Hooray for the gardener!

Wow - Mrs Barham must have saved the day by getting the gardener to mow down the yucky weeds that were/are strangling parts of the potentially fabulous Peachgrove native bush gardens.
These latest pics show an elite band of keen eco-warriors who are keen to help look after the native gardens.

Wow - it's so lovely to see the plants again now that the weeds are mostly gone. Now tese kauri have a chance to grow up tall and strong like mighty Tane Mahuta.
I'm sure the rest is soon to follow. Once it is down to mulched up weeds and grass who will maintain it? Surely the Peachgrove students could. Many hands make light work.
Well done Mrs Barham.
:-)

Below: Head and shoulder height knightshades still to be dealt to...

Pork = Cruelty

Sadly, despite it being delicious, pork products like ham and bacon almost invariably come from a reality that would be horrifying to most people if they actually witnessed it.
Pigs in the majority of farms in NZ and abroad are treated with extreme and unnecessary cruelty. They are treated in ways that no reasonable person would treat any animal, yet they are as sensitive, sentient and intelligent as dogs [who are also often treated with absolute cruelty by many evil and ignorant people].
I say young people should be educated about what really goes on in the production of the meat they eat so they can make an informed decision about whether or not to actively support the torture of thinking, feeling creatures like pigs.
Would any of you take Babe [from the movie], put him in a cage that he couldn't turn around in and leave him in the dark to suffer for his entire life before then lining him up with his neighbours to be killed one by one as the next one in line watches?

Check out the SAFE site to see how you can help and to read about how Mike King turned from promoting pork to promoting animal welfare once he visited a pig farm in NZ.

Mike King's 45-minute ordeal of pig horror included seeing:

• a dead female pig inside a sow stall

• lame, crippled pigs and others that could barely stand

• pigs either extremely depressed or highly distressed

• bar biting, scars and injuries

• pigs excessively frothing at the mouth

• a lack of clean drinking water and food.

Can you identify which pigs are happy and which pigs are suffering needlessly so you can have bacon, pork chops, ham, etc?

It's difficult to face unpleasant facts that inconvenience you, but can you continue to encourage such cruelty to continue by buying and eating inhumane pork products?
If you simply can't give up pork, try encouraging your family to buy kindly farmed pork products like from  Freedom Farms

Coolest school in the world!?

Wow! I went to Tahaaroa school on Friday and it was sooooooo lovely. Great kids, onto it staff, everyone friendly. The school is well resourced and the kids are ready to learn. The staff are big-hearted, warm, friendly, relaxed, open, and hungry to learn and lead their community in to a bright future for their whanau/tamariki.
I can't wait to go back!
Check out their new blog at   The Big T Surfers!!!

Aroha mai

Peachgrove Garden Travesty

Peachgrove Learnscapes committee and EnviroAgents spent years planning and fundraising to get an amazing native garden designed and planted around the otherwise empty back field. The gardens are something to be proud of and to nurture so they will live for many generations to come.
Sadly the school is neglecting the gardens and they are being over taken by noxious weeds such as knightshades and strangling vines. To my horror I found one corner was particularly bad and all the young kauri trees were almost dead from neglect. I fixed the problem in five minutes, so the story that no one has time to do it is rubbish. I think the school should be ashamed and should get organised to allow the students to weed their own patch and protect what is a wonderful example of something environmentally positive.
I know most of the staff have no interest in environmental issues [the exceptions being Mrs New and one or two others to my knowledge] but this garden should be something precious to Peachgrove and the loud negative voices should be silenced. At the very least the $40,000 [I think that's about right] investment should be saved.

Stand up Peachgrove and do the right thing!

The photos below show some before and after shots of two weed entangled kauri and an astelia. One struggling young kauri was even bent over to the ground!
These two thoughtful students gave their time willingly to rectify the problem. It's the staff who need to get on board. Maybe some of you keen young citizens should take a leadership role and make a positive difference.

Vivaldi was born...

There is some great music you should know about. One of the great composers is Vivaldi. He created "The Four Seasons" - music that you may well recognize if you hear it. It is very popular classical music.
Today is Vivaldi's birthday so maybe you would like to find out more about him...