News from the Valley

New Zealand has several kinds of native wasps which have evolved here and are not a nuisance. However, five species of social wasps have been introduced in the last 80 years and have become pests. These include German and common wasps, and three species of paper wasps. These introduced wasps harm our native birds and insects (including attacking beehives), as well as being a threat to human health. There is a particular concern for German and common wasps in New Zealand as they have no natural predators here, giving way to some of the highest densities in the world  …

Bird feeding is a common activity throughout the world, with birds being fed a range of foods from bread (5.1 million loaves in NZ) to seeds, fat, fruit and sugar water. When asked, people said they found bird feeding enjoyable and pleasurable. This connection to nature provided by feeding birds, has been found to be highly psychologically beneficial. I know for myself, in Winter, I find I am fascinated by watching birds nibbling at an apple I’ve put out for them, although I’m often put off by the slightly shriveled apple skins they leave behind! Sugar water might be …

I was looking out the window at the Valley Project office, clutching my warm cuppa tea, because it’s becoming cold now and I started thinking about what it was I was looking at. The hillside looked like a painted canvas, in amongst the background of the green forest were splotches of orange and yellow. That got me thinking, how and why do leaves change colour, why do some trees lose their leaves, and others don’t?  The name for trees that lose their leaves is “deciduous”, from the latin, “deciduus” which means “that which falls down”. And it’s not just …

"I think it was a success! Sarah seemed to get a lot of notes and contacts from those present. Interest seemed quite high." Peter Begg, Secretary of the Dunedin North Men's Probus Club, was pleased to see the community response to the second instalment of NEV history talks presented by local historian, Sarah Gallagher, and listing advisor, Alison Breese. "We are always working hard to become more involved in the community," Peter ensures.  It was a full house of 50-plus guests at last month's meeting which served as another 'step' in collaborations with Heritage New Zealand to rebuild our …

Here is the solution to the October Valley Voice Kids' Corner Bird Code Cracker! How did you get on?

  Chris Aubin - Exec Member We have lived in the Valley for 28 years with our children attending both NEV and DNI schools. Following studying at University of Otago I have owned and operated several businesses, residential housing portfolios, CEO of a regional sports body and am currently General Manager of architectural design and steel frame housing manufacturing companies. I have long experience with the management of Not For Profit Organisations from both operational and governance positions. I have a love and passion for The Valley and admire the efforts made by the many volunteers over the years …

Food waste is a huge issue! On average, every NZer creates 60+ kgs of food waste a year! Some more tips from Becks in this video can help you think about how to reduce your personal food waste. Do a waste audit - what do you throw away often and how can you avoid it? i.e. for Becks, it wasn't always the food itself but instead the packaging. Go to Bin Inn or buy from bulk tubs in the supermarket. If your audit shows you're throwing things out because they've gone past their best before-date, remember these dates are …

In April we teamed up with Orokonui Ecosanctuary, and together with Ōpoho School explored Blacks Bush.  It's home to Ōpoho Creek that winds its way down Signal Hill.    With the fearless explorers, we investigated the creek, the plant species, and the predator monitoring (tracking) and trapping programmes as part of Predator Free Dunedin’s City Sanctuary project.    Read the reports below from children who enjoyed visiting Blacks Bush.

Cooking on a budget Welcome back, today we have some tips on how to reduce waste while cooking on a budget. Get comfortable and confident making some basic meals - from there you can start to add or replace ingredients to change things up and keep your meals cheap but interesting. Sauces, spices and herbs are going to be your best friends - they can take meals you're starting to get sick of and make them different. It is really great to get used to using canned and shelf stable ingredients in your cooking - the less perishable things …

YOUR NEW BESTIE, REBECCA! Community advocate and waste minimalist, Rebecca Harris, is set to bring you a number of helpful videos around waste reduction and budget cooking, much like her freezer tips recording featured last month. Keep a look out for Rebecca on our Facebook and on our YouTube channel as well as on the blog here this month. She has a wealth of knowledge and experience to impart in the name of food resiliency! Find her first video on Zero Waste in the kitchen and fridge below! Zero waste in the kitchen and fridge A waste reduction video …

Preserving - reducing waste Rebecca is back with another video on reducing waste - this time she'll be talking about how to tie this into another thing we've been talking about a lot - preserving! It's harvest season so here are some reduced waste ideas for preserves. People think of preserves as jams and chutneys but you can preserve things by drying, freezing and lots of other ways. For example, hanging herbs to dry and then turning them into tea. A great way to find the raw ingredients for preserving without spending money is to join your local community …

Since we no longer have tracking tunnels available in the Trap Library, how about making your own? Check out the Kids’ Corner activity in the April issue of the Valley Voice or read below for some more ideas for how to make your own tracking tunnel! But first, I was really interested to discover the development of tracking tunnels and how and why we use them.  A brief look into the past... I found the DOC Inventory and monitoring toolbox, which mentioned that tracking tunnels were first described by Carolyn King and R. Edgar, published in 1977 from their …