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).

May Mangroves 2018

Friends of the Farm co-ordinated two successful mangrove working bees last month, clearing new seedlings from bird roosts along the Kiwi Esplanade and Ambury Farm shorelines. 

At our first event along Kiwi Esplanade, 40 people pitched in to help, clocking up a whopping 90 hours of volunteer time between them, and collecting 77 bags of mangroves!  Kiwi Esplanade neighbours joined the effort along the foreshore, alongside young people from the community working towards their Duke of Edinburgh badges. 

Small groups spread out along the Esplanade, filling bags with seedlings.  Local Māngere Bridge residents Chris and Suzie Lockett and their son Brook took on the job of going up and down the Esplanade, collecting bags and transporting them back to Ambury Farm.  Charmaine Strang enjoyed her time on the welcome desk, registering people for the event and giving a safety briefing.    

At our second working bee, around the western rim of Ambury Farm foreshore, eight volunteers contributed 18 hours to clear seedlings.  The Ambury Farm location was quiet and serene, and the small group of volunteers loved the chance to spend time in such a beautiful spot.  “I had a cracker of a time!”, said Janine Nillesen (Friends of the Farm volunteer and Ambury Farm Ranger).

The events were well organised, thanks to old hand Janine and other Friends of the Farm members.  Special thanks to the Māngere Boating Club, who kindly made their facilities available for volunteers to use during the Esplanade working bee.  Also thanks to Auckland Council for arranging for contractors to collect the bags of seedlings. Keep an eye on the Friends of the Farm Facebook page and the MāngereBridge Community Calendar for details of another pop-up mangrove working bee in September to finish the job.

Eco-cleaning products workshop- May 2018

The farm kitchen was filled with the sweet-smelling aroma of eco-cleaning products last month, during a workshop run by Friends of the Farm (FOF) members Meredith, Caroline and Ella.  They were joined by nine others, keen to try their hand at concocting their own environmentally-friendly foaming handwash, toilet bombs, all-purpose cleaner, cleaning paste, dishwashing powder and air-freshener! 

The group included some first timers to FOF events, a few young mums having some “me-time” and friends enjoying a fun outing together.  Of note, two participants came in proudly sporting their Tote All Recall bags.

The recipes were taken from Wendyl Nissen’s website and used everyday ingredients from home. “Everything was ridiculously easy to make!”, said Meredith.  Workshop participants were able to take home samples of each of the products along with instructions for making them again.

One attendee commented later that “all the products have worked well and the cleaning chores were noticeably smelling sweeter”.  All in all, it was a lovely time of chatting and productivity.