July 10th 2016 Sanctuary Garden working Bee.
Another beautiful winters day for our working bee. The first surprise of the morning was the road closure on the Unitec campus for a sports event but we found parks elsewhere and walked to the gardens.
Our list of tasks for the morning.
Mort, Ainsley, and Dimitri prepare cardboard for the mulch underlayer in the food forest.
Annabel, Jenni, Trevor, and Nigel work to re-establish our fence line by clearing Tradescantia et al into black bags. The bags are then stored in the food forest where the contents will rot down before being added as a mulch layer to feed the soil and smother the weeds.
Trevor adds another bag of noxious weeds to the pile.
Our impressive line-up of bagged noxious weeds in the food forest area.
Pete (suffering from a cold) removes a Privet stump.
Ghostly (and impressive) frost shelters for the Tamarillo trees in the food forest.
John and Aaron process the cut Coprosma.
David lens a hand too.
Liz hides from the camera in the beautiful Herb Garden...
and instructs me to photograph the newly clipped Rosemary hedge instead - which I dutifully do!
Johney Rakai and Louella with Quentin and Jane, enjoying the sunshine and the gardens.
Clare and Robbie - the picture of good health.
John chainsawed down the Coprosma earlier in the week. Here he cuts it into manageable lengths to be processed by the team.
Bev avoiding the paparazzi - again!
Marita helps out with the Coprosma clearing.
Clement (our award winning Carpenter) helps Trevor clearing the weeds.
Welcome to Carla and Craig - new plot holders.
Sarah and Bev collect some big logs for an upcoming workshop on hugelkultur. See http://permaculturenews.org/2010/08/03/the-art-and-science-of-making-a-hugelkultur-bed-transforming-woody-debris-into-a-garden-resource/
Alison with the wheelbarrow and Jane chat with Bev before heading into the gardens to weed the leeks and carrots.
Rosie.
Ellie prunes the Bogan(villia).
With the Coprosma cutback, the fruit and nut trees are less cramped and more open to the sunlight.
Mort and Gabrielle keep up with the boxes.
Kiwano aka Horned melon in front of the Pumpkins. They look terrific and gradually turn yellow as they ripen.
Lucile - aged 7, Karine's daughter - drawing in the lunch shed.
Cathy and Rosie tidy up the front entrance.
Ainsley and Dimitri take a full load of prepared cardboard boxes through to the food forest.
The Sanctuary gardens looking beautiful...
and full of winter crops.
Karine takes a load of weeds to the compost bins.
Alison and Jane weed the leeks and carrots.
Our Health and Safety noticeboard in the lunch room, to remind us all to be aware of potential hazards.
Remember Safety First - not an after thought.
Happy gardening everyone!
