Damping down in the hothouse
A new fan is making life much more comfortable for the plants – and volunteers – in the nursery hothouse. Thank you to Swan Bay Environment Association (SBEA) Committee members Roel and Greg, who installed the fan to reduce moisture build up inside the hothouse.
Street trees potted
SBEA Nursery Coordinator, Jill Warneke, spent a morning working with two Borough officers transferring tree seedlings (mainly moonahs and banksias) into large pots for future street-plantings. Approximately 50 trees were potted and are being stored at the nursery.
Look, no-hands watering
Thanks goes to Bruce Sherriff for installing an extra watering system along the nursery’s southern boundary to reduce the need for hand watering.
Shooting star of SeaChange
Popular TV show, SeaChange, is about to be relaunched on Melbourne TV. You might not know, but the SBEA Nursery briefly starred in the original series. In May 2000, when the nursery was in the old, run-down Borough depot near the current Marine Science Buildings, we were approached by a passing ABC crew looking for a ‘dump’ to be used as the home of the local town eccentric. Trying not to feel insulted, we accepted $400 for their three days’ work – one to arrange the scene, one to film and one to dismantle the set. They brought in truckloads of old stuff – a broken car, a Hills hoist, chairs, bottles, a dinghy and dirty hanging sheets – to make the area look even more derelict. Even a bath full of yabbies was hauled into the kitchen.
In the episode Bob Jelly, the scheming mayor, was trying to buy the property for development but the owner refused to sell. He wasn’t interested in money, he had the lifestyle!
Two outcomes – the scene lasted less than 60 seconds in the broadcast (blink and you’d miss it) and we were left to dispose of the yabbies!
In other news: ‘Monitoring water quality at “The Point”’; ‘A targeted approach’ from our Gardens for Wildlife program; Bellarine Catchment Network’s ‘Point Lonsdale Sand Monitoring Program’.