March 2004 - Margaret Suman

This month we discovered what a great concept job sharing is. I had to go to the States for an unexpected family matter and Anita continued running the nursery without a hitch. We are constantly amazed at how well we work together. It seems like we already know what the other is thinking before we actually have to verbalize it. It is a great comfort to know that when you do have to go away unexpectedly that things run along smoothly.

Seed collecting and cuttings
This is one of our busiest times because most plants produce seed only once a year and we have to make sure that we collect and process enough to propagate plants for the 2005-planting season. Seed has to be collected at just the right time or all your effort is wasted and this then must be catalogued, cleaned and stored correctly or it is useless.

We are also doing more cuttings this year as sometimes we get quicker results. We have been lucky enough to secure additional funding that has enabled us to hook up electricity to the glasshouse and put down heating pads. This equipment will assist us with cutting success.

Department of Conservation (DOC) Conservation Corps
We had a very successful day out with the DOC Conservation Corps helping them collect seed for their revegetation project at Boulder Beach on Otago Peninsula. We showed them various methods for raising plants including digging out small native seedlings, collecting leaf litter and gathering ripe seed.

We took them to see the largest and last remaining (unplanted) Matai on the Otago Peninsula. These large trees are in the middle of a paddock and with people power we scrabbled around on the ground to collect as much Matai seed as we could to propagate in the nursery. If we are lucky they will grow into large trees unthreatened by grazing animals.

The paddock with Matai in it was beside a piece of land that had been bought by DOC and retired from grazing 8 years ago. The difference between the two pieces of land was incredible, the land not grazed had such a diversity of plants including an understorey of trees and ferns. It was very easy to see what fencing out stock can do for forest regeneration.

Visit to Otapahi Reserve with Trustees Margaret Murrell and Pat Mark
Purchased by the Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust because it had penguins breeding on it, the last 6 years has been spent fencing out stock and restoring the natural vegetation. The trustee in charge of Otapahi, Margaret Murrell, wanted to walk around the site and take notes on what needed to be done, look at past plantings and discuss future plantings for the site. This is something we feel is very important to do. Too many times we go out to plant and don’t have time to actually look around and discuss vital information. We even got the chance to walk up to a remaining bush area to collect viable seeds and cuttings.

We also got the rare opportunity to see 3 generations of yellow-eyed penguin, an adult in moult, a juvenile (we rarely see these guys) and a big fat chick. It can be a very stressful time for adult penguins as they start their yearly moult so we were careful not to go too close.

Okia update
Anita was out at Okia (a Yellow Eyed Penguin Trust reserve) a few weekends ago and she was thrilled to see about 35 people on the beach and many with the laminated "information sheet" that we wrote and supplied 4 weeks ago. It appears activity is increasing at Okia but we feel the yellow-eyed penguins are safe from visitors as our guide directs them to other areas of the Reserve.

Cheers Margaret and Anita

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