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Win a seedling prize
pack for your school
Do you or your students have a creative idea for getting kids interested in gardening?
Tell us what it is, and the best idea will win an Awapuni Nurseries seedling pack to get your school garden back up and running for spring. Your idea can be anything at all from; painting signs to identify your plants to cooking the vegetables you've grown. Whatever it is that helps you get kids excited about gardening, we want to know. Email your gardening ideas to Henri by 23 September to be in the draw.
Oakland introduces its students to gardening
Read how two schools in the Oakland Unified School District in the United States have implemented a gardening programme to ensure their children continue to strive and learn the importance of nutrition education.
Super September
seedling giveaway
To celebrate the official launch of our new online store and website, we're giving away a free Traditional Value seedling bundle with every order made online during September. Each day we'll announce on our website and Twitter which seedling we're giving away that day. Order six items and we'll also deliver for free to a non-rural address or for just $4 to a rural address. There's never been a better time to buy online!
September is the
time to...
Compost. Composting your garden is like putting high-performance petrol in your car. It gives the soil a good rev-up and generates extra nutrients in time for spring growth.
Composting improves soil structure and reduces the need for synthetic fertilisers. It also adds structure to your soil, improving drainage in winter and helping with water retention in summer.
Read on for all you need to know about compost.
Beetroot in a cone anyone?
Did you know the red pigment in beetroot is often used to colour strawberry jam. It's also used to improve the colour of tomato paste, sauces and strawberry ice cream. Click here for more interesting facts on beetroot. |
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Growing great kids with gardening
Welcome to the first edition of Gardening Gazette – a gardening newsletter designed specifically for school and kindergarten teachers. Every month we'll send you step-by-step guides on what to plant with your students, latest gardening news, fun planting activities, interesting facts and other relevant information from Awapuni Nurseries.
Keen for us to cover a particular gardening topic or have your students got a tricky planting question? Simply, flick us an email and we'll do our best to help. And feel free to check out the Gardening A-Z section on our website, which is a huge information resource on all things gardening.
If you would prefer not to receive our monthly newsletter, please click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of this email.
 We look forward to helping you to grow your kids' interest in gardening. And, feel free to forward this email to any other gardeners who are keen to do the same.
Happy gardening
Henri Ham
Awapuni Nurseries |
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 Living legends take to
the forest
The Living Legends project is calling on Kiwis to join them in planting almost 85,000 native trees across NZ during September and October. There will be 17 planting events across the country where anyone can join with rugby legends such as Todd Blackadder and Sir Colin Meads to plant trees, and learn about how important the natural environment is to our kiwi lifestyle. Find out more here.
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Putting a stake in the ground
Whatever you plant, get the kids involved in creating stakes or signs to mark out the various seedlings in your gardening plot. Any old thing, like ice block sticks or cut-up ice cream containers will work. Simply decorate the stake, and write the name of the seedling in waterproof ink. |
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 The life and times
of beetroot
Beetroot has always seemed an odd vegetable to me. Google beetroot recipes and it turns up in combination with a huge variety of other foods and in every type of meal you could think of.
Kiwis seem to have a special affinity with it – particularly in a burger. Personally, I like to add grated beetroot to a summer salad or roast them with other winter veges.
There's no denying it's an incredibly versatile vegetable to have in your pantry. So you'd be crazy not to plant it. But it's even more versatile if you can get the kids to eat it! That's why I love to whip it up into a simple beetroot hummus. Perfect for kids to snack on with carrot sticks or pita bread. And if you get really stuck getting the kids on board with this great coloured vegetable – here's a link to a tasty chocolate and beetroot cake recipe.
So grab some beetroot seedlings from your local Bunnings, The Warehouse or supermarket.
Better still, head to our online store and get the seedlings delivered straight to your door.
Click here to read more.
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Inject a shot of colour this spring
It was a white couple of weeks towards the end of winter – with record snowfall from the top to the bottom of the country. Kids everywhere took advantage of closed schools and made the most of getting out and about in the snow – often in unexpected locations.
 So to mark the first official month of spring – and hopefully warmer weather – I'm going to tell you how you and your students can inject a shot of colour into the garden this September.
Awapuni Nurseries' shirley poppies will add a splash of colour to your kids' garden and they make the perfect cut flower – great for school or home-grown presents.
They come in a range of colours and can be purchased from your local Bunnings, The Warehouse, supermarket or online.
Unlike other plants, Awapuni Nurseries' seedlings can be unwrapped, separated and prepared for the soil without disturbing or breaking the roots. They are child's play to plant and grow!
Click here to read more. |
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Wellington celebrates spring
From 17 September - 2 October 2011 Wellington Botanic Garden is celebrating spring. Their Spring Festival includes two weeks of walks, talks, music, workshops and much more. |
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This year they've even designed the tulip beds to pay tribute to the overseas teams playing in Wellington for Rugby World Cup 2011.
Read on for more info. |
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