Life and Wildlife on the Banks of the Murrumbidgee
I was fascinated at the sight of a table full of drones among the local wines and handmade firepits at the 2014 Murrumbateman Field Days. Suddenly these flimsy machines could be owned by individuals, not just used by governments to drop bombs. I failed to find a real excuse for us to own one, although... Continue Reading →
After the drought ended in February last year we were so excited to see the green tinge creeping across the landscape. But of course, a lot of that was weeds that had been allowed to germinate in bare ground – left bare by the drought. Because the ground cover was still fragile, it was necessary... Continue Reading →
Since the end of the drought there has been a spate of sheep and cattle thefts ("duffing") particularly by thieves using empty caravans to stuff suddenly valuable animals into. It's suspicious if an apparent grey nomad has a trailer that bleats or moos. That's not the sort of stock-taking I'm doing. With my mother's death,... Continue Reading →
Thistles and brooms, ryegrass and goosegrass and vetch. The more I learn about the weeds that infest our paddocks, the more I find myself spotting them when we travel. Fancy names, multiple names, "Great Mullein", "Salvation Jane", "Horehound" and "Pellitory of the Wall". Some are clearly at home, well controlled by the climate, or insects... Continue Reading →
When I was a child I loved to play around the "magical" twisted trunk of a huge weeping willow (salix babylonica) in a gully behind the house on Adnamira. It was a little off-putting, however, when I traipsed down the paddock one day with my adventure Barbie dolls, to find a whole nest of baby... Continue Reading →
Ever since I went to the Friends of Grasslands workshop in 2014 I've been itching to try my hand at revegetating native grasses, rather than only trees and shrubs. Of course, that's not all that easy to do. Sue McIntyre has some good suggestions, but we are mostly forced to deal with weeds where we can,... Continue Reading →
There's a look that weeds tend to have: often spiky like a thistle,;definitely fast growing; pretty flowers perhaps; obviously not delicious to sheep (so still in existence in a paddock);and setting lots of seed for example. Back in February I was showing Hannah Morgan and Charles which weeds to take out with a mattock from... Continue Reading →
Farming, like nature, is messy. It's nice to see the smooth green grass of spring covering the hills and disguising the rocks. The modern golf course look. Unfortunately, that's not necessarily what you need either for wildlife or for grazing stock. Sheep love to have a variety of things to eat, including clovers, grasses,... Continue Reading →
According to Michael Pollan in The Botany of Desire there are plants that, just by chance, have turned out to be something we really want. Potatoes as food, apples for fruit and alcohol, marijuana for druggy highs. Those plants that we like, we promote and encourage no matter how needy and pathetic they are. We choose them... Continue Reading →
Weevils are cute. No, really. Beetles tend to be sturdy and a little alien, flies have those weird multifaceted eyes, but weevils are like the Disney version of an insect, with big eyes and a long ant-eaterish nose. We were out chopping and spraying weeds in a revegetation area when I noticed that many of the... Continue Reading →
One Bend In The River 