Week 7 in the garden....

Lots of work was done this week in the bonsai garden - so much that not many people stopped for lunch by the sounds of it! Pebbles were laid, planks were put in place, sounds like all that's needed now are bonsais. The highlight for the students seems to have been carving their names on pieces of wood using chisels - the results are fantastic, by the look of the photos.

Savou surveys the scene......



Beautiful carving work







What are these fullas looking at??

All-seeing, all-knowing.....?






Week 6 19-23rd March

The art of Bonsai making was taught by Joy. She went through the process with the group, explaining how they would make their own bonsai trees. I came to have a look at the progress near the end of the day - the students' trees had been pruned and wired and were looking fantastic!

On Wednesday the group spent the day with Jamie. Rocks were collected from the quarry to be used in the garden. The foundations for the waterway were put down, with paper first to stop roots growing through, then plastic.

Week 5 12th - 16th March



Work in progress

 Kim set up a harakeke weaving activity, taught by Kari, in one of the classrooms in L block. Kari taught the group how to make putiputi (flax flowers).Each person started with one piece of flax. The flax then had to be split and curled to soften it enough to bend and weave.

A bit of background information

 

A couple of the finished flowers - these are really beautiful and very professional looking! Well done :)

Week 4 5-9th March

We've had another blogging tutorial with Lyn, most people are now able to add photos (non-copyright of course....), add a URL link and publish a post on their blog. There has been some fantastic writing and impressive photos on the students' blogs. As far as horticulture goes, Shaun has been in to talk about hydroponics and bring a sample of what he grows (yummy tomatoes, according to Tia).

 On a wet Wednesday morning the group were in the tunnel house doing seed sowing and division. When I visited them down there, Jamie was just starting to teach them how to make compost bins - there's going to be a bit of healthy competition between the girls group (led by Randy Savage?) and the boys plus Hannah.

Construction work has begun on some compost bins.......

A fabulous quiz was put on by Jill, for the three Foundation Studies classes,complete with lollies and potato chips for brain power......well done to the winning team!