Saturday, July 26, 2014 Colin once again helping the Garden City green up... Green Roof!

Colin helps residents understand how a green roof could help further enhance Christchurch, also known as The Garden City.

July 21, 2014 The Greening of Waipara

Swale to help with storm water management and quality at Pegasus 

We started our COLD and breezy day up the East Coast headed for Waipara and the wine country.  Along the way we stopped to see the green development of Pegasus before we stopped for our morning tea break.  Here, we saw some of the roadside plantings were natives mixed in with exotics. As with any green development, people tend to take small steps before taking a leap. Once in Waipara we toured two of the many wineries that are participating in the Greening Waipara project – Pegasus and Waipara Hills.  At Pegasus we not only saw how much the native plants have grown in the last several years since being planted, but also got to see the native New Zealand eel.  At Waipara Hills we walked their native gardens and had a great wine tasting session learning about how the grapes are grown and wines are made.

Heading down the path through the Greening Waipara native plant garden at Pegasus winery.

Learning about wine in Waipara.

Next we were off to our accommodation for the night, the Waipara Sleeper Cars, for lunch before our afternoon activities.  After lunch we met up with our ecologist buddy Dr. Colin  Meurk so he could give us some additional information about the Greening Waipara Project and the native plants in the Torlesse and Waipara Springs wineries.  Here, we observed wineries that incorporated natives into biodiversity trails and plantings of “green dots” to bring back native wildlife and spread seeds throughout the Waipara distruct. Many of the biodiversity trails also serve to educate visitors as they sip their glasses of wine. In the late afternoon we met up with Darryl Harris, a fourth generation New Zealand farmer that has been the community leader in the Greening Waipara Project. He continues to lead the effort of planting natives, even when the funding has dwindled.  He explained that his original interest was using native plants to bring predatory insects into and around his grape vines so he did not have to use as much pesticides (saving him money). Now, he feels it is a “win-win” for farmer to restore habitat, but he would really love to see the New Zealand wood pigeon come back to the area.

In the warmth of summer, they are a delightful idea says Meryl  ; )

Exploring the Greening Waipara garden with Colin at the Torlesse winery.

Daryl and Sis watch Bear bring home the sheep to us.

Now, Daryl, among other things, is a sheep farmer and we wanted to see how his new New Zealand sheep herding dog, Bear, did his thing. It was fascinating to watch Bear herd the sheep right back to us. After the demonstration, we went to Darryl’s home for gourmet dinner  - consisting of a lamb and beef roast, Tuscan chicken, and an assortment of vegetables that were to die for!  Marie is an excellent cook and it was topped off with a tasty bit of “pavlova.” Then came the main event– the lip synch contest – which was judged by Colin, Marie, Daryl, and Kate (their daughter).  Erin and Connor won the bragging rights for the year (here is a group performance for your enjoyment), but Daryl’s impromptu Meatloaf song, replete with “motorcycle”, capped off the evening (oh yeah, and so did Coco Chenelle’s six adorable puppies and Bob, Kate’s pet sheep!).

Enjoying an amazing meal all together at the Harris home. 

Marie's Pavlova

Puppies!

Puppies!

Connor and Erin say in New Zealand, "Ain't no mountain high enough!"

Our esteemed judges, Marie, Colin, Daryl, and Kate - Thank you!

Daryl with Tupelo on Bob The Sheep

July 11, 2014 - Possums, Performance, and Real Estate, oh my!

Kia Ora!

So after an amazing three day trip to Akaroa, we all slept in (our first lecture wasn't until 10, which gave us a well deserved rest!), and then headed off to learn about managing program performance and predator control. The lectures were hosted at Landcare Research Manaaki Whenua institute.

The squad waits for Dr. Hostetler to check us in.

On the way in, we ran into a bit of good news in the form of Colin Meurk. Colin retrieved Tupalo's lost camera and jacket hood, so if you ever see him walking down the street, make sure to thank him and the park ranger that returned the items :)

Colin being awesome.

After our encounter with Colin, we all settled down into the classroom for a good bit of learning.

Dr. Will Allen, talking about sustainability and evaluation.

The first lecture was by Dr. Will Allen. Dr. Allen spoke about managing program performance, and how much planning went into ensuring that a program was ran effectively from conception to completion. He let us delve into the process by showing us the template for program management,  and then cut us loose and let us create our own programs!

Erin, Katherine, and Alicia present their idea on Cleaning up Midtown.

Christina, Braden, and Sam present their idea on Composting on campus.

Josh, Conner, Tori, and Le'a present their idea on Reducing lawn water use. 

Dean Anderson: Ecologist.

The second lecture was by Dean Anderson, an American ecologist now living in New Zealand. He spoke to us about predator management, and the amount of work that had been put into ensuring that exotic predators (possums, stoats, hedgehogs, rabbits, and many more) don't eradicate the native species. One interesting thing that I got out of the lecture is that these days, a lot of ecology is not about going out into the woods and dealing with pests, but instead it's about teaching people not to be pests themselves!

The real pests.

After saying our goodbyes to our new friends at Manaaki Whenua, the squad decided to see how native kiwis (people who live in New Zealand) live, so we checked out some real estate and green development practices! The first neighborhood we stopped at was called Liffey Village, and it was quite the charming place. New Zealand architecture is quite different from American Architecture, in that until recently, almost none of the houses were built with insulation! Most houses here are designed to fully utilize the sun, so almost all of the houses have large north-facing windows. Also, on a semi-related note, New Zealand kitchens are beautiful!

Beautiful!

Another interesting aspect about the neighborhood was that it had an efficient storm-water collection system. The system was a combination of LID (low-impact design) and traditional drainage systems, which handled the stormwater in the area, while looking both elegant and eco-friendly.
After observing some very feisty ducks and a mixture of native and exotic flora (the native species we spotted were hebe, broadleaf, silver tussak, and cabbage trees, and the exotics were oaks, willows, and magnolias), the squad headed over to the adjacent neighborhood, where we decided to delve into the home buying business, so we went into a model home. Unfortunately, the house was a little bit out of our price range (NZ$700,000), but we still managed to learn a lot about local building techniques!

Dr. Hostetler discussing real estate.

Finally, we observed how the neighborhood developers had integrated a wetland style water treatment center right into the neighborhood. Despite not being crystal clear (which is apparently a big complaint by the local populace), the wetland does the job of filtering out undesirable elements from the water, making it safe to drink in the long run, while also keeping the neighborhood from flooding!

The local neighborhood wetland.

To finish up this post, I'd like to congratulate Tori for keeping strong these past few years, and not letting anything stop her. The reason I say this is because today is the three-year anniversary of her head injury, where she had a longboarding accident that cracked her skull. The going has been tough, but the tough get going, and Tori's definately going places (like New Zealand!)

Tori shows where the injury happened.

Until next time,

Josh