FuturEcology & EmGuard ™ February 2024 update
Welcome back for 2024! And what a good one it is shaping up to be.
We hope you all had a restive break over the festive season and enjoyed time with family and friends.
We have hit the ground running and are excited that this year we will celebrate FuturEcology’s 10th birthday. It is hard to believe we have been operating for a decade! We are so grateful to all our wonderful customers who we have worked with over the last ten years.
We have done some really great projects in that time, and it is always nice to catch up with some of our original customers and see how their projects have progressed.
Here’s to the next 10 years, making the most of everyday and embracing new opportunities.
Wakapuaka Mouri
By Robert Fryer
The Wakapuaka Mouri project continues at pace with some great establishment showing through. It has been a fantastic season for growth with regular rainfall up until now. This of course is a double-edged sword with strong weed growth as well. Once these are dealt with, the growth of plants is awesome.
What we are noticing now in the Wakapuaka project is some excellent natural regeneration happening with the mother of all local Kahikatea surrounded by 1,000s of seedlings. This of course begs the question, should we use them? As can be seen from the photo, there are literally 1,000s, most of which will not grow any larger. I believe that in this circumstance, pricking those plants out and growing them on to use somewhere else in the planting is a completely valid and justified activity.
On many of our plantings, where we have cleared weeds and created perfect seedbed conditions, natural regeneration starts to occur to supplement the plantings. It always pays to keep an eye out where this is occurring and adjust maintenance practices to suit.
Weed of the Month
Muehlenbeckia Australis – Friend or Foe?
By Emma Fryer
When we talk about weeds, we tend to refer to naturalised plants known for their vigorous growth and spread. But have you ever considered whether natives can be classified as weeds?
Aotearoa has very few native species that are considered weeds but interestingly, 2 of the 5 native species of Muehlenbeckia are considered weeds in certain circumstances, Muehlenbeckia australis and Muehlenbeckia complexa.
Muehlenbeckia australis is a robust, many-branched vine, with sturdy stems. It is a high climber and its tendrils twine clockwise. Adult plants have dark green, oval shaped leaves that grow up to 8cm long.
The species' rampant growth and ability to engulf trees and hedges is what gives it its controversial status. However, Brian Patrick of Otago Museum, talks about the important ecological role Muehlenbeckia australis plays. Due to its persistent and rampant growth, it is one of the few natives to grow in highly modified areas. One of the key benefits of the species is its resistance to natural or human induced disturbance and its ability to grow over exposed bluffs and banks. The species also often grows densely around forest edges, forming an almost protective seal.
Did you know that Māori used the enlarged and juicy sepals and petals surrounding the fruit as a sweet supplement? It was consumed raw and especially favoured by children.
So, what do you think? Is Muehlenbeckia australis a friend or a foe?
Teucridium -Teucrium parvifolium
By Jan Fryer
Yesterday we went to do some maintenance work at one of our planting sites in Tods Valley, Nelson and were really thrilled to see how well this particular plant is growing.
It is a rare shrub, with a current conservation status of at risk and declining, so we have tried to incorporate it into as many local plantings as we can.
It has yellowish wide-angled square branches bearing small rounded dull green to brown-green soft leaves in opposite pairs and small white flowers. It grows up to 2 metres tall and copes with dry areas. It is endemic to NZ and found from Northland to Southland but is more common on the east coast of both islands.
It is found along fertile stream sides and river terraces in lowland dry forest and occassionally on forest margins, clearings and amongst scrub. (NZ Plant Conservation Network)
We have found that it thrives on the edges of plantings and does well in EmGuards when establishing.
If you want to try an interesting, divaricating plant in your plantings or as a feature in a garden, then this is well worth a try.
Pocket Restoration Aotearoa
By Emma Fryer
Are you thinking 2024 might be the year to get stuck into a new project?
Our Pocket Restoration Aotearoa web-based app is here to help guide your restoration journey. Whether planning a project, interested in our unique biodiversity or working in the industry, Pocket Restoration Aotearoa has something for everyone.
Find out more here Landing - FuturEcology (pocketrestorationaotearoa.co.nz)
Worldstar Packaging Awards
By Emma Fryer
Our New Year started off with the very exciting news that the EmGuard™, partnered with our wonderful manufacturers, has won an award in the WorldStar Packaging Awards. The 2024 awards ceremony will be held in Bangkok in June, where the awards will be announced and presented.
The WorldStar Competition, run by the World Packaging Organisation (WPO), is the pre-eminent global awards in packaging. Each year WPO recognises the best packaging innovations from across the globe.
The 2024 awards saw 212 winners from 41 participating countries. We are thrilled to have been named as one of the 16 winners from Australia and New Zealand.
Bring on this exciting next chapter! WorldStar Winner: EmGuard ™
Word of the year - Intentional
By Jan Fryer
We had a wonderful family Christmas in Taranaki this year with all the extended family there for the first time in 30 years. While sitting round on New Year’s Eve contemplating the upcoming year, my Norwegian sister-in-law said her plan was to be more “intentional” this year.
The Oxford dictionary definition is – “done on purpose or deliberate” It also includes words like conscious, intended or planned.
I really liked the idea of making some more intentional decisions this year.
Last year flashed by so fast that we didn’t even see it go. We kept saying things like we would go away for the weekend in our caravan, or we would catch up with people and just never did. So, this year, I have the year planner up and have made the conscious decision to be more intentional rather than be like the mouse in the book “Who moved my cheese” and be left wondering what just happened.
We talk in business about PESTEL which is the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal frameworks which all have an impact on business and our lives. It is easy to put our heads in the sand as they are often things that we can’t personally influence. However, our reaction to them is a key part of having a thriving and successful business with a committed and happy team and that is our 2024 aim.
Looking forward to working with you all this year and we will hopefully see some of you at the Horticulture Trade Day on the 14th March in Christchurch or the Mystery Creek Field Days in Hamilton in June.
Tods Valley Reserve
By Jan Fryer
Tods Valley Reserve has indeed been a challenge in trying to establish plants along the stream margins.
The aim of the planting is to provide shading to the stream to improve fish habitat, while at the same time providing an aesthetic backdrop for the neighbouring houses.
We started planting in this reserve in 2019 and had great establishment in all the plantings. Carex secta seemed to particularly like the site. Then in August 2022, we had massive floods in the area and the stream totally changed course, cutting a new channel through the neighbouring farmland.
As part of the flood repair work, huge diggers were brought in and the stream was moved back to its original bed. Sadly, many of the original plants that had survived the actual flooding were destroyed in this process.
The great thing about plants though is that they will grow again, so we replanted the area in 2023 and they are thriving again. It’s all about persistence in establishing riparian plantings.
August 2023 versus February 2024.
Interesting Snippets
Quote of the Month:
“I used to be with 'it', but then they changed what 'it' was. Now what I'm with isn't 'it' anymore and what's 'it' seems weird and scary. It'll happen to you! Grandpa Simpson”
What We’ve Been Watching:
By Cheril Barber
This movie is based on the true story of British humanitarian Nicholas Winton (played by Anthony Hopkins), who helped to save hundreds of predominantly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia as Europe neared the start of the Second World War. He headed to Prague in 1938, despite the cautions of his well-intentioned mother (the formidable Helena Bonham-Carter), and found himself immediately horrified by the situation so many of the young refugees were in, with most unlikely to survive the winter.
His plan to save them was dismissed as naive by those more hardened by what they had seen and what they had found not to be possible. He returned to London determined to help and with the assistance of his equally dogged mother, he started gathering visas and finding homes.
Make sure you take your tissues to this touching movie!
Plum Chutney
If you are lucky, you will have an abundance of plums at the moment.
Here is a great recipe from Chelsea Sugar for a delicious plum chutney that will help preserve some of that abundance.
Ingredients
1kg plums, stoned and quartered
380g apples (about 3 medium), peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 heaped tsp (approx.) of ginger, finely chopped
375ml white vinegar
500g raw sugar
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1 tsp chinese five spice
1/4 tsp salt
Method
In a large saucepan place the plums, apples, onion, garlic and ginger. Add the remaining ingredients, bring to the boil then reduce heat to a gentle boil cooking until the fruit has dissolved and the liquid reduced to a thick sauce (approx. 40-50 mins). Stir regularly.
Spoon into hot, sterilised glass jars and seal. Allow to cool, store in the refrigerator.
Here is to a year of being intentional, being present and ‘saving the planet, one tree at a time’.
If you have any projects in mind and would like to talk further, give us a call or pop in and see us. We look forward to hearing from you!
