July 6th, 2014 - Getting into mud and high water

Kowhai flowering in the reserve

This afternoon we spent time at the Mahoe Reserve.  Sue Jarvis with the Lincoln Envirotown Trust met us there with other knowledgeable volunteers, including Ralph Scott of Crop and Food Research, and gave us a bit of history of this old pit that was first mined for rock for building and later used as a landfill before being converted to a reserve by Lincoln High School Students in 2002.  With much help from the community, the Mahoe stands as an oasis for birds, insects and lizards.

Heading down into the Mahoe Reserve with water in the bottom where it is usually dry.
Can you believe this used to be a completely grassy pit just 12 years ago?

Although there was flooding in the reserve which made our conditions a bit muddy today, we learned how to plant native plants from Ecologist, Mike Bowie, and found it to be quite challenging in the steep and rocky surroundings.  The earthquakes are believed to have shifted the water table so in the past few years the reserve has been wetter than usual which has made survival of previously thriving plants difficult.  

NZ plants.  They start small and are very slow growing.

All smiles in the sunshine despite the steep and
rocky planting conditions.

We had to pull some of those plants that had become too waterlogged and did not make it. Happy that we were able to plant new ones to take their place.  We also did a bit of weeding and enjoyed the sunshine.  Cheers, m&m