Top speakers at art and nature day

 

TAKE a whole new look at the gentle art of gardening by attending the ‘Art in the Garden Day’,an innovative local happening that promises to offer food for the body, mind and spirit – and a sustainable approach to growing your green haven.

It takes place in Patrick Schultz’s beautiful indigenous garden at Serendipity-by-the-Sea, 5 Milkwood Lane, Southport this Saturday, May 6, from 9am to 4pm. Direction signboards and South Coast Tourism banners will be erected from the Southport traffic lights.

Hosted by the Bendigo Conservation Group, with the support of Port Shepstone Rotarians, it is being held to to raise money for various environmental projects.

The Bendigo Conservation Group works to promote wise use of natural resources and to prevent degradation of the environment in the Bendigo area.

Its flagship project is the Bendigo Nature Reserve, a little urban jewel that is of considerable environmental significance. The group maintains the trails, controls invasive weeds, removes litter, provides education and encourages people to visit the reserve.

Funding is constantly required to replace aging infrastructure, improve safety and to combat the invasives, including the pereskia that is an ongoing problem there.

A major project and one that will need plenty of funding, is the replacement of the old boardwalk over the swampy areas that are noted for their gorgeous display of summer flowers.

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A number of fascinating speakers will offer guests an interesting approach to gardening, encouraging them to adopt more sustainable practices and to think about gardening for the future. The talks and other activities will be interactive, encouraging guests to provide input into the subjects addressed.

Speakers will include well-known landscape designer, ecological gardener and environmental activist Val Payn from Harding. She has recently published a fascinating book, ‘An Ecological Gardener’s Handbook’ and her talk will be entitled ‘Culture, Food and the Natural Environment”.

Patrick Schultz, an educationalist and a keen indigenous gardener, is sure to offer some unconventional ideas when he gives his talk, ‘The 21st Century Gardener’.

Veteran Durban gardener Frank Edwards will give an intriguing talk entitled ‘Food and Indigenous Forests’ and ‘edible landscaper’ Vanessa Meintjes will discuss just what this means.

Glenn Adendorff describes himself as a ‘bricoleur artist’ which means that he constructs his works of art using whatever comes to hand. He will tell guests about turning trash into art, a novel way to recycle your rubbish.

Finally, horticulturist Geoff Nicholls will take gardening enthusiasts and nature lovers on a walkabout in Patrick’s garden or, as he puts it a “small discovery journey into an indigenous garden’.

Taking part in the art in the garden show are painters Diane Erasmus, Kate Grieve, Wendy Rottcher, Anton Benzon, Keith Erasmus and Rob Wareing, who will do a demonstration.

Sculptor Florian Junge and photographer Taryn Burns-Wolhuter will also show off their unusual but beautifully crafted art.

There will also be music, poetry, storytelling, dancing and other expressive art courtesy of Glenn Adendorff, June Boshoff, Elvira Venter and her dancers and Bianca Nienaber and students of the Expressive Arts Department, Esayidi Technical and Vocational Education and Training College.

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There will also be chess in the garden and Mireille Picard will lead one or two meditation sessions on the beach. Bring chairs, mats, thinking hats, and brollies.

If you book online through www.quicket.co.za/events/18921-arts-in-the-garden entrance and lunch will cost you R100. Entry including lunch paid on the day is R120, or R60 for entrance only. For more information contact phone Patrick at 039 681 3232 or Mireille at 071 199 2947

 

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