| Report on Kelmarna Organic Gardens | ||
| Debra and Susan gave of
their time to talk about their city organic farm which is situated on land
leased from the Auckland City Council by Framework Trust to provide opportunities
for people with mental ill health as a first step out into the community.
They have 7-14 member~workers who learn about organics; seedling pricking out, weeding, harvesting, bagging up and some retail work. For which they get a share in the profits. Debra and Susan provide a very informative role in organic awareness due to their range of contact with local people and organisations and exposure on TV. They sell to local people and restaurants. The Chinese medical school is interested in their weeds and they do a nature trail for preschoolers and primary school children who haven’t seen a cow or hens before. They also run night classes at Mt Albert Grammar school in Organics. A small group enjoyed a couple of hours exploring their delightful site with its raised beds of vegetables and herbs and an abundance of interesting "weeds"... With Richard’s help we identified Amaranth: |
||
 |
||
| A mother grain from Tibet;
amoranthas, Samoan silverbeet; red root used in Indian cooking and apple
of Peru or something like it. There was a small orchard and a tropical
orchard as well with bananas and guava, paw paw and avocado.
The gardens have been run on organic principles since their inception in 1981. Debra and Susan have developed a self sustaining system apart from potting mix. They have a variey of composting systems; open bins, barrels of stinging nettle, comfrey. Seaweed, cow manure, and noxious weeds that are covered with water and left to ferment. The liquid is then watered on daily by the workers. We looked at a nifty worm farm made in a container from K mart. But one of our members had a nifty idea for a do it yourself worm farm. Using a tyre, staple weedcloth to the bottom inside and sit it on a bucket. Put scraps inside with a handful of lime and a few worms for starters and cover with newspaper. Water daily. You can use the liquid that drains through for watering plants. |
||
|
||
| Organics Auckland voluntary webpage designer | ||
MEOW Website Design and Management
