Whitefriars Hivers Beekeeping Club Safety Induction

Members of the Whitefriars Beekeeping Club came together via zoom last week for the start of the College beekeeping season. After a welcome from our beekeeper, Ben Moore, the staff, and students learnt about the College bee colony (did you know only females have stingers?), what makes bees a bit grumpy (poor weather, deodorant, being without a Queen Bee and predators) and how the members can minimise bee aggression for a safe experience. The session was completed with a test. Check out Ben Moore’s welcome to the club here.

Getting Your Garden Ready for the Summer Bounty

Whitefriars Sustainability and Environment Team hosted a webinar on Tuesday evening, designed to help the community get inspired to get back out into the garden during spring, especially from the perspective to the growing of edible crops. It was presented by Maria Ciavarella, our Food Tech support staff member who has extensive experience in not just growing food in her garden, but as a presenter for My Green Garden. Topics included getting your beds ready, understanding pH of soils, choosing which vegetables to grow over spring and summer and tips for getting the best out of them.

During these days of restrictions, gardening as a past time has innumerable benefits: getting out in the sunshine and away from the desk; contact with the soil which is known to ‘ground’ us to the cycles in life; as well as burning off the excess energy from boredom snacking!

So, if you missed it and would like to watch the presentation with its Q&A to help you make the most of your vegetable patch, it was recorded for general viewing. https://clickv.ie/w/nxdr. Other useful resources include https://mygreengarden.com.au and https://gardenate.com. Any queries please contact jmenzies@whitefriars.vic.edu.

Happy Gardening!

Season of Creation #act4ourcommonhome

1 September to 4 October is the Season of Creation. It’s a time in the Church calendar where each Sunday Mass focusses on caring for God’s creation of all creatures and environment and how as a Catholic school, how we can care for it. Catholic Earthcare encourages all schools and parishes to act during this special season. The College invites students and staff to inspire others by sharing actions of how they care for their environment. Please send images of how you are caring for the environment to jmenzies@whitefriars.vic.edu.au. These will be shared with the community at the end of the Season of Creation. For more information, visit https://catholicearthcare.org.au/act4ourcommonhome/

The Great Australian Platypus Search – Citizen Scientist Opportunity for Students

Have you seen a platypus on a recent walk? One of Australia’s most unique and iconic creatures is now at risk of extinction. Suffering under the impacts of habitat loss, drought, climate change and last summer’s bushfires, there is now mounting evidence showing rapid platypus population decline. By volunteering as a citizen scientist in The Great Australian Platypus Search, you will help map platypus populations across Victoria and fill a critical gap in our knowledge of this notoriously elusive species. For more information check out https://www.thegreataustralianplatypussearch.org/

Jo Menzies

Whitefriars College Sustainability & Environment Facilitator