Bike Powered Sewing Machine

After nearly two years of research and co-ordination, Friends of the Farm is proud to present a  Māngere Bridge (possibly Auckland, maybe New Zealand) first- our bike-powered ELECTRIC sewing machine!  Not only is our Tote All Recall bag library scheme helping to reduce plastic bag use in the Bridge, but our sewing operation is now able to go totally off the grid. All we need to boost the solar panel on our sewing machine is pedal power – kindly supplied by our enthusiastic visitors.

Seen for the first time on Saturday 8 December by the lucky few who were visiting the Māngere Bridge library, this video footage captures just how keen people were to join in.  Keep an eye out for us in the middle of a paddock somewhere near you! We’ll be sewing bags to refill the Tote All Recall boxes in the Village, where you can borrow a bag for your shopping convenience.  Boxes are located at the library and at Māngere Bridge Fruit and Veg. 

We're always looking for new sewers, so please ask at Māngere Floral Studio or contact us on friends@fof.nz for more information about how to get involved. We’ll provide fabric and a pattern; all we need is your time and expertise.

With huge thanks to the Tread Lightly Caravan for their starter pack and to Graeme from The Auckland Teaching Gardens Trust Inc. for his engineering brilliance. We look forward to continuing our alliance. Our bike was inspired by Harriet Riddell in this video https://www.facebook.com/bbcoxford/videos/1428540333855050/

Eco Christmas Workshop

Friends of the Farm members Caroline and Meredith transformed the Ambury Farm barn into a homemade Christmas wonderland recently, for their Eco Christmas workshop.  Using natural materials like wool, paper, wood and fabric, they managed to create zero-waste gift ideas, wrapping paper and decorations that were not only affordable and kind to the environment, but also beautiful.

Workshop participants were given the opportunity to try their hands at wet felting Christmas tree decorations and making hand-made paper infused with seeds.  These activities were popular with children and adults alike, and gave people time to reconnect with old friends and catch up on neighbourhood news while creating their masterpieces. 

    

        

There were plenty of edible Christmas goodies to sample as well, including peppermint candy, personalised Christmas biscuits and the ever-popular Christmas mince pies.  DIY edible gift ideas like homemade lemonade and “biscuits in a jar” were also on display, providing quirky alternatives to the usual Christmas fare.  
 

The workshop gave us all inspiration for making the coming season a time of beauty and creativity, in stark contrast to the excessive consumerism and wastefulness we see around us.  If you weren’t able to make it, we hope the photos (and the internet) will give you some ideas for creating your own eco-Christmas this year.  Many of the items made for the workshop are now having a second life in a ‘Homemade Christmas’ display at ME Family Services in Mangere.  

Edible Paradise- Film Screening

Friends of the Farm (FOF) hosted our first ever film screening in the barn recently, with 15 adults and eight children joining us to watch ‘Edible Paradise’.  Several of our FOF members, had attended a screening of the film through Films for the Future (For the Love of Bees), and wanted to share it with our local community. 

‘Edible Paradise’ is set in the Christchurch ‘Redzone’, documenting the work of local communities (supported by the Council) in transforming the now uninhabitable land into edible gardens, heritage orchards and food forests.  FOF was keen to see whether there was interest amongst the Māngere Bridge community in exploring the possibilities for producing more food in and around our neighbourhood.

The film generated different ideas for different people.  Some were keen to identify the heritage fruit trees in our community already, and think about how these can be preserved.  Where old trees are being removed, or a tree is dying, graftings can be taken and replanted elsewhere to ensure the tree continues its life.  FOF is looking into the possibility of running a grafting workshop so that we have the capacity to save our special fruit trees before they’re lost. 

Others were excited about the potential for creating a food forest in our neighbourhood.  Food forests mimic natural forests, which have different layers of planting; bigger trees, smaller bushes, and an understorey.  The only difference is that everything is edible!  Food forests are a natural and efficient way to produce food, as the different plants and trees support each other and create their own eco-system of beneficial insects and birdlife as well. Our Māngere Bridge orchard would be an ideal site to try this method of growing food.

The film screening included a micro-workshop making seed bombs, which when planted will provide food for bees and other beneficial insects. We hope this will be the first of many more film screenings at Ambury Farm!

  

October News

It’s been another busy month for the Friends of the Farm (FOF) team, with a pop-up stall at the library, a sewing bee, our ever-popular beeswax wrap workshop and supporting the Department of Conservation and Ambury Farm with the Kiwi Guardians Walk. 

Our pop-up stalls at the Mangere Bridge library continue to be a great opportunity to talk to people about the different initiatives FOF is involved with in the community, as well as to give one-to-one support to reduce household waste.   

The beeswax wrap workshop last month attracted a group of 24 people and was, once again, a lovely time to meet and talk rubbish!  A smaller group joined us for the bi-monthly sewing bee at the Farm, adding a few more bags to our growing Tote All Recall community bag collection.  With Fresh Choice set to ditch plastic bags very soon, the time is certainly ripe for our reusable cloth bags.

The Kiwi Guardians walk, run by the Department of Conservation, is promoted as ‘an activity programme for kids to learn about nature, earn cool rewards and go on epic family adventures’.  This month, Ambury Farm hosted the event and FOF stepped up to lend a hand, providing volunteer support from our community for the various activities on the day.  Around 1000 people attended from all over Auckland, enjoying the opportunity to take part in some farm activities, including feeding the animals, making butter, exploring the lava cave and milking a cow.  Big thanks to our young people and others who helped out with the activities on the day. 

WHAT’S PLANNED FOR THE REST OF 2018

-       Saturday 3 November, 2.30pm Screening of the film ‘Edible Paradise’ in the Barn, in partnership with Live Lightly. The movie was made over five years as part of the Localising Food Project and travels to the four corners of Aotearoa to meet local food campaigners instrumental in creating community orchard and food forest projects in their patch.  Come along and meet like-minded locals, mingle and share ideas over a cuppa and cake and make clay seed balls to take home.  If you’re worried about baby-sitting, fear not, one of our lovely volunteers will be just next door doing crafts and games with the kids.  Please RSVP to friends@fof.nz for catering purposes.

-       Wednesday 7 November 5-6pm Foreshore clean up from the carpark at start of Kiwi Esplanade . 

-       Saturday 24 November Pop-up at the Mangere Bridge Library.  Come down and find out more about FOF and how to reduce waste at your place.

-       Saturday 24 November, 2-3:30pm Eco-Christmas gift workshop at the Farm.  If you’d like to know how to make seed paper, cute wet-felted gifts, advent calendars and stocking fillers as well as alternatives to wrapping paper.  Keep an eye on our Facebook page  for details and be sure to RSVP at friends@fof.nz . 

New bags for Tote All Recall project

Recently, Friends of the Farm has connected with local Industrial Design student Lisa Tapiki, who created 100 fabulous new Tote All Recall Bags for us.   These wonderful bags are providing some extra capacity for our Tote All Recall bins, currently located in Paul's Fruit and Veg shop and the Mangere Bridge Library.  Borrow a bag and return for others to enjoy- that’s how the initiative works. 

Lisa loved the idea of the reusable bags.  "Sometimes we forget to put our shopping bags in the car.  Not to worry, Tote All Recall bags will save the day!"  says Lisa. "Your love for our environment is a wonderful success and is making an impact.   Mother Earth needs our help.  I'm thankful for being a part of this project."  A huge thanks to Lisa for her fantastic work. 

Alongside Lisa’s efforts, Friends of the Farm is continuing to hold sewing bees at the Ambury Farm Barn and today's event created 20 more bags.  Two children who attended had the opportunity to learn to sew for the first time.  With the Government’s announcement of a phasing out of single-use plastic bags across New Zealand over the next year, we hope to see many more Mangere Bridge residents join our future sewing bees and build up their own stash of reusable bags at home.

Written by Jane Gravestock

Auckland Zero Waste Hui and Awards 2018

Friends of the Farm headed west last week, for the annual Auckland Zero Waste Hui and Awards at Zeal in Henderson.  The hui was a great opportunity to mix and mingle with fellow groups working to reduce waste in communities across Auckland.  It also gave us plenty to think about, with some interesting speakers sharing about waste reduction initiatives happening all over the country. 

Of note was Sustainable Salons- a new enterprise in New Zealand which works with hair salons to recycle the waste generated by their products and treatments.  And Mint Innovation- a start-up company that has recently patented a process which uses bacteria to remove valuable metals from e-waste.  Great to see such innovation and creativity springing up to address our waste challenges!

In the evening, the red carpet was rolled out and the space transformed with some glitz and glamour for the Zero Waste Awards.  Friends of the Farm was honoured to be nominated as a finalist in the Fair on all Fronts category, which recognises groups or individuals that have started up a social enterprise to divert waste from landfill.  Our Tote All Recall initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags in the Village received a special mention.

"It was wonderful to be nominated for our work in the community over a number of years to reduce waste to landfill. We acknowledge Auckland Council for supporting us to work creatively and effectively with local businesses, the library, residents, schools and community groups to reduce waste. Working together has made our vision of a caring, connected and wastewise community not only seem more possible but also become more tangible. We were proud to stand alongside many other finalists at the Auckland Community Zero Waste Awards", said Frances Hancock, co-founder of Friends of the Farm and the Mangere Bridge Wastewise initiative

All in all, the event was a real celebration of all the amazing work going on around our city to reduce waste. It was encouraging to see that we’re not alone in our efforts and that there are many ways to tackle the issue of waste.  With a bit of creativity, passion, energy and vision, we can definitely get to zero waste by 2040!

Beeswax Wrap Workshop at the Library- June 2018

A second successful collaboration between Friends of the Farm and Māngere Bridge library brought 28 adults and children to the library on Saturday to make beeswax wraps.  While cutting out fabric, grating beeswax and ironing, connections were made and interests shared.
 

One family had three generations taking part; one participant was keen to take the idea to the Pacific Islands, where she could see a need for reducing plastic use; and another was planning to share the skills with her friends back in Australia.  At least two attendees talked about sharing skills with school colleagues and students.
 

Demonstrating something so simple, to people who receive the knowledge enthusiastically and want to share their new knowledge, is what makes it worthwhile to give up our Saturday mornings.  It’s lovely to see such interest in wanting to know about alternatives to using single-use plastic.

Thanks, again, to Librarian Loryn for her organisational and baking skills.

If you missed Saturday’s workshop, don’t worry.  Follow the Māngere Bridge Community Noticeboard or Friends of the Farm Facebook pages, or see the community calendar to keep up to date with upcoming workshops.

 

Community Orchard Working Bees- May 2018

The Māngere Bridge community orchard has had a bit of love recently, with a couple of working bees to mulch and prune the new trees. 

Six hardy souls braved terrible weather to feed the trees with manure from nearby Riding for the Disabled, and were rewarded with some unexpected sunshine for their efforts.  Mulch donated by local arborist Peter Bruce was applied on top to supress the weeds, and some general tidying up and adding of windbreaks finished off the afternoon.  

As the citrus trees are still young, all fruit was removed again this season, so the trees can direct their energy into growth.  This will be done again next year as well, so we can look forward to a bumper citrus harvest in 2020!

At the end of May, six orchard kaitiaki were treated to a pruning and espalier workshop with Kerry Alexander from Black Bridge Nurseries in Manukau.  Espalier is a method of pruning a tree so it grows outwards along a wall or fence, making it perfect for small gardens.  The orchard team picked up some great tips and tricks for keeping the trees productive and tidy and were really appreciative of Kerry’s generosity in sharing his time and expertise.  We hope his workmates enjoyed the cake that Caroline baked as a thank you.

We want to acknowledge the wonderful orchard volunteers who’re looking after this patch of our community, including the young people working towards their Duke of Edinburgh badges.  Friends of the Farm are privileged to be able to provide opportunities like this for locals to get involved and make a contribution to their community.  Special thanks also to Peter and Kerry for supporting our efforts. 

Look out for our next orchard working bee in August, where we’ll be pruning the established feijoa trees (details on the Friends of the Farm Facebook page and Māngere Bridge Community Calendar).