Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
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Organic Growing News - Levin Branch Newsletter Nov-Dec 200627-11-2006On Sunday 3 December we have our end-of-year meeting at Phillipa Martin’s country garden, 48 Martins Road, Manakau. Our last meeting for the year is a relaxed, informal affair where we can socialise and enjoy the natural surroundings of Phillipa Martin’s organic garden. The gate charge for this meeting is $10, which includes a catered afternoon tea. Numbers are limited, so please phone Winifred or Singa with your booking by Wednesday 29 November. The meeting will start at 1.30pm as usual. In preparation for the Organic River Festival, we are declaring a pot amnesty. Please bring along any pre-loved and unwanted empty plant pots and surrender them to a committee member. We will then plant them up for sale at our stall in January. Martins Road is off North Manakau Road on the left, about 1.6km from the highway. Phillipa’s house is at the end of the road, on the right. VISIT TO COMMON PROPERTYOur October meeting took place at Common Property, Te Horo, a Bio-Gro certified farm covering an area of some 30 acres. We were joined by members of the Central Districts branch of the Tree Crops Association, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Wanganui. Altogether approximately 60 people attended. Light rain was falling which soon developed into steady rain.Rochelle Hopping, who leases about 2 acres at Common Property, talked about the wide range of certified organic vegetable and herb seedlings that are grown by Common Property in the three large tunnel houses. It is intended to extend the range of herbs in the near future. Rochelle also uses the nursery facilities to propagate her own plants for later transplanting into the fields. Where possible Rochelle saves and uses her own seeds, but seeds are also purchased from Kings Seeds and Asian Seeds. A frame is used for sowing seeds which has a plastic lid with perforations at regular rows and intervals. Daltons potting mix is used. Rochelle also buys Daltons Nu-Fert fertiliser to supplement her own compost which she makes twice a year but is only about half her requirements. Cultivation is carried out with a tractor, followed by a Planet Junior hand furrower. Seedlings are then planted out into the furrows by hand. Rochelle demonstrated a stirrup hoe which was in the shape of a horseshoe and attached to a regular wooden handle. These are made in Australia and Rochelle said it was the best tool for weeding that she had ever used. A biodynamic ‘preparation 500’ was under way and visitors were invited to stir the mixture. Quite a few people did this. When the mixture was ready it was spread around the garden. The principle of this method was explained and information was given to those interested. Rochelle uses and recommends the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Calendar for planting and cultivation, which she affectionately referred to as ‘her bible’. This calendar is available from the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association of NZ Inc, P O Box 39045, Wellington. The cost is about $18. The new growing season to date has been a challenge for Rochelle, with constant rain making it all but impossible to work on the heavy clay soil. However, she is already harvesting September-planted lettuce, and has garlic, rhubarb, celery, zucchini, parsley, onions and basil in the ground. As the weather improves and the soil warms up, she will also be planting out main crops of vegetables such as tomatoes, beans, cucumber and eggplant. If you would like to buy boxes of certified organic vegetables throughout the season, please phone Rochelle on 021 113 8730. - Jill Scott and Singa BIODYNAMIC PREPARATION 500 Cow manure is plant material in a state of disintegration. Through the cow’s digestive process, it is permeated with the dynamic forces of the animal. Cow horn, by its nature, will not allow forces raying outward to escape, but will intensify and return these forces to where they originate. Fresh manure is placed inside cows’ horns in the autumn. It is then buried in the Earth, preserving the forces of the horn which continue to ray the forces of the manure back inward into the manure itself. The inwardly-quickened manure also attracts and accumulates etheric life-forces from the surrounding Earth. The preparation is buried for the duration of the winter, when the Earth breathes in and is most inwardly alive. The preparation becomes a highly concentrated, life-giving, manuring force. It brings bacterial intensity to the soil, helping soil bacteria to build humus. It is spread at the ratio of one portion per acre, during the descending phase of the moon - over the course of a month, the moon describes the same path through the zodiac as the sun takes in a year, from high in the sky (“ascended”) to low on the horizon (“descended”). ORGANIC RIVER FESTIVAL It is now only two months until the 2007 Organic River Festival at Kimberley Reserve, Levin. The Festival will be held on the last weekend in January (Sat 27th and Sun 28th), not on Wellington Anniversary weekend as previously. We will be having our usual stall, with plants, food, drinks, literature and so on. This is our major fundraiser for the year, and also our main opportunity to present ourselves and our message to the public. More than ever, we need your help to make our stall a success. Time is running out to start planting seed and taking cuttings. Our plants and seedlings donated by members sold out last year, so this year we will need even more. Fresh organic produce is also popular, or perhaps you can provide fresh herbs and flowers, or packets of seed from your garden. Home baking is always welcome, using organic ingredients as far as possible. Please note however that Health regulations are enforced at the Festival, so please limit your contributions to cakes, biscuits and slices. We also require used supermarket bags for our customers to take their bounty away in. Perhaps most of all, we need volunteers to run the stall. We need to have at least three people rostered on at all times, and preferably four. Each rostered shift runs for three hours, and there are three shifts per day. We also need people to help set up on the Friday and pack up on Sunday evening. Please make a space for us in your diary now if you can help, and call Winifred to put your name down. As usual, our stall will also feature a range of organic literature, and organic gardening aids such as rock dust and dipel. We are also pleased to announce that Kiwi Backyard Products have donated a no-dig garden bed which we will plant up and raffle off. These garden beds are made from untreated macrocarpa which slots together, and come in a range of sizes from herb gardens to large vegetable beds. DONATION TO LEVIN LIBRARY Our branch has recently donated a collection of books to the Levin library. These are:
MOON PLANTING GUIDE FOR DECEMBER
The best days for sowing or planting fruit and flower crops such as aubergines, peppers and autumn flowering bulbs are the 3rd and 4th. Between the full moon on the 5th and last quarter on the 13th, root growth is most vigorous (eg: carrots), with the best days being the 7th and 8th. Between last quarter on the 13th and new moon on the 21st is not good for planting; it is said that weeds come out easier during this period. Between new moon on the 21st and first quarter on the 28th favours growth of leaf crops, eg lettuce and celery. Remove laterals from tomatoes and cucumbers. MOON PLANTING FUIDE FOR JANUARY
Sow root crops between full moon on the 4th and last quarter on the 12th, eg: radish, beetroot, carrot, turnip. Best days are the 5th and 11th. Barren signs are up between first quarter on the 12th and new moon on the 19th, so no good for planting but you can lift and clean bulbs. Between new moon on the 19th and first quarter on the 26th, sow or plant leeks, spinach, broccoli, silverbeet and cabbage. From the 26th until full moon on the 2nd February, sow or plant beans, cauliflower, with the best days being the 22nd and 23rd. This is also a good period for bedding plants. Ray Bourn NATIONAL FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN Members will have received a letter recently from Head Office, asking for donations to help the Association to campaign more effectively for organics. Our branch has made an initial contribution of $200, and individual committee members have also made personal donations. Part of our fundraising from the upcoming Festival will also be donated towards the national campaign. SUPPORT LOCAL ORGANICS In this ever-increasingly globalised world of mass consumption, it is easy to feel powerless about what we as individuals can do to make a difference. One way is to put our money where our mouth is, by supporting those small local producers who provide organic, healthy and sustainable alternatives. Such as our loyal back-page advertisers. By supporting them, we help to make our part of the world a better place, and an example to the greater whole. S&H LEVIN ON-LINE A reminder that our branch now has its own web page as part of the Organic NZ website - www.organicnz.org/page/Levin. THE NEXT COMMITTEE MEETING will be held on Monday 8 January at 10am with Ray and Winifred's, 23a Fairfield Road, Levin. All members are welcome to attend. ADVERTISING A1 SHELTER BELT TRIMMERS for all your shelter belt and hedge trimming. Height reduction and decrowning now available. Competitive prices, prompt service. Phone Marty (06) 362 6737 MAWHENUA FARM - organic since 1986. Beef, hogget & lamb processed & packaged under MAF licence. Craft & knitting wools available. For price list and inquiries contact Warren and Trish Gilbert, RD 7, Dannevirke (06) 374 8281. AGRISSENTIAL NATURALLY BETTER FERTILISERS. BIOGRO certified Rok Solid and Organic 100, available from IMAGO ORGANIC ORCHARD. For information phone Ann (06) 368 3858 CACKLEBERRY ORGANICS. Organic chickens, pieces and pies. Organic chicken manure/sawdust mix. For inquiries contact Jeff & Christina Paulin (06) 368 8961 cackleberryorganics@clear.net.nz World’s first fully certified organic SKINCARE, BODYCARE AND COSMETIC PRODUCTS. 100% free of synthetic chemicals. Discount and free shipping available. Order on-line www.organic4you.net.nz or phone Louise (06) 364 2190 |
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Soil & Health
Association of New Zealand Inc (est 1941) Healthy
Soil - Healthy Food - Healthy People |
