Native Bee and Pollinator Workshop
August 1, 2017Borage and strawberries make excellent companions
October 30, 2017The Biodynamic Gardening Group and ACT for Bees have been given custodianship of the former Weston CIT Horticultural Training Orchard (now the Weston Creek Orchard) by the ACT Government. Sadly Weston CIT was burnt in the 2003 Canberra bushfires, however the orchard survived and also survived years of neglect. It has been a wonderful opportunity to work together using organic and biodynamic practices in a community orchard and invite ‘experts’ in to guide us in the pruning and manual methods of weed control.
Last year we began by clearing away the blackberries from around the trees, mulching and pruning and we sprayed biodynamic preparations around the whole orchard.
At the July working bee Jonathon Banks from Piallago Organic Apples gave us a hands on workshop on pruning and grafting, while the kids continued their cubby house building. A few of the trees were painted with Biodynamic Tree Paste and there’s many more to do. It was a great start and there are many more trees that need our attention. Jonathon is running a Budding and Grafting Workshop this Saturday, 5 August, at Canberra City Farm.
The orchards biodiversity has thrived over the years with no human intervention so the Bee Hotel built last September at the ‘Busy for Bees’ day had lots of local native bees and beneficial wasps. It and was fascinating to watch .
Join us every 3rd Sunday of the month at 10am to help bring the orchard back to its former glory. Working bees are open to everyone. Please bring tools for working in the orchard (no power tools please), and wear appropriate clothing including covered shoes, gloves and eye protection. Please bring food to share for lunch and your own drinking water.