Posts Tagged ‘Mount Eden’
« Older EntriesDecember newsletter
December 24th, 2011
Dear all,
This is definitely a last minute newsletter and one more proof that it has been a busy and successful year for the Mt Village People and now it is timer to look back.
First of all we would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone who is part of our network and supporting our vision of zero waste and a sustainable Mt Eden. We also would like to thank the New Zealand Lottery Board for their funding this year. In addition our local board has kindly supported our projects by funding 5 Hungry Bins for our local shops and 5 beehives for Mt Eden.
On behalf of our group the MEVP, we wish you a wonderful Christmas with your friends, neighbours and family and all the best for 2012
Judith Holtebrinck
Please find below a brief list of achievements in 2011 in the village:
- Frasers Café changed to free range eggs
- The Essential Deli has stated their commitment to free range happy and healthy animals and New Zealand made products in big letters on their window.
- City cake reported that they use free range eggs for their cakes
- Chapter tearoom offers fair trade and organic tea
- The village wine shop is selling 12 free ranged eggs for $6.00
- We are now recycling 100 x 10 litre buckets of coffee grains each month
- We are collecting one bucket per month of used household batteries from Civic Video
- Pig farmers collect food waste from Frasers and KC Loo.
- The Mt Eden Community garden has 6 more garden beds
- The Mt Eden butcher has a new owner who offers free range meat
- We planted a mandarine tree in front of the Mt Eden Village centre
- We donated 100 fruit trees to schools and kindergartens in July this year and are working on giving 1000 fruit trees to Auckland next year.
- Our sustainability workshops for 2012 are now listed on our website
- Since 13.12.2011, Maungawhau Mt Eden is bus free!
- We raised $470.00 for our project to plant fruit trees at our annual community celebration at the Mt Eden Community garden.
- We have observed more people in our community planting fruit trees on their grass verges.
Things we are working on and looking forward to in 2012:
A new local recycling station: We will offer the recycling of soft plastic in one of our local shops.
We are working on a submission for the Auckland waste plan, supporting community based recycling versus handing our waste over to the big players who send it to landfill.
We are looking forward to setting up our new Hungry Bins at our local shops
We are busy raising money and collecting fruit tree planting locations on our website: www.fruittrees.org.nz, our vision is to have 1000 community fruit trees for Auckland by July 2012.
Tags: Community Garden, Fruit trees, Gardening, local food production, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, recycling, Workshops
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Christmas 2011: no more stuff please!
November 30th, 2011
Before you go Christmas shopping please have a look at “The Story of Stuff”.
The Story of Stuff sums it all up, every new thing we buy is made from resources of this planet. The problem is that our planet is full of stuff and we are running low on resources. So what else can we do to express our love and friendship to others? Here are some Christmas ideas we came up with to replace some of the stuff we usually exchange. If you don’t have time and love shopping, make sure you check out the small businesses in your community first before you run into the big shopping malls. If you buy anything new keep your eyes open for New Zealand made.
- Create a movie / DVD for that person with interviews from all their friends and family that tell them what makes them so special.
- Home baked biscuits, 1-2-3 recipe, quick & easy and always good, this recipe is from Ralf, a good friend and German pastry chef.
- Collate all the photos from the year and make a digital collage or powerpoint presentation showing them what an amazing year it has been.
- Organise a day trip to Tiritiri Matangi, Waiheke, Rangitoto . . .
- Organsie a picnic on Mt Eden.
- Baked fortune cookies and included personal messages inside (used at Christmas dinner instead of buying crackers)
- Buy a ticket to a concert/festival
- Make vouchers that offer your time / favours to people… e.g. for breakfast in bed, or a coffee date, or washing someone’s car, mowing their lawn, baby sitting, dog walking, back massage etc.
Tags: Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People
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Community celebration in Mt Eden Village – thank you!
November 30th, 2011
Our community celebration was a great success thanks to many wonderful people that worked together on that day.
We had lots of families joining us and the kids had a great time meeting farm animals from Old McDonald’s farm, having pony rides and playing educational games.
Seed planting and the Mandel sculpture made out of recycled items as well as the scare crow building were also enjoyed by all. We where very lucky to have had the one sunny day on the weekend and some of us ended up sunburnt.
We would like to thank the New Zealand Lottery Fund for their kind support which helped us with our community celebration and our community projects towards a sustainable Mt Eden.
We raised $484.00 which will go towards buying 1000 community fruit trees for schools, kindergartens, playgrounds, parks and reserves as well as grass verges in 2012.
We would like to thank the following shops for their kind donations which provided for our raffle, silent auction and prizes as well as feeding us all :
All Good Bananas, Chapter Tearoom, Dean Greenwood Swimming School, Eden Villa - Bed & Breakfast, Essential Deli, Forest Rock, Gifts4biz, KC Loo Fruiter, Move to Improve, Mainly Toys, Molten restaurant, Paris Mt Eden Bakery, Frasers cafe
We also would like to thank Eden Creative Recycling for bringing the artistic touch and ideas to this event; the Mt Eden Community Garden group, the Mount Eden Bowling club, Tumeke cycle space with the great smoothie maker and Grey Lynn 2030 for the beautiful bunting.
Tags: Community, Community Garden, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People
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Community Celebration program – 27th of November 2011
November 12th, 2011
Where: at the Mt Eden Community Gardens at the end of Poronui Street near the bowling grounds
2.00 pm
Compost building workshop– for children and adults; meet and greet the animals; Pony riding, Mandala – create a unique piece of artwork from recycled materials, walk like the animals game.
2.30 pm
Meet the team behind the Mt Eden Village People and hear about the projects we have been working on (local recycling, workshops, community garden, community fruit trees)
2.45 pm
Animal Antics: learn all about farm animals and what free range means; the amazing race for adults; locate your garden and fruit trees on our sustainable Mt Eden map – do you grow your own food, have bees, fruit trees or chickens?
3.00pm
Seed planting and kids discovery tour around the garden; sale of raffle tickets
3.30 pm
Build the scarecrow for the community garden; Raffle ticket draw*
.
And more:
- Make your own smoothie powered using a bicycle provided by Tumeke Cycle Space .
- Enjoy yummy food from the Essential Deli.
- Meet the gardeners to talk about growing food in the city
- Face painting
- Gardening tools sale as a fund raiser
- Silent auction of a worm farm
*money raised will go towards our project to provide 1000 community fruit trees in 2012
Tags: Community, Community Garden, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, Sustainability, Workshops
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February: Sunday 19.02.2012
November 3rd, 2011
Square Foot Gardening
Starting: 10.30am, Duration: 1-1.30 hours
Tutor: Ken Clark, SFG master from Waiheke
Location: Mt Eden Village
Contribution: $20.00
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
Square foot gardening with Ken Clark from Waiheke
This is a unique chance to learn all you need to know to start and maximise food production in the city from one of New Zealand’s most successful square foot gardeners. Square foot gardening is a perfect solution for city gardens as it produces 70% more food than conventional gardens with less work. Ken will also share practical tips to improve your organic gardening skills and talk about soil maintenance, home-made organic fertiliser and seed saving.
What to expect:
- The workshops cover everything from seeds and organic gardening.
- You will get the chance to design your own Square foot garden on a map that you can take home.
- A flyer with gardening and soil information will be handed out outlining the workshop.
- After this workshop you can set up your own SFG garden and start your food production.
- To set up your own Square foot garden takes one hour.
About Ken Clark and Square foot gardening:
Ken first learnt about square foot gardening about 20 years ago. He proceeded to do it his own way for 17 years. 5 years ago he retired to Waiheke Island & started SFG in earnest. Ken lives on a small size section and produces an abundance of fruit and veges using the Square foot gardening method. SFG advocates growing only what you need on a weekly basis. It is a fantastic system for busy people who wish to have a more sustainable life and organically grow food with the minimum fuss and effort.
Tags: Food Gardens, Gardening, local food production, Mount Eden, Square Foot Gardening
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March: Sunday 11.03.2011
November 3rd, 2011
City chooks – keeping chickens in your backyard:
Start time: 1pm, Duration 1-1.30 hours,
Tutor: Gail Batten
Location: Epsom
Contribution ; $20.00
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
Chickens in the city, with Gail Batten
This is a site visit at Gail’s garden where she will tell us what you need to get started, what they should eat and how to raise your chickens from a fertile egg. You will learn the guidelines of keeping chickens in the city, tips on housing them and other titbits of information.
This workshop covers:
* Benefits of having chickens
* Housing requirements and rules
* Feeding
* Hatching and rearing
* Health and wellbeing
* All about eggs
* Miscellaneous and troubleshooting
* Benefits of different breeds
* How to adopted a chicken
About Gail Batten:
When Gail came back from a woofing (working on organic farms) holiday a year ago, she was given some fertilised eggs as a farewell present. Back in Auckland she managed to borrow a hen from a friend of hers to sit on the eggs. A few weeks later she had baby chicks, a chook house and later lots of eggs for breakfast. In December last year she obtained more fertilised eggs and now the chook house is full of life, eggs and entertainment.
Tags: Chicken, Healthy food, Keeping chickens, local food production, Mount Eden
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April: Sunday 22.04.2012
November 3rd, 2011
Square Foot Gardening
Starting: 10.30am, Duration: 1-1.30 hours
Tutor: Ken Clark, SFG master from Waiheke
Location: Mt Eden Village
Contribution: $20.00
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
Square foot gardening with Ken Clark from Waiheke
This is a unique chance to learn all you need to know to start and maximise food production in the city from one of New Zealand’s most successful square foot gardeners. Square foot gardening is a perfect solution for city gardens as it produces 70% more food than conventional gardens with less work. Ken will also share practical tips to improve your organic gardening skills and talk about soil maintenance, home-made organic fertiliser and seed saving.
What to expect:
- The workshops cover everything from seeds and organic gardening.
- You will get the chance to design your own Square foot garden on a map that you can take home.
- A flyer with gardening and soil information will be handed out outlining the workshop.
- After this workshop you can set up your own SFG garden and start your food production.
- To set up your own Square foot garden takes one hour.
About Ken Clark and Square foot gardening:
Ken first learnt about square foot gardening about 20 years ago. He proceeded to do it his own way for 17 years. 5 years ago he retired to Waiheke Island & started SFG in earnest. Ken lives on a small size section and produces an abundance of fruit and veges using the Square foot gardening method. SFG advocates growing only what you need on a weekly basis. It is a fantastic system for busy people who wish to have a more sustainable life and organically grow food with the minimum fuss and effort.
Tags: Food Gardens, Healthy food, local food production, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, Square Foot Gardening, Workshops
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July: Sunday 22.07.2012
November 3rd, 2011
Fruit tree pruning
Starting: 10.30am, Duration: 1-1.30 hours,
Location: Mt Eden Village
Contribution: $20.00
Tutor: Ken Clark
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
What to expect:
Kens workshops are designed to show you how easy it is to feed your family with a maximum food production on minimum space. Ken keeps his trees small as he lives on a small section. Keeping his trees small makes it easier to reach the fruit and leaves space for more trees.
In this workshop you will learn how to prune and maintain your fruit trees to get maximum food production. When is the best time to prune and how to do it so the tree does not get damaged. This is a practical, hands on workshop with a simple how to do it yourself handout.
About Ken Clark:
Ken has been gardening all his life with the main focus on food production. He grew up on a farm and back then you relied on your own garden to get your dinner on the table. When Ken was 12 his parents divorced and he had to take over all the major digging in the garden and his mum did the planting.
He now lives on Waiheke on a 850 m section and produces food in abundancy to feed himself and his wife. The beauty of Kens food garden is that he has a wide variety of different fruit and vegetables for the entire year.
The benefit of having your own vegetables and fruit trees in your garden are simple:
You know where your food comes from and you don’t spend money on oil to get the food from wherever into your kitchen.
Tags: Fruit trees, Healthy food, local food production, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, Pruning
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July: Sunday 22.07.2012
November 3rd, 2011
Grafting on fruit trees
Starting: 1.pm, duration: 1-1.30 hours,
Tutor: Ken Clark
Location: Mt Eden Village
Contribution: $20.00
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
Grafting with Ken Clark
In this workshop you will learn:
The different ways of grafting.
What you can graft together, success and failure stories.
What tools you need to get started
What to expect:
Ken is a master grafter and has managed to graft seven different sorts of plums onto one tree. Grafting on existing trees is one way to get a wide variety in your garden if you don’t live in an orchard. This is a great way for people in the city to get all different kinds of fruit on your trees.
About Ken Clark:
Ken has been gardening all his life with the main focus on food production. He grew up on a farm and back then you relied on your own garden to get your dinner on the table. When Ken was 12 his parents divorced and he had to take over all the major digging in the garden and his mum did the planting.
He now lives on Waiheke on a 850 m section and produces food in abundancy to feed himself and his wife. The beauty of Kens food garden is that he has a wide variety of different fruit and vegetables for the entire year.
The benefit of having your own vegetables and fruit trees in your garden are simple: you know where your food comes from and you don’t spend money on oil to get the food from wherever into your kitchen.
Tags: Fruit trees, Gardening, local food production, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, Workshops
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August Sunday 12.08.2012
November 3rd, 2011
Beekeeping in the city:
Start time: 1pm-3pm
Tutor: Paul Romley
Location: to be confirmed (Mt Eden or Parnell)
Please rsvp to: Judith Holtebrinck
Beekeeping in the city:
Bees provide us with two main things; pollination, and honey. They fly to nectar and pollen sources in the wider urban environment, and in the process of visiting flowers, gather nectar (which becomes honey) and pollen (which becomes a food source for them in addition to the honey). The city due to its numerous gardens, reserves and parks provides year round sources of these for the urban bee. Any person of discipline & learnt understanding of bee behaviour & their needs can maintain a healthy & very successful hive. Bees can be kept in the city environment, depending on the local bylaws (which the super-city will be ‘harmonizing’, creating one bylaw governing beekeeping in Auckland City in 2012) and depending on your neighbours.
What to expect:
You can expect to learn about bees, their life-cycle, how a hive works, and the necessary maintenance required to keep your hive healthy & happy. You will learn about where to get bees from, and the different kinds of equipment you will need. Beehives are required to be registered so you will learn about what is required from MAF. You will be given details about the Auckland Beekeepers Club. Finally, expect to get stung at least several times when managing your own hive, and bee amazed at the intricacies of nature and the beehive.
About Paul Romley:
Paul is an ex-commercial beekeeper of six years experience working for Comvita, in the BOP. He developed a passion for landscape design, but has recently re-discovered his passion for bees. He is only interested in small domestic beekeeping situations, and manages his own beehive (on a balcony four stories up in Parnell), and two other beehives at his sister-in-law’s place in St Heliers. He also has assisted several friends set up their own beehives.
Tags: Biodiversity, Community, Gardening, Mount Eden, Mount Eden Village People, Sustainability
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