July 10 working bee

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!

Soil helps combat depression - an article by Bonnie L. Grant

Soil Helps Depression

Reproduced from Bonnie L. Grant

Tuesday, 9th December 2014

Soil is vital to life. It provides nutrients for plants and trees who in turn give us food and oxygen. Now, scientists have discovered it can help depression.

Prozac may not be the only way to get rid of your serious blues. Soil microbes have been found to have similar effects on the brain and are without side effects and chemical dependency potentials. Learn how to harness the natural antidepressant in soil and make yourself happier and healthier. Read on to see how dirt makes you happy.
Natural remedies have been around for untold centuries. These natural remedies included cures for almost any physical ailment as well as mental and emotional afflictions. Ancient healers may not have known why something worked but simply that it did. Modern scientists have unraveled the why of many medicinal plants and practices but only recently are they finding remedies that were previously unknown and, yet, still a part of the natural life cycle. Soil microbes and human health now have a positive link which has been studied and found to be verifiable.
Soil Microbes and Human Health
Did you know that there's a natural antidepressant in soil? It's true. Mycobacterium vaccae is the substance under study and has, indeed, been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier. Studies were conducted on cancer patients and they reported a better quality of life and less stress.
Serotonin has been linked to such problems as depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar problems. The bacterium appears to be a natural antidepressant in soil and has no adverse health effects. These antidepressant microbes in soil may be as easy to use as just playing in the dirt.
Most avid gardeners will tell you that their landscape is their "happy place" and the actual physical act of gardening is a stress reducer and mood lifter. The fact that there is some science behind it adds additional credibility to these garden addicts' claims. The presence of a soil bacteria antidepressant is not a surprise to many of us who have experienced the phenomenon ourselves. Backing it up with science is fascinating, but not shocking, to the happy gardener.
Mycrobacterium antidepressant microbes in soil are also being investigated for improving cognitive function, Crohn's disease and even rheumatoid arthritis.
How Dirt Makes You Happy
Antidepressant microbes in soil cause cytokine levels to rise, which results in the production of higher levels of serotonin. The bacterium was tested both by injection and ingestion on rats and the results were increased cognitive ability, lower stress and better concentration to tasks than a control group.
Gardeners inhale the bacteria, have topical contact with it and get it into their bloodstreams when there is a cut or other pathway for infection. The natural effects of the soil bacteria antidepressant can be felt for up to 3 weeks if the experiments with rats are any indication. So get out and play in the dirt and improve your mood and your life. 
This article originally appeared at:www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/antidepressant-microbes-soil.htm

Mothers Day Working Bee - Sunday May 8th 2016

Mother's Day at the allotment was humming!

The kumara harvest was most productive and was shared out after our delicious pot-luck lunch.

Harvesting are Bev, Rosie, Nigel, Birthe, Trevor and Jane. 

The start of the harvest...

 Freshly dug and a good size. The kumara were planted in November and have been in for their 6 month growing period. The kumara leaves are also good as a wilted green in stir-fries.

 Immaculate rows of lettuce are the picture of nutrition and vibrant health.

Abbey and VJ, as Marita lands from leaping across the garden bed! They are planting out peas and mulching with straw. Sarah, Sarah and Cathy beyond.

Climbing frames of leftover bamboo tops are placed in amongst the peas to grow up - ingenious. Sarah, Abbey, Marita and Cathy at work.

 Our fabulous Composters! Ian, Arthur, Brendan and Trevor.

Many hands making light work.

Sarah and Helen

 Our magnificent 'French Drivers' Benedicte et Karine - transporting the prepared cardboard boxes to the food forest for mulching over.

Birte,VJ, Sinead, Marita, Sarah, Sarah, Helen and Bev.

 John continues the sweet pea flower frame.

Brilliant work by Stephanie and Mike. Mike is edging the grass with his Fijian cane knife.

Emptying the noxious weed drum are Arthur and Brendan, while Sarah and Nigel oversee where it has been fed into the communal plot.

 Alison, Jane and Rosie.

 Rylie, Shamus and Benjamin in the shade house reading together.

 Liz in the herb garden. And mulching the pathway with Rebekah, Sinead and Sarah.

Jan and Karine, with Sinead and Ian prepare the cardboard by removing all the plastic tape from it before it is used as a layer to mulch over in the food forest.

The offending plastic separated off the boxes.

 Trevor gets into the swale to harvest Jerusalem Artichokes.

 Slim pickings on the rain gauge - luckily we have had some wet weather since the working bee.

 Happy children!

 Clare, VJ and Birte weeding the brassica's.

Sarah and Gabriel.

Working Compost! 

The bins turned, loaded and looking ship-shape.

 Robbie and trusty wheelbarrow.

 Bev and Trevor's Tamarillo's as part of our potluck lunch. Delicious.

    Some of our harvest shared out.

The Sanctuary Community Gardens Community looking beautiful, 

Happy Mother's Day everyone.