Dear reader,
Happy New Year for 2015!! I hope the whole year is a rip roaring Fantastic Year for you!!
This is a plant flourishing time of year with many wild edibles flowering and going to seed like dandelion, catsear, hawksbeard, nipplewort, wall lettuce, plantain, oxeye daisy, herb robert and puha among others. On the other hand, annuals like amaranth and galensoga are enjoying growing amongst our vegetables and getting watered. But my Mum who also makes daily green smoothies and I are using them as micro-greens for smoothies and salads.
I just discovered the fuchsia berries in the garden are ripe this morning and they are delicious - plump, dark red/black (the blacker the sweeter and juicier), sweet, no pips, easy to pick. They can have a bitter aftertaste, but I love the juiciness. The birds like them too, so you have to find them first! See the photo below.
The first article for 2015 features Self Heal
February 7th I am running a 2 hour weed walk/smoothie making talk at the Auckland Botanic Gardens in Manurewa.
February 13th-16th I'll be flying my way to Whangarei to run a wild edible foraging workshop. Rachael is the hostess and organiser supreme. If you know of anyone in that area please let them know. Flyer below.
The Nashi Festival in Te Puna, happens 21st and 22nd February and I'll be there doing a workshop. It is a great, relaxed, family atmosphere festival with lots of fun activities, music and workshops. I really enjoyed it last year and camped overnight. Poster below.
I'll also be at the Sundaise festival at Dickey's Flat March 6,7,&8 running a workshop and weed walk.
March sees Sustainable Backyards in Tauranga celebrate their 10th anniversary with many events run by the Envirohub. I will be running two workshops Wednesday 11th March at an Eco home and Saturday 21st in Papamoa. Keep track of events on the Envirohub's Calendar or my website
Finally there are interesting talks and workshops happening in several places around NZ with international speakers on organics and saving seeds. It is called Beyond Organic New Zealand Tour or BONZ Tour for short, see below.
