The 25th newsletter of the Friends of Packe Street Park and community garden is being distributed. A copy of most of it appears on the next page.
“I’ve lived in New Zealand since 1973 and still find it strange to start the New Year half way through the summer and already into jelly-making,” (Ed). People born in the Northern Hemisphere experience an oddly persistent sort of seasonal disorientation when calculating NZ sowing and harvesting times. Easter in the autumn turns all our long-held springtime imagery upside down.
On the other hand, Matariki – Maori New Year – feels well placed in the dead of winter when Pleiades rises above the horizon and indicates the time to prepare the ground for next season’s planting. We always celebrate Matariki in Packe Street Park in June with a BIG community working bee and a free lunch. The date will be announced in the next Newsletter.
News from the gardeners
The new raised beds were fun to build and they help us grow more greens. Some are already carrying their third crop. Lettuce seems to do especially well. The biggest challenge (apart from the watering) is that enthusiastic harvesters pick the leaves before the plants are big enough to cope. Special thanks to all the brickies, especially Patricia, Stan, Mark and Calvin.
The revamped herb bed to the front of the park was a pleasure to construct. Now it is a bit easier to find the common herbs used in European and some Asian dishes. It’s a good resource for the whole community and neighbourhood.
Moving the rhododendrons, azaleas and daphne from the west bed to where they can be better seen from the street was a mammoth job. The transplants seem to have survived their shift thanks to adequate food and water and gentle weeding by those looking after them.
Watering the vegetables and all the new plantings needs to be done conscientiously to be effective. The Park is very lucky to have Chris King who has undertaken this commitment. Chris is often to be seen at dusk giving the plants a drink when the heat has gone out of the day.
New gardeners are always welcome and recently we were joined by Maureen and Gus who gave the garden two new hazel trees to help increase our supply of nuts through better pollination. Pauline and Peter have been pitching in with Bill, tackling twitch and convolvulus in the West Bed and in the New Forest. Justine from Singapore joined us via Volunteering Canterbury and Barbara simply turned up one day with a smile. Gayda often comes with seeds to sow and treasures to plant – roses, rosemary and such like. Tessa, Nancy, Val, Hazel, Bernadine, Margreet, Peggy, Michael and Brendan use their initiative and experience to muck in where needed. Sometimes they are really pleased with what they get done together!
Other new interesting plants added to the park collection this year are various natives donated by Brian and Valda Woods (also bringers of oak leaves) and the beautiful red native kaka-beak, Clianthus puniceus given at Christmastime by Jane Bachelor (of Burkes Pass restoration renown). Some attractive herbaceous plants came from Frencham Gardens; of special note, (in the north bed west of the shed) are masterwort, Astrantia major, in the carrot family and (near to the more easterly tap) the little shrub-like legume, Dorycnium hirsutum. Both these additions are from Europe.
Afternoon tea is at 3 pm on Thursdays and people are good about bringing occasional treats to share. We especially like to show off what we have managed to make from park produce. One Thursday recently we had both jam and jelly made from new season’s red currants.
The chief jam-maker in Packe Street is Raewyn who supports the volunteer gardeners by providing them with a great variety of jam made from fruits collected in and around the neighbourhood. From the beginning we have said that there are many ways to make a garden and Raewyn has found yet another way – by sustaining the gardeners!
Research into parks and public gardens is on-going and carried out by students studying in a range of fields. Packe Street Park has featured in numerous research projects since its creation sixteen years ago. This year Lyn Minchington from Lincoln University is using an unusual technique; she asks participants to take photographs of aspects of the garden that appeal to or specially interest them. Then she asks that they speak about the photos in their recorded interview. As necessary she provides a disposable camera so that everyone who wishes to participate may do so – whether they have access to a computer or not.
“The Next Event” is the 2013 AGM: Tuesday 26th March 7.30 pm at 115 Packe Street. Guest Speaker Claire Phillips – strengthening communities. Shared supper afterwards *Everybody welcome*
