FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Eco-bulletin Issue 2
DIG IT - By Karli
Im hoping that since our last issue, many of you turned over some soil and had a
crack at growing your own veggies, and bigger biceps, with some success
!ne thing that I find very painful to watch in my garden is lush healthy veggies being
turned into skeletal forms of their prior selves due to insect attack" I am talking
particularly about brassica crops like broccoli, cabbage and kale that are a delicacy to
the white cabbage moth #this is not a pretty white butterfly as my kids have tried to
convince me$ %ithout applying chemicals to the plant it is very difficult to stop the
attack" &he moths lay a lot of green eggs that hatch into a lot of green grubs and they
camouflage beautifully as they nibble the leaves away" &he easiest way to prevent this
cycle from the beginning is e'clusion" By securing fine netting over your patch the
moths go to someone elses garden who hasnt bothered to net it, and thats a win for
you
&he product that I use with wonderful success is called ()rowcover" It will protect
your crop from insects like moths and my greatest enemy the fruit fly, as well as frost,
birds, animals and hail" I secure my netting using reo-rod and poly pipe to make
hoops but you can be creative with this one" It is well worth taking the time to net
your patch, as it makes organic gardening so much easier" I also net my fruit trees,
grapes and tomatoes #against fruit fly$ and cucumbers, watermelon, rock melon,
pumpkin and potatoes #against the 2*-spotted lady bug$"
&he only drawback I have found with netting is that for plants that re+uire insects to
pollinate them, like cucumber, the nets will need to be removed during flowering or
the flowers will need to be hand pollinated so that your plants set fruit but his is not
difficult"
,heck out the website www"veggiepatch"com"au for more information or to order
()rowcover" !bviously there are similar products on the market, but I have only had
e'perience with this one and love it
!n another note, the weather will be warming up soon and the threat of frost
diminishing" &his means you can prepare to plant summer crops like tomato,
cucumber, corn, potatoes, pumpkins, capsicum, beetroot, watermelon, rock melon and
many more" -emember leafy greens like lettuce grow year round, but provide them
with summer shade through the afternoon or they will fry
.lso, keep in mind that nurserys often bring out veggie seedling that are frost
sensitive like tomato, capsicum and corn before the threat of frost is over" Be sure that
winter is well and truly over at your place before you sow your summer veggies in the
open or you may have to do it twice
Water Rebates you may be entitled
,ouncil currently provides assistance to users of the reticulated town water supplies to
those who install water wise products in and around the home through the residential
(%ater /aving -ebate /cheme" 0ou can receive up to 123 off the
purchase4installation cost of showerheads, toilets, pool covers and rainwater tanks that
meet the water wise criteria" ,heck out the councils website for further information
www"tamworth"nsw"gov"au4
Montessori News
Strawberries! - 5ontessori has some delicious looking bales of 6ucerne that have
been ear marked for using as a bed to grow strawberries" &o do this, the bales are kept
wet for almost 2 weeks, sprinkled with organic fertiliser and sown directly with the
strawberry plants" If anyone has strawberry plants that they would like to donate for
this pro7ect, your generosity would be greatly appreciated"
A revamp o Montessori S!irts - .t a parent meeting earlier in the year the
suggestion for a way to minimise sunscreen use was to change from the current short
sleeved shirt to a long sleeved option"
.fter consultation with staff and parents who attended the last parent meeting the
proposal is to source a 8223 lightweight organic cotton shirt with long sleeves, collar,
half button front #as per the current shirt$ and maintaining the preschool logo" .
number of options were discussed at the meeting such as appropriate and sustainable
fabric types, shirt designs such as removable smocks and this solution was the most
practical and suitable for the children and staff"
.s with the current shirt this is not a uniform and is optional but the aim is to provide
one to each new enrolling student as of 2281" It will also be available for sale to
current students"
This information has been compiled by us on the research we have done. If there is a
point you think we may have missed feel free to drop us an email to add your two
cents, or clarify something if you think it is incorrect.