FuturEcology & EmGuard ™ November 2022 Update

Newsletters

Nov 15

Hello from the team at FuturEcology & EmGuard ™

By Jan Fryer

Isn’t it just great finally having a summer feeling in the air.

Many of the team have taken to swimming in their lunch breaks, if they are near the river. Braver souls than me, as the Wakapuaka River is pretty chilly. It is interesting to see where the new swimming holes have formed after the devastating August floods.

I was very lucky to have a few days to take in the Island Hills Station walk near Hurunui, North Canterbury with a group of friends late last month.

There are a diverse range of landscapes to walk through including beautiful regenerating bush in a QE2 covenant. Very nice hosts, comfortable huts and an achievable walk through stunning NZ scenery. The best part is that they move your packs between huts so you can take gourmet delights and liquid refreshments to assist you along the way.

To tickle your artistic juices, there is a brilliant weaving exhibition – Ngahere , The Bush of Aotearoa, by the Professional Weavers Network of NZ touring the country. It is in Nelson for Oct/Nov at the Refinery Gallery in Hardy St and then moves to Masterton, Stratford, Morrinsville, Napier and Porirua through 2023. It is well worth a visit to see the creative ways the weavers have interpreted NZ bush.

With the summer weather arriving, maintenance work on all our sites is in full swing. This early maintenance round is crucial to good survival rates in this year’s plantings. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need advice on the best methods.

Wasp Update

By Alvin Bartley

It's the time of year when the drone of wasps slowly becomes louder and louder. The threat of the Common wasp Vespula vulgaris and the German Wasp Vespula Germanica tends to be the greatest risk for people working on restoration projects from now right through to late Autumn. Once stung, a pheromone is released which sends a message to all wasps nearby to continue to sting, with the risk that this can send you into an anaphylactic shock and become fatal.

For the vast majority of our projects, we use Vespex to manage wasp populations and allow our staff to work as safely as possible. This is a bait which is given to wasp when they are in their protein phase, while products such as Dust2Dust can be effective to kill live wasp nests when found on site.

Dust2Dust can be applied to the entrance of the nest using a special dust puffer, which forces the wasps to carry the poison into the nest as they enter it.

Vespex requires an applicators certificate, but is well worth going through the process to get, if you have a major wasp problem.

Find out more here.

Urtica ferox

By Desiah Neho

Urtica ferox, ongaonga or tree nettle is one of New Zealand's most poisonous native plants.

The nettle can grow to around 2 metres tall and its coarsely toothed layers have numerous white stinging hairs that can grow up to 6mm long.

The spikes are hollow cylinders with tapered points that break after piercing the skin and injecting toxins. It is commonly found in coastal and lowland forests and throughout New Zealand with Otago being its limit.

I had my first run-in with ongaonga the other day. It only just brushed past my leg which instantly went numb and tingly and for about two days it was sore to touch. I was told to used crushed dock leaves to help relieve the pain and it seemed to work. Read more here about how to treat stings.

Interesting facts about ongaonga

Ongaonga is the main source of food for larvae of the New Zealand red admiral butterfly or kahukura
It made an entry into the Guinness Book of World records as the Most Dangerous Stinger
The spines contain histamine, serotonin, and the neurotransmitter acetylcholine
Urtica comes from the Latin verb urere which means “to burn” and Ferox is Latin for “fierce.

EmGuard™ turned modesty guard

By Meg Harry

Though its original purpose is to safeguard the growth of new plants, recently the team has come across a handy secondary purpose, modesty...

As the seasons are swiftly changing in the Top of the South, daily river dips are becoming somewhat of a ritual after the day’s work. The EmGuard has proved popular as a makeshift portable changing shed after the refreshing plunge.

It is safe to say that the EmGuard may well have year-round demand, particularly from our field team.

Order EmGuard™ Here

Weed of the Month

By Ben Pavitt

Field Horse Tail or scouring rush - Equisetum arvense

The horsetail is native to the arctic and temperate zones of the northern hemisphere.

The rush has two types of stems, sterile and reproductive. The reproductive stems appear in spring with brown scale leaves and a spore cone on top.

The horsetail has fertile spore-bearing stems which can grow to a depth of 1.8 metres, forming dense long-lived mats that are tolerant to a wide range of sites and conditions. The plant spreads through the movement of soil and water, meaning it is often found along roadsides, riparian areas, pastures and gardens.

The horsetail can be challenging to get rid of due to its long underground rhizomes. It can be controlled and managed by digging out and incinerating all parts of the plant and contaminated soil. There has been limited long-term success treating the weed with herbicide, but weed busters recommend spraying the weed in summer with metsulfuron-methyl 600g/kg at 5g/10L water, or, a product containing 100g picloram + 300g triclopyr/L at 25ml/10L, both solutions require penetrant.

The horsetail is used to make a fungicide for diseases such as powdery mildew, red core, gray mold, anthracnose fruit rot, and blights. It has been used in herbal medicine and in parts of Asia the buds are eaten as a vegetable (NC State University, n.d.).

A shout-out for Polly at the Hira Store.

Polly from the Hira Store has done a fantastic job since taking over two years ago. Polly is the definition of “service with a smile” and she makes arguably the best sandwiches in Nelson.

Through the Nelson floods, Polly was an integral part of the North Nelson Community. She provided a place for locals to pick up food for free and supported us all through what was a challenging time.

Now with the road closed to Blenheim, it is Nelson's turn to support Polly through a challenging time.

So please, if anyone finds themselves in Hira, head into the Hira store for an exceptional sandwich, pie, or ice cream. You won't regret it!

Interesting Snippets

Great things in the Nelson Region

Yoga on the Beach
By Emma Fryer

Every Saturday and Sunday 8am-9:10am Kindred Studio on puts on yoga on Tahuna beach.

Open to all ages and skill levels. Bring yourself, a beach towel, $5 and togs if you are feeling brave.

Em highly recommends this and says it is a great way to start the weekend.

Without doubt, the run up to Christmas and all it entails is well upon us.

At FuturEcology, we are very pleased to see the last plants finally in the ground and hope to have all our sites looking great for the Christmas period. We had a big job to complete before SH6 between Nelson and Blenheim closed for 7 weeks until Dec 18th. It is so quiet in our office now with no traffic going past on the way to Blenheim. Quite surreal in a way.

Please note that we will be closed from 4pm on Wednesday 21st December, returning at 8am on Wednesday 4th January 2023 ready for some exciting new projects next year.

Enjoy the sun.