The Cons Corps and the YEPT Nursery
For many years the Department of Conservation Conservation Corps has joined us at the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust Nursery to learn about plant propagation. DoC holds a 10 week course on conservation to students from the ages of 16 to 25.
The Cons Corps usually spend a day with us in the nursery to learn about propagation or help our ranger out on the habitats with planting or weeding trees. On Tuesday 7 September they joined Anita and Margaret at the nursery to learn about native plants.
We started the morning at Colinswood Bush, Macandrew Bay, to learn about plant identification and seed collecting. Of course we get permission from the caretaker, Nigel McPherson, who often joins us to talk about one of the last remaining native bush areas on the Peninsula. We had a great (but wet) walk through this wonderful regenerating bush, then went back to the nursery to clean and sow seeds, prick out flaxes and pot totara, hebes and Coprosma propinqua.
It is great privilege for us to take these students through all aspects of propagation and we enjoy the enthusiasm that they exude.