Community orchard working bee

Around 16 Mangere Bridge locals gathered at the “Feijoa Patch” off Wallace Rd on the weekend, armed with gardening gloves, spades and lots of community spirit!  Our mission; to add 13 new fruit trees to the existing patch of established feijoas, creating a community orchard for us all to enjoy for years to come.  The fruit trees, purchased by Friends of the Farm, included four varieties of mandarin and two each of limes and oranges.  Our plan is for the trees to fruit at different times, so there will be a constant supply of fruit and enough to share with the wider community.

The group spent a happy and productive couple of hours digging holes (and pulling out some very large rocks!), adding sheep manure and compost and then mulching around the planted trees.  Both young and old, human and canine got stuck in, making it possible to get a lot done in a short space of time.  At the end of our labours, the workers were treated to a cold drink and delicious home baking, thanks to Ella Walmsley.  

Special thanks to orchard neighbours Rose, Richard and Joseph for their vision for the orchard and huge contribution to making it happen.  They are our kaitiaki for this patch, supported by Friends of the Farm and Auckland Council.  Thanks also to Auckland Council for supplying the compost for the trees.  The compost was created from the food waste collected in the trials of a new food bin collection system.  And of course we couldn’t have achieved much without the ever-efficient co-ordination of our Park Ranger Janine Nillesen, who organised the resources and gave us all jobs to do.

Friends of the Farm will co-ordinate ongoing working bees in the orchard, with a view to extending the patch to other areas in and around Ambury Farm as well.  There’ll be opportunities to help with pruning, mulching and manuring the trees as Spring approaches, so look out for invitations to join in on our Facebook page or Friends Updates.   The orchard will take a while to get established, so there’s no fruit to pick at this stage.  Once it’s in production, we’ll let the community know.  Thanks so much to everyone who came down to help on the weekend- your efforts have created a community treasure!

    

   

Sweet Talks 2016

 May was Sweet Talks time again for Friends of the Farm- our annual catch up with our community to provide an update on our work and seek feedback for the coming year.  In addition to eight Friends, this year 31 local residents participated 18 of whom had been to previous Sweet Talks and 13 newbies. We also received a number of apologies. Those arriving early had an opportunity to hear more about our Household Waste Pilot, thanks to our wonderful new recruit Jane Gravestock, who delivered a fantastic presentation, drawing a crowd and signing people up on the spot!  

 

To kick off the formal part of the evening, Janine Nillesen gave a run-down on Friends’ activities over the past year, which have included some of our now signature events (Goodbye Godwits, the Easter Scavenger Hunt, farm and foreshore working bees and support with waste reduction at community events), as well as some new initiatives (Mangere Bridge Household Waste Pilot, Mangere Bridge community picnic, activities at Bridge Court, Mangere Bridge annual calendar of events, and Kids’ Sweet Talks).  Many of these new initiatives have sprung from ideas generated at previous Sweet Talks.

Janine then painted a picture of what’s on the horizon for us, including a Barn Dance, community orchard planting, preserving workshops, a new website and storytelling project, a Mangere Bridge calendar of weekly/monthly events, a Mangere Bridge community group directory and an everyday soft plastics collection point.

Next came the “sweet” part of the evening, where the barn was transformed into a café, complete with table decorations, waitresses taking drink orders and platters of goodies to nibble on while we discussed these questions; What can Friends of the Farm do over the next year to encourage a more caring community? How can Friends of the Farm make our events and activities more attractive to a wider range of people/ families/ groups in the community? What’s one thing you can do over the next year to make Mangere Bridge a more caring, connected and wastewise community?

As with previous Sweet Talks, there were plenty of great ideas for Friends of the Farm to chew over.  Our task now is to prioritise these and see what’s achievable, making sure we stick to our motto of “Keep it Simple”.  It was fantastic to see, once again, the community spirit and enthusiasm amongst the group, and the willingness of everyone to contribute to making Mangere Bridge a more caring, connected and wastewise community.  Thanks to all those who attended and to everyone who contributed to the smooth running of the evening.   We also thanked Council for its ongoing support of our Wastewise initiatives in the community.