expected enjoy an invigorating free shower!