Dear reader,

Wow we're having an eventful spring aren't we!  The big earthquake centering in Kaikoura hit a few days ago and then Wellington had flooding.  A big showering of best wishes and love to all those affected and frightened by the whole thing!  We have had heavy rain again in the Bay of Plenty.  It's been a very wet spring and that has affected the plum set.  Obviously it was too wet for the bees.  That's the beauty of having diversity - We won't get many plums but we will get apples, chilean guavas, some peaches on my dwarf trees, blueberries and hopefully some feijoas.

Since my last newsletter I've had a significant birthday on November 8th and entered my 6th decade on the planet.  It has a been a fantastic week of celebrations and I feel totally grateful for it all.  On Saturday 5th November my friend Min created a beautiful ceremony in her naked tipi all about letting go of the past and entering my new life.  I received so many gorgeous bouquets of wildflowers, gifts, touching acknowledgements and the presence of eighteen lovely women friends.  Many of whom I have met through this wild weed journey and Sharon my fantastic webmaster wrote me a stunningly beautiful poem - read it below.

My parents gave me a wonderful birthday gift by taking me on a mystery holiday, which ended up being to Pukawa on the Western side of Lake Taupo, just along from Omori where our family had a bach.  The striking feature of the trip south was the bright yellow flowers of broom (Cytisus scorparius) gracing the roadsides.  My parents rented a bach for my two sisters and I, plus the two dogs for three days.  We were in the bush with so many native birds, it was magical.  We went walking and I had a field day taking photos and finding all sorts of wild weeds and plants like Wall lettuce (Mycelis muralis) growing on the edge of tracks and on the track banks, Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale), Self heal (Prunella vulgaris), Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Wild lettuce (Lactuca virosa), Cleavers (Galium aparine) and then the natives like Hangehange or New Zealand privet (Geniostoma rupestre var. ligustrifolium) that tastes like cooked peas.  I nibbled on all of them as I walked along.  I was thrilled to find wild native orchids (Pterostylis banksii) and strong smelling native clematis (Clematis paniculata). I was delighted to find a rare Kiekie flowering (Freycinetia banksii) said to be NZ's best tasting wild vegetable food, a tribute to the extensive pest eradication going on, resulting in the increased birdlife and masses of seedlings of native plants. I've never seen so many Rewarewa (Knightia excelsa) seedlings.  It was a fantastic time to visit the area for all the spring flowering including native Tree fuchsia or Kotukutuku (Fuchsia excorticata). 

In a different ecosystem on the lake edge sorrell (Rumex acetosella) was flowering and also Evening primrose (Oenothera glazioviana), the flowers of which are very nice to eat.

I have a number of workshops coming up (Here for more information):
Or go to my Facebook page

Sunday 20th November 10-1pm, in Whakamarama, Bay of Plenty
Saturday 26th November 10-1pm Swanson, Auckland
Sunday 27th November 10-1pm Whangateau, Matakana, North Auckland
Saturday 3rd December 10-1pm Rotorua
Sunday 11th December 10-1pm Whakatane

It would be great to see you at one of them!!

The stunningly beautiful poem Sharon wrote for me.  Isn't the background gorgeous!

Thank you So much Sharon!!!

Yay to the Sisterhood of friends! My wonderful birthday celebration at the naked tip with a magnificent view to Mount Maunganui just visible in the background.

Flowering broom (Cytisus scorparius) and manuka (Leptospermum scoparium). On the  right
my sister Lexa and the back of my mother.

Hangehange (Geniostoma rupestre var. ligustrifolium). Its leaves are pale green and tender, so rather nice to eat tasting like cooked green peas.  This shrub likes shade and was used by Māori for flavouring food, the bark was pounded and soaked to yield a black dye for harakeke flax and the sap was used to treat skin disease in children.

Native tree fuchsia or Kotukutuku (Fuchsia excorticata) The curious thing about this plant is that the flowers start out green and deep blue/purple as in the photo and once they are fertilised they turn pink and red as they mature.  The berries that form from the flowers are sweet and delicious to eat.  This tree can reach 13m, which makes it the largest fuchsia in the world.  One of its distinguishing features is the papery, light brown bark that peels from the trunk. As the old bark peels the lighter coloured bark can be seen underneath. Another feature is that this is one of the few deciduous New Zealand trees, losing its leaves over winter in cold places and at higher altitudes.

I first met this orchid when I worded as a waitress up at Dawson Falls on Mount Taranaki decades ago.  It is always so special when I find them as they are not very big (up to 45cm high) and are well camouflaged among forest floor vegetation.  The ones I discovered at Pukawa were on the edge of the tracks. The beautiful hooded flower has an ingenious trigger mechanism to guarantee cross-pollination.  When an insect lands on the lip of the flower, the catapult in the flower, tosses the insect inside and as it climbs out again, it has to crawl over the sticky stigma depositing pollen it collected from another flower.  Then the insect is smeared with a sticky substance as it crawls past the anthers where it collects pollen to take to the next flower.

No one planted these Evening primroses (Oenothera glazioviana) with their lovely fragrance. I love finding wild plants in the location they have chosen, even though they can adapt to a lot of places.  These plants are the origin of the Evening primrose oil that is so valued for its rich source of omega-6 essential fatty acids. In particular, it contains one known as gamma linolenic acid (GLA). The flowers as mentioned are good to eat straight off the plant - they have a smooth buttery flavour and are pretty in salads.

I found Sheeps sorrel (Rumex acetosella) growing wild on sandy soil near lake Taupo.  It looks very decorative with the lovely red coloured flowers.  You can also eat these by stripping them off the stalk and tossing them in salad or in your smoothie for a boost of iron and other minerals.

My final photo is of my sister Lexa and Ritchie in front of the bach we used to own at Omori with the magnficient variegated Tulip Tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) Dad planted.  It is now 40 years old and a landmark in the area.  It was so nice to see the Tulip tree and Rhododendrons still there.  I honour my Dad for the many, many trees he has planted and how that has contributed to greatly increasing beauty and enhancing the environment.

That's it for this time.

Wild Green Blessings to you all,

Julia