30/10/2013 - Establish And Maintain Plant Collection Unit 20126

Actual Temperature

19 degrees Celsius

Humidity : 85%

Rainfall : 0.00mm

Wind : Light Wind

On Wednesday we had Establish and Maintain Plant Collection Unit with Paula Griannah in Harbour Terrace. In the morning we went to L Block to removed all the unwanted weeds at the entrance of the building. After removing the weeds, we gave a clean sweep on the pavement so its looks really tidy. 

After the morning break, we moved to Harbour Terrace to work on the permaculture garden. We removed of dead, damaged or diseased of plant material and compost each side. We bring the compost by lifting using shovel into the wheel barrow. Finally we compost all the beds and mulched them with pea-straw. The reason we use pea-straw are avoiding weeds. nitrogen fixation because pea is the family of legumes. 

All the unwanted plant material is shifted to the compost bins and added horse manure with dead lawns.   Finally we watered the beds using water can and garden waste is disposed appropriately and are are left tidy. Tools and equipment are cleaned and stored in accordance and adjourned at 4.00pm. 

29/10/2013 - Produce A Nursery Crop Unit 20567--------***

Actual Temperature

18 degrees Celsius

Humidity : 55%

Rainfall : 0.00mm

Wind : Light Wind

On Plant Propagation Unit  with Lisa Short my observation on Helianthus annuus 'Pacino Cola'

(PACINO SERIES) was doing good, look healthy and trace of wilting. No pest and diseases. The plants are established in a suitable environment in greenhouse on the top of bench. The are spaced out and not dense and light level are perfect. They are watered daily and weed control is under control. The crop are monitored every regularly at every week during production to ensure that quality standards are net. 

28/10/2013 - Production Report Unit 20567 -------***

Family

Asteraceae

Botanical Name

Helianthus annuus 'Pacino Cola'( PACINO SERIES)

Plant Common Name

Annual Sunflower

General Description

The dwarf sunflower, ‘Pacino Cola’, is well-branched and has a strong central stem. This Ernst Benary introduction has golden sunflowers with chocolate brown eyes. Its flowers are relatively small and borne on short stems.

The sunflower is one of the best known garden flowers. Its big bold daisies track the sun, hence the common name. This warm season annual is uncommonly easy to grow and economically important for the production of sunflower seeds, cooking oil and cutflowers. It is a New World native that exists throughout the whole of North America down to Central America. Natural populations can vary widely in height but most are tall, upright with multiple side branches that extend from a sturdy central stem.

Sunflower leaves are very distinctive. They are large, medium green and heart-shaped with a rough, slightly hairy surface. Flowering typically occurs when temperatures are warm and nights short. Mature plants produce huge daisies that come in an array of sizes and harvest colors. The fresh flowers draw lots of insect pollinators, including bees and butterflies. It is important to allow the mature flowerheads to dry because the seeds within feed wild birds and mammals.

Grow sunflowers in full sun and average soil with good drainage. It is best to directly sow the seeds in the ground in the late spring. Tall plants with few side branches may require staking—sunflowers often fall when subjected to high winds and heavy rain. After flowering and setting seed, these short-lived annuals will die. If you desire continuous summer sunflowers, plant seeds every two weeks in succession from mid-spring to early summer. These outstanding annuals make superb additions to cutting garden or vegetable plots. Children also love them because they are fun to plant and grow. Sunflower heads can also be cut with their seeds intact, dried indoors and brought outside to feed wildlife in winter.

Sunflowers emit a substance from their roots and germinating seeds that inhibits the germination of other seeds around them.

Characteristics

• AHS Heat Zone
  12 - 1
• Sunset Zone
  A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
• Plant Type
  Annual
• Sun Exposure
  Full Sun
• Height
  12"-15" / 30.5cm - 38.1cm
• Width
  8"-10" / 20.3cm - 25.4cm
• Bloom Time
  Late Spring, Early Summer, Summer, Late Summer, Early Fall, Fall
• Native To
  North America, Mexico, Central America

Growing Conditions

• Soil pH
  Neutral, Alkaline
• Soil Drainage
  Well Drained
• Soil type
  Clay, Loam, Sand
• Growth Rate
  Very Fast
• Water Requirements
  Drought Tolerant, Average Water
• Habit
  Upright/Erect
• Seasonal Interest
  Summer, Fall
  
  
  Ornamental Features

• Flower Interest
  Shows
• Flower Colour
  Gold, Chocolate
• Flower Color Modifier
  Bicolor
• Fruit Colour
  Chocolate, Ivory, Black
• Fruit Colour Modifier
  Striped/Striated
• Foliage Color (Spring)
  Green
• Foliage Color (Summer)
  Green
• Foliage Color (Fall)
  Green
• Fragrant Flowers
  Yes
• Fragrant Fruit
  No
• Fragrant Foliage
  No
• Bark or Stem Fragrant
  No
• Flower Petal Number
  Single
• Repeat Bloomer
  No
• Showy Fruit
  No
• Edible Fruit
  Yes
• Showy Foliage
  No
• Foliage Texture
  Coarse
• Foliage Sheen
  Matte
• Evergreen
  No
• Showy Bark
  No

Special Characteristics

• 
  
  Usage
  Container, Cutflower, Edible, Herb / Vegetable, Mixed Border, Wildflower
• Sharp or Has Thorns
  No
• Invasive
  No
• Attracts
  Birds, Butterflies
• 
  
  Self-Sowing
  Yes

22/10/2013 - 25/10/2013 @ Weekly Diaries

On 22/10/2013 I had Turf Unit with Alan. We went to the Forsyth Barr Stadium to learn more about the turf in the multi-purpose stadium in Dunedin, NZ.  At various stages of development it was also known as Dunedin Stadium, Awatea Street Stadium, New Carisbrook, or its non-commercial official name during the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Otago Stadium.  It is also known colloquially as 'The Glasshouse' due to its resemblance to a horticultural hot house.

To the west, the stadium's near neighbours include Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago College of Education. The main campus of the University of Otago lies one kilometre to the west.

“Research by many people has created this final concept of a natural grass pitch growing under a permanent roof structure." 

• ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) is a transparent polymer, originally developed for the space industry.  The air filled two layer ETFE cladding has a light transparency of approximately 90% and has the unique quality of being UV transparent.
• ETFE is lighter than glass ( 1% of the weight) yet incredibly strong – able to bear 400 times its own weight and stretch to 3 times its length – which means it will handle the wind and snow of Dunedin’s cold southern climatic conditions.

“The unique permanent roof is clad in EFTE, a transparent polymer or plastic, which is light, enclosed and translucent, allowing maximum sunlight onto the pitch, so that the grass keeps growing but the fans are protected from the elements and the action goes on whatever the weather. “This roof material allows for 90 per cent of sunlight to still reach the pitch, along with UV light and fresh air.”

We also went around the whole stadium and view various kinds of tools and equipments to lawn the turf. Then before end of section we lawn the entrance of L Block along the chicken coop and added some top soil for even the lawn at side of L Block. 

On 24/10/2013 I had my class on Permaculture with Kim Thomas. We had field trip to The Reshape Resilience Education Centre is a brand new development, situated between the Dunedin suburbs of Concord Corstorphine. The centre's purpose is to provide education and hand-on learning experiences centred around the three core aspects of resilience, growing food, alternative energy and alternative building techniques. 

Spread across on 7 acres of a north / south running valley, the ReScape Resilience Education Centre will include a series of food forests, market gardens and timber crops and education centre, water catchment and workshop areas. Our aim is to showcase the many different methods of food production, including stacking, guiding also passive water harvesting with swale ponds and dams and much more. 

Mr. Jon Foote is a Permaculture Design Consultant that specialises in the regeneration of Urban and Rural landscapes. He is determined to create communities that can feed themselves by designing food systems that will outlast the humans that plant and harvest from them, while also enhancing the eco systems in which they reside.Jon’s diverse background in Design, Business Analysis and Permaculture accumulated over the last decade or so are all pivotal to the work he does now and to his understanding of the environment and the economy, and how they are complementary rather than in competition.Noticing the decline in food security around the world, Jon became passionate about Permaculture in 2006, applying it in his own backyard, as well as for friends and colleagues. In 2012 Jon then completed his Permaculture Design Certificate in Australia, moving back to New Zealand soon after to develop and run his own Permaculture design consultancy business, ReScape.

He has since worked on a number of large Permaculture projects as well as working with different communities to assist in the development of food resilience strategies, including holistic community production analysis, community garden development, as well as urban community group projects such as PermaBlitz.

One of Jon’s biggest challenges is trying to get his son to plant a garden without wanting to dig it up straight afterwards. The day his son’s seedlings actually grow into plants, he will feel he has partially succeeded.

We had no Class on Plant Identification in the afternoon due to Lisa Burton was away. Class adjourned after the field trip to Concord Corstorphine. 

On 25/10/2013 in the morning the class on Revegetation with Lisa Burton and went through the Assessment on Revegetate Indigenous Plant Areas. She explained all the thirteen questions and gave us more examples and end of the section we went around the Polytech to view some samples of plants. 

In the afternoon I had my class with Kim Thomas on Vermiculture and we have two guest speakers Mr. Robbie Dick and Mdm. Rosanna Dick. Mr. Robbie was explaining about their warm Farm by using powerpoint pictures. Their one hectare block on the outskirts of Cromwell has around 80 million inhabitants, but these "stock" don't need shearing, docking or drenching they breed all year round and there are no vet bills or worries about birthing problems.   

Central Wormworx has been recycling waste for almost 11 years and also sends worms  around the country for companies wanting to run their own worm farms. Mr. Robbie used a to be a stock truck driver, then a shepherd. It was while working on farms hat he realised how much waste was generated and he and his friend began looking at ways to use it rather than just dump it. Their first idea was farming tiger worms and then selling them to people to use in large-scale worm farms.  He  bought half a tonne of worms from Global Worms - they cost us $47,000 - and grew them in 10 months.

He sent them all around New Zealand to councils, to companies with big waste problems but unfortunately that only lasted about a year - than all the customers had enough worms of their own, so he thought, where to go now? Their worms needed job and the end product, known as vermicast, was very popular and a great soil conditioner so Central Wormworx went into the waste management business.

After the talk, Mr. Robbie went to Polygrow Nursery and view all our vermicompost individually and advise us on how to sustain the worm, easy care "worker" and never ending supply of waste. The Permaculture class ended at 3.00pm.

23/10/2013 - Establish and Maintain Plant Collection Unit 21026

Actual Temperature

19 degrees Celsius

Humidity : 85%

Rainfall : 0.00mm

Wind : Light Wind

My plant collection with Linda Hellyer in Dunedin Botanic Garden - Rose & Herbaceous Collection on Wednesday woking hours 8.30 am to 4.30 pm with Curator Linda Hellyer.  First in the morning,  I trimmed the edge of The Rose Garden. After break I start planting some plants filling the empty spaces in Rose Garden.

The plants are Salvia patens "Cambridge Blue" that are intense pure blue beautifully shaped flowers which the upper petal arching forward in the shape of  hood. Its a wonderful summer sun flowers approximately 50cm. Then I planted Iris "Snow Queen" its  a sparkling white flowers with a touch of yellow in the throat. Blue, green foliage, reliable and its a trouble free. Its a sun or shade and bloom in spring and approximately 100cm.

After my lunch break, I planted Digitalis purpurea "Snow Thimbles".  Its a large white unspoiled bell flowers on imposing tall stems. A favourite cottage border plant and bloomed in sumer. It's  a sun or part shade and approximately 100cm.

Apparently, I planted Gaillardia aristata mesa yellow its a 35cm perennial with brilliant pure yellow flowers compact habit first year flowering. Once the planting is completed I watered the plants and again do some weeding using push hoe and trimmed the edges. The section ended at 3.00 pm.

22/10/2013 - Produce A Nursery Crop Unit 20567---------***

Actual Temperature

19 degrees Celsius

Humidity : 80%

Rainfall : 0.00mm

Wind : Light Wind

On 22/10/2013 I had my Propagation Unit in Nursery and observe my Helianthus pacino cola was not doing so good and there are more trace of wilting and distorted leaves. I decided to change most of the plant with new seedlings. I pricked out and potted on new seedlings around 20 tubes in Rx90.

  

15/10/2013 - 18/10/2013 @ Weekly Diaries

My class was conducted by Lisa Short on Plant Propagation Unit in the morning. We work out in nursery.   In the morning  section monitored on the seedlings such as Sophora tetraptera seedlings are still quite slow but there are more growth. Juniper media blaauw plant was healthy but growth is still slow. Digital summer king seedlings doing good growth and plant is shifted to the green house on ground. Sweet pea - cupid drawrf (Lathyrus cupid) seedlings was given away after vast growth.  Dianthus confetti seedlings was doing good and transferred to green house. Veronica topiaria was healthy and no traces of wilting. Thymus vulgaris cutting was also transferred to green house. Lupin gallery mix has more healthier leaves and good growth. Clianthus puniceus was doing good and is moved to green house.  Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon ciratus) seed still slow in growing. Origanum vulgare was not doing good because there are slightly trace of wilting. Sugar snap dwarf (Pisum sativum) seedling show good growth and healthy looking with no trace of nutrient deficiency.  Digital Summer king was doing good and was transferred to green house. All plants are free from pest and diseases.

Veronica "Emerald Green" hardwood cutting are healthier and no wilt traces of pest and diseases. I pricked out and potted on to the bigger tube around 35 blue tubes.

I pricked out and potted on Tigerella tomato seedlings around 30 tubes.  Tigerella tomato is a bi-coloured tomato cultivar, relatively small, 2 to 4 ounces (60 -120 gms) and early (59 days).  Upon maturity the fruit is red with yellow stripes, essentially the same except that the fruit is red instead of green and has a sweeter flavour. The colour occasionally varies in New Zealand for instance, commercially produced Tigerella is dark crimson red with very dark green stripes.

In the afternoon I had my class with Alan on Turf Unit. We went around University of Otago Campus and looked around at the condition of the growth of grass.

Once we backed we move the lawn behind the O Block and lawn aerated the soil in L Block. This aeration is a garden tool or machine designed to aerate the soil in which lawn grasses grow.  We returned all the equipment and end the section.

On Permaculture with Kim Thomas on 17/10/2013 we went to Permaculture Food Forests and meet Mr. Jason Ross. Mr. Jason Ross – Owner / Operator of Sutherland Nursery and Edible Garden Design, based in Waitati. He works with Waitati Stores, growing vegetables, herbs and fruit for Taste Nature, Dunedin’s Organic Shop. 

Forests and woodlands provide great inspiration in their diversity, resilience, self perpetuation and beauty. He was explaining that can we use a forest model to inspire design for integrated edible and useful gardens and landscapes? He said definitely, he has inspired by this question for the last ten years and pointed outline some key aspects of temperate food forest design and thinking.  

Sutherland Nursery provides a delicious range of heritage and disease resistant food plants for low maintenance growing. Mr. Jason stock many interesting heritage fruit trees that are diverse in both flavour and use a perfect for home and lifestyle block. His edible garden and orchard on permaculture design services bring these and other great plants to the kitchen door. His goal is to help to enjoy the satisfaction of growing healthy and abundant food at home and enhance all aspects of food growing at home. 

In the afternoon we had a class with Lisa Burton on Plant Identification Unit. She was emphasising on the Assessment on Plant ID Unit on three common climbers and one common tree or shrubs for the list that she has provided for us. She also guided us on the plants that are situated around the Polytech and list us the common names and botanical names. We adjourned the class after the walk around the plants section at 3.00pm. 

On Revegetation Unit on Friday 18/10/2013 with Lisa Burton we went field trip to Styles Creek Bush in a native forest on land owned by David and Marie Jensen. This is a pioneer farm the covenant includes two bushy gullies and a central grassy spur. To keep grazing animals out and allow the bush to regenerate, the area was fenced in 1987. 

Styles Creek Bush still has at least 23 different native trees and shrubs, 8 sorts of native vines and  a dozen species of ferns. The bush Styles Creek represents a rather dry coastal forest type of east Otago, where the main trees such as ngaio, kowhai, broadleaf's, narrow-leaved lacebark, lemonwood, lancewood, fushia, mahoe, matai and Hall's totara. 

We were assist by Lisa on the wall around the native forest to view on the different kind of plants for the Assessment on Revegetate Indigenous Plant Areas. The weather was wet and we have to leave the plant due to heavy rainfall.    

In the afternoon I had my class with Kim Thomas on Vermiculture. She assessed us on Assessment No 4 regarding Worm Farm in Central Wormworx, in Cromwell 60km east of Queenstown Central Otago.  Once the assessment is completed we went to the Polygrow Nursery to monitored the worms and as well as doing some pricking out and potting on some seedlings. I pricked out coriander seedling which is grown under vermicompost. 

The Company was established with a view to providing a clean and green solution to what was a growing Community waste issue. Research had shown us that using Tiger Worms to convert this waste could reduce those problems.

The business operation has proved successful; literally thousands of tonnes of waste has been taken out of the Community’s waste stream and converted into Worm Castings or Vermicast.

The Worm Castings are primarily used in the Central Otago Region but latterly have been distributed throughout the South Island with orchards, vineyards and private gardeners using this high quality soil conditioner to improve the quality, yield, vibrancy of their plants. They sell Tiger Worms, Topsoil, Compost, and have sold over 500 Home Worm Farms. Worm Farms and gardens have been set up in many schools in the area.