June 2023
WELCOME TO OUR JUNE NEWSLETTER
Welcome too the Hurunui Garden Festival Committee for the 2023 year.
At the Hurunui Garden Festival AGM in April these ladies took on the role of organising and bringing to you all another great garden festival on Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th October 2023.
Left to right: Mel M (Accounts Manager) Meg Macfarlane (Chair), Karen Forrester, Doreen Dryden, Vicki Collett & Deb Orr.
This month we are lucky to have from Coldstream Garden an article written by Linda Gaddes about Comfrey
Comfrey (symphytum officinale) has also been known for centuries as boneset. It is a perennial plant, growing approximately 60cm with yellow or purple flowers.
Why would you want to grow Comfrey?
Bumblebees love Comfrey flowers
It's great to fill in a shady spot but can be invasive if not kept under control.
It is an excellent fertilizer source that is rich in nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus and many trace elements.
A small controlled patch growing handy to your compost, reminds you to add leaves to help break compost down.
Prefeed you soil before planting potatoes and other heavy feeders.
Mulch under your fruit trees.
You can ferment Comfrey into a liquid fertilizer by chopping up the leaves into a bucket with water and cover loosely for about a month until it turns into a brown sludge. The stench is dreadful, so you might want to place the bucket in a far corner of the garden and wear gloves when handling.
It is recommended to dilute with water. 1 part Comfrey to 15 parts water.Comfrey has been known for centuries as boneset or bonenit. A poultice is made by wrapping the leaves around the injured area. It apparently speeds up healingby promoting circulation.
You can harvest the leaves and hang them so that they are available all year for first aid.
PLEASE NOTE: COMFREY IS NOT RECOMMENDED TO BE TAKEN INTERNALLY AS IT CONTAINS CHEMICALS CALLED PYRROLIXIDINE ALKALOIDS WHICH CAN DAMAGE THE LIVER.
You may want to wear gloves when handling the leaves, as they can irritate the skin. COMFREY is a very useful and well worth doing further research for yourself into the MANY uses as a fertilizer and first aid tool.
SPONSORS SPOT
As our sponsors support us please support them.
Corten or Mild Steel Sculptures to enhance your garden.
Ready-made, with some viewable at Karetu Downs garden in this year Hurunui Garden Festival or made to order.
Heathstock Apiaries is a small, family owned and operated beekeeping business based in the beautiful Hurunui District.
We have a long history of organic sustainability and pride ourselves on production of top quality honey. This year we will be displaying in the Hurunui Garden Festival at Saddlewood Garden on Thursday 25th and Friday 27th and our honey is stocked at Karetu Downs Gift shop.
THE FESTIVAL DATES THURSDAY OCTOBER 26TH - SUNDAY 29TH, OPEN DAILY FROM 9AM - 5PM. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU THEN!
We are very grateful to our sponsors. Without their support we would not be able to bring you this wonderful event. Our sponsors are listed below plus on our website. The website will begin to be updated ready for this years festival in early to mid June.
If you want to contact the committee, or require any information contact us via our email address info@hurunuigardenfestival.com
If you haven’t ‘liked’ our Facebook or Instagram page yet, we recommend you do as we are often posting snippets of information and updates – more regularly than newsletters.
Check out our website www.hurunuigardenfestival.com which holds information about the gardens, places to go, see and do. This will be updated regularly as we lead up to the festival in October.
