October 2011 - Community Nursery
On the last Sunday of August we went along to the Crookhaven Community Nursery for a seed planting morning.
This is a volunteer group with what could arguably be the best view in the Shoalhaven: it is situated on the heritage-protected land beside the Crookhaven lighthouse keeper’s cottage.
Kerry Thompson from the Shoalhaven Council runs these sessions on the last Sunday of every month and native seeds and seedlings are planted to provide trees for bushcare regenerators and environment groups in the Shoalhaven area. All the equipment is provided, including even a cement mixer for combining the different growing mediums, and there are shade houses and a hot house with misters and underbench heaters.
The Garden Group will be going again, so start collecting your native seeds if you would like to join us to learn the tricks of the trade. It is important to record the name of the plant from which the seeds are collected, where you collected them and the date; the resultant plants should subsequently be planted somewhere in or near the same area.
After planting in pots the nursery then keeps them under the appropriate conditions and moves them from one to the other until they are ready for you to collect and transplant in your own beds. What a wonderful system!
Lee Sharam