Saturday, September 25, 2010

Sustainable Cambridge . .

Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of speaking about natural beekeeping using TopBar hives at the Garden Expo in the beautiful old town hall in the picturesque Waikato town of Cambridge. This pretty little `tree town` is about 20mins drive from Hamilton, is surrounded by expensive horse studs, many dairy farms and lots of horticulture. The town has a very English feel about it, with wonderful old oaks and elms planted throughout, beautiful old houses that have been restored, the centre of town having lots of quaint antique shops and splendid cafes !

Tree Town Apiaries had a stand in the hall, Simon had made a great 2 frame display case, I am hoping he can make me one when he has the time. His 80 hives are spread out around the town, some as far out as Maungatautari mountain where his bees gather the delicious nectar from native trees growing on this bush-clad icon of the Waikato valley.
The Lily Pad garden art studio had a very interesting stand with lots of fresh, organic veges and funky garden art displayed through-out. There is also a very tasty cafe out at the Lily Pad, where all the produce is used in the kitchen. There were lots of other stands, blogger won`t let me put anymore pics up ! The Permaculture group were there with info on compost, worm farms and all things sustainable, another had a hen and chicks in a movable hen-house on wheels (I want one), my friend Burton with all his freshly organically grown veges and other interesting, informative stalls.
Being the `horsey` town Cambridge is, there has to be a statue featuring this popular sport somewhere, and here it is . . . . . a beautiful mare and her foal, so real you just have to stroke them . . .

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