THE BLUESKIN BAYLEAF: Hampden Apple Harvest Day

THE BLUESKIN BAYLEAF

Apple Harvest

by Rowan Holt

On 10 April I had such fun at the Hampden Apple Harvest Day. I was
able to persuade the council to allow me to hold my first community
hands on cooking school, where I showed my "students" how to prepare
Baked Apples. It was great success so I thought I'd share the recipe
with you. I'm very much looking forward to my next school session!

Medium/large cooking apples, remove the core. I found a brilliant
apple corer for $1 at the Seacliff market. Keep a look out for one, as
they are hard to find in the shops. If you like, with a small knife
run a line around the centre circumference of the apple. This will
stop the skin bursting when cooking.

Sticky fruit – use a mix and match of what you fancy. Try dates, figs,
prunes, dried apricots, cherries or crystallized ginger. Chop this up
into fine little bits and put in a small bowl.

Spices – in your mortar and pestle (you can buy economical and
effective ones either at centre city new world or the asian
supermarket on Howe St for about $20 and you will use it all the time)
put the flavours you desire. Try black or pink peppercorns, cardamom
pods, star anise, cloves, and cinnamon. Choose a maximum of 3 spices
otherwise the taste can become confusing. Grind these to a fine powder
and remove any thing that looks like it will stuck in your teeth (pod
shell, any woody bits.) Put this too, in the small bowl.

Add a knob of butter, a spoon of brown sugar and a pinch of salt. The
salt takes the sickly sweetness away and brings out the flavour of the
spices.

Massage this all together with the back of a wooden spoon or clean
hands. Make it into a paste.

Have a 30cm square piece of tin foil ready per apple. Place the apple
in the centre and stuff the cavity full with the paste. Wrap up the
apple tight and put in a baking dish. Once you have prepared all the
apples you wish, pop them in the oven for 15 minutes bake at 180
degrees.

Serve with yoghurt, mascarpone, cream or ice cream for a supper treat.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Waitati Open Orchards

By Jason Ross

It's time to plan winter plantings of fruit trees and order the trees. WOO
will be meeting the first week of May to plan for this winter's maintenance
and new plantings. Where to plant and what varieties?

The April Harvest Market lacked crowds due to the weather, those that made
it found the weather calmed and warmed nicely just for the duration of the
market! We did though have abundant autumn fruit. We had fun making some
special apple juice blends (apple and fresh ground ginger was my favourite).
We also did some juicing of one variety at a time; the unknown green apple
made a lovely light green, tart juice.

Hampden Apple Day
This was a fun day with about 40 varieties of apples on display. Many
people brought fruit to have us try to identify, by comparing to the fruit
on display or by looking them up in reference books. It was appreciated that
identification is a difficult task as in the Otago area there is thought to
be at least 600 varieties of apples growing in people's backyards. Hampden
is in the process of planning open orchard plantings of old varieties for
its streets.

Check out this fantastic blog
Written by our very own Hillary, the giant impossible vegetable grower. She
has turned a very steep north-east-facing clay section into a large garden
producing stacks of vegetables. Many fine specimens have been
seen on the WOO harvest market stall. The purple beans were beautiful.
Hillary's blog gives enthusiastic accounts of both her gardening and her
cooking. Inspiring stuff. Love the photos Hillary, more please! Find
the blot at www.selfsufficiencydreams.blogspot.com

Waitati Open Orchards is a group of keen folk on a mission to plant fruit
trees in public spaces around Waitati for all to enjoy. Email
waitatiopenorchard@gmail.com to join our mailing list.

Photo: Brown Street fruit tree planters

Man Freed From Cage

By Lynnaire Johnston

Waitati animal rights activist Carl Scott was last week freed from the
cage he has been occupying on the main road in Waikouaiti for the past
month.
Carl, well known locally and online for his anti-animal cruelty
stance, received national media coverage for giving up his usual life
to draw attention to the plight of caged hens. While a change is being
planned to the appalling conditions that our egg-layers live in, Carl
does not believe the changes go far enough.
He chose to highlight the issue by spending a month in a cage that was
similar in size to that occupied by chickens, relative to his size. It
was not large enough for him to stand up and was only metres from the
busy highway.
Carl's efforts have been supported by animal welfare group SAFE, with
many visitors dropping by his cage to offer moral support. Some have
even worn chicken outfits and carried placards to draw even more
attention to the issue.
Carl celebrated his "release" with a vegan potluck dinner at Waitati
Hall last Friday night with his supporters.
To add your voice to those wanting better living conditions for caged
hens, visit nocages.org.nz

WARRINGTON PLAYCENTRE column

WARRINGTON PLAYCENTRE

Konnichiwa friends! The first term has flown by in a blur of fun,
creativity and exploration at Warrington Playcentre. Early in the term
we spent a delightful morning on the beach, chasing waves, rampaging
through the sand dunes, rowing our sand-boats and gathering beach
treasures to take back to create with. Many tired and happy children
were seen heading home at lunchtime.

We welcomed Freddie and Phoebe and also some new friends from
Christchurch who have escaped the shaking in their neighbourhood.
Welcome Lucy!

Birthday Greetings and celebrations go out to Ben, Amelia and Freddie
– we hope lots of fun, partying and cake played a big part in your
day.

Our green fingers came out during the term when we discovered a huge
quantity of potatoes hiding under the soil in our garden patch. Even
more excitement when some carrots were discovered, rapidly washed and
devoured by hungry mouths. Pippa helped the children to peel the spuds
and into the oven they went for roasting. I think it was the quietest
end to a session, as all that was heard was munching and mm-ing: they
were delicious.

WANTED: Someone with a Course 2 qualification, that is able to work
with us on Wednesdays for 4 paid hours. This position would start as
soon as possible and is for the 2011 year. Please contact us if you
are available.

If you are interested in joining us this year we are open Wednesdays
and Fridays 9:15am to 12:15pm, phone the Playcentre 027 227 7329 -
we'd love to meet you.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

NOTICE: Community Tree Planting

Community Tree Planting

Warrington Reserve, Sunday May 15, 10 am-1 pm

Come and help the Warrington Reserve Group and the DCC continue the
work of establishing native plantings at the reserve.

Bring a spade, wheelbarrow and shovel (for moving mulch), warm clothes
and friends and family.

We will provide a cuppa and bickies. All Welcome. For information
phone Karen 4822762

Firefighters line up for Anzac Day

Waitati volunteer firefighters Paul Clements, Dave Hardisty, Brent
Bell, Amanda Church, Lindsay Scott, Keith Templeton, Seraya Figgins
and Sharo Brogan pose with a wreath at the Cenotaph on Anzac Day, 25
April 2011. Photo: Blueskin News

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

"News" influence felt afar

By Lynnaire Johnston

Blueskin News is, as you will be aware, produced each month by a group
of volunteers keen to give everyone in the community an opportunity to
be heard.
It is funded primarily by advertising, but donations play an important
part. Indeed, there is one member of our community who regularly
contributes a substantial sum but refuses to be publicly acknowledged.
Whoever you are - we thank you!
Contributions generally turn up unannounced, and one did exactly that
very recently. Addressed merely to "Storekeeper, Waitati" it found its
way to the right place thanks to Heather and her staff at the general
store. It was unusual in that the donation was accompanied by a
letter, which read:
Dear Storekeepers
Pardon me for not knowing your names, I do know Terry [Sheppard] liked
you very much.
It is near the "Good Shepherd's" memorial, May 15. We were at his
wonderful arranged funeral. Would you kindly forward the small
enclosed memorium to the Waitati booklet office.
I still feel a tear unshed for what Terry will miss, such as the new
shop - he would have enjoyed a debate about it, bless him.
I was told he used to take unleashed "Chopper" to the shop when
Yolanda was in Australia. She is forever grateful he was so good to
the dog who is a lovely pet - but amazed he survived the busy road.
Joy Groves, Oamaru
It never fails to amaze those of us who work on Blueskin News, just
how far-reaching an influence it has for such a tiny distribution. We
invite you to contribute to it as the more information and articles,
the better the publication.

Orokonui Ecosanctuary

By Sue Hensley

Results of the first kiwi health check at Orokonui have been promising. They
have all put on a substantial amount of weight and one of the females is now
3.1 kg. Perhaps in the next six months we will begin to hear the occasional
night call. For several months there has been no response from the
transmitters of two of the kiwi and so it was a great result when the kiwi
search team including a kiwi tracker dog found one of the missing birds. Its
transmitter mysteriously had switched off. The other bird was not located
although the dog indicated a couple of promising leads.

The release of kaka pair Mr and Mrs Roto went well. They continue to spend
quite a bit of time around the aviary and Mr Roto has been entertaining
visitors – sometimes following people along the ground!

Kleopatra, the new aviary kaka still does not recognise nuts as real food
and has to be fed huhu grubs to keep up her protein intake. We'd love to
hear from anyone who might be able to supply huhu grubs.

Rats have once again appeared on the monitoring radar in very small numbers
(0.97% of trakka cards) and 42 mice have been caught for the Rhodamine dye
trial and will be sent away in due course.

The visitor centre and café are open every day 9.30-4.30. All day self-guided
walking, guided tours and annual passes are available. Keep up to date with
events on facebook and www.orokonui.org.nz.

BLUESKIN BAY LIBRARY column

Blueskin Bay Library News May 2011

In May we once again celebrate Music Month and our very own Waitati
Ukulele Orchestra will perform at Gallery on Blueskin on Saturday 21
May at 12pm. The theme is 'Kiwi girl rock chick music' and Metiria
Turei will be there too. This will be an open mic so be sure to bring
anything musical with you that you can share with the greater
community. Please spread the word to your friends and family. There
are many other free live performances around the Dunedin Public
Libraries network so be sure to pop by and pick up a timetable.

Carolyn our fiction guru has replenished our fiction shelves with an
eclectic mixture of fiction to hopefully tantalise the taste buds of
our fiction readers who have read out our current fiction collection.
Carolyn kept in mind what your tastes are so please come back and
visit us and take out some of the new fiction.

Recently the library has been packed to the rafters and heavily used
which is the way we want it to be. Sadly we have had one or two
incidents where unsupervised small children have got behind the desk,
or outside the library. Luckily no one has been hurt but we are
concerned that an accident could happen. Please parents remember that
your children are your responsibility. Library staff can not take
responsibility for unsupervised children. Because the library is so
small and congested we all need to take care and be respectful of one
another.

East Otago Sustainable Action Goup hosts:

Keep it Local – create and share a database of sustainable products to
harvest and purchase

WHERE: Blueskin Library

WHEN: Thursday 19 May, 7pm

NOTES: Bring knowledge of local resources (food gathering, compost
materials etc) and local products to buy. The information will be
typed up on the night and sent out to our group and kept as a valuable
resource at both the Blueskin Bay and Waikouaiti libraries. Everyone
welcome.

Staff Hot Picks

Averil

DVD – Second hand lions. (A good family movie)

Gran's kitchen: recipes from the notebooks of Dulcie May (A lot of old
favourite recipes)

Carolyn

Fostering by Emma Neale

Island beneath the sea by Isabel Allendale

Louise

Gypsy boy by Mikey Walsh

Radio Shanri-La by Lisa Napoli

A successful journalist working for public radio in Los Angeles,
Napoli hit a wall. Burned out and overwhelmed by regret, she wondered
how to recharge her life. Enter a friend of a friend with connections
to the tiny Himalayan country of Bhutan. In 2006, this Buddhist
kingdom, long cocooned against the outside world, launched a new youth
radio station, Kuzoo FM (kuzoo zampo means hello). Would Napoli like
to volunteer as a consultant? So begins a love affair with a land
unlike any other, a bond that lifts Napoli out of her blues and
enriches the lives of the young people with whom she works. The
stories of the wildly popular station are charming and gracefully
revealing as Napoli shares her experiences of Bhutan's magnificent
landscape, fiery cuisine, and open-handed daily life in a society that
measures its achievements not with a Gross National Product but,
rather, with Gross National Happiness. Napolis engaging keenly
observed, and informative chronicle captures Bhutan mid-metamorphosis
as it transforms itself into a democracy and as media and the Internet
redefines the Bhutanese concept of contentment. --Donna Seaman

Our audio visual collection has just been changed over so we have on
offer some newish DVDs, CDs and talking books for all ages. We also
receive about 15 brand new books which are put on display just as you
enter the library. We also have a colourful new bean bag in the
children's area which has proved popular. To reduce congestion in the
library we have also bought an outside table and four chairs to use
for your use during library hours. Remember Blueskin Bay Library is
your library and we are here to help you enjoy the experience.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Blueskin Garden Club

By Lynnaire Johnston

The Blueskin Garden club's Annual General Meeting will be held on
Thursday May 12.

This year it is planned to hold a combined AGM and dinner at Tall
Poppy in Port Chalmers. Minimum numbers are required as the Club will
have the restaurant to itself so please email Lyn Hastie at
hastie2@xtra.co.nz with your acceptance.

The Club's most recent outing was to the Orokonui Ecosanctuary. The
orchids there provided a magnificent display for those venturing out
into the pest-proof enclosure.