Life and Wildlife on the Banks of the Murrumbidgee
Grasses make my head spin. There are so many of them and I can still only identify about a dozen types confidently. About half of those are non-native, and the worst of them is African Lovegrass (eragrostis curvula). It was accidentally planted in the Monaro area, south of us, as a contaminant of the closely... Continue Reading →
I was lucky enough this year to get a small grant to put in thirty paddock trees through Yass Landcare and the Yass Local Land Services. The huge remnant paddock trees we have are both impressive and essential, for wildlife to move around, as well as for sheep to have shelter and shade. Many of... Continue Reading →
In a big rush, in the last month I like to plant (August), we got this year’s trees finished. 1200 in total for 2022. The final big planting day was both horrible and beautiful. Horrible was the weather, which was wet and windy, with everything mud-coated. Rain-catching coreflute discs that I now use instead of... Continue Reading →
Each year I worry I won't get my army of new plants into the ground. Each year it's a huge relief when the main planting begins. This year we were waiting for the new windbreak fences to be completed, so we did individual paddock trees and little triangles first and finally started the main windbreak... Continue Reading →
For my last birthday Craig gave me a new pet, a wonderful planter with insect-eating plants. It was made by his old friend Dave who has shifted from researching spiders to growing "interesting" plants. During the spring and summer we sat the planter out on the verandah table and watched as the sundews collected tiny... Continue Reading →
At the start of the planting season, I'm so excited to see my new young plants. I spend a lot of time sorting them, checking them out, figuring out where exactly I'm going to put them, and admiring them fondly. At the end of the season, I'm equally excited to see my piles of empty... Continue Reading →
A few years ago, I went to a workshop on erosion control, which gave me a number of tools to use against soil erosion. One of them involves using logs and brush to make multiple leaky weirs, which slow water and sediment moving down a slope, allowing the silt to drop out instead of being... Continue Reading →
I know we’ll need all the water we can get for another summer of heatwaves, coming in just a few months. It’s also perfect for this year’s tree planting that the soil moisture is good. However, the flooding is beginning to become just a little tedious – especially the creek. When Mullion Creek goes up... Continue Reading →
I have a love-hate relationship with fences. A good fence is essential for stock management and control. On the other hand, I hate having to get over barbed wire, as I’m not good at the seamless leap over. Barbed wire is particularly important if you have cattle who like to lean on them. Sheep don’t... Continue Reading →
Bloom of rust on an old disc I love the texture of old rusty iron, the subtle ripples of its surface where air has nibbled it away over decades. I love the red-orange colour which is earthy and natural, a far cry from primary colours and shiny galvanized silver of new metal. I have quite... Continue Reading →
After months of weed control, plus stripping tree covers among the Stinking Roger and Saffron Thistle, we’re finally into the planting season, despite being still surrounded by the post-drought thistles. My mini-forest sits outside our bedroom door reminding me to keep it watered and fed. Mini forest The retrieved covers are stacked high in the... 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 →
In May, during the Covid lockdown, my mother Barbara Hamer, died. While she was much luckier than many others have been at this time, (a painless fade, with family to support her), it is still a loss. She was always busy, tending to rush full tilt at life expecting it to get out of the... Continue Reading →
When the whole world is sharing a pandemic, I thought it would be nice to share some of the beauty we're "locked down" with, including the dragon's breath sunset above. Our friends George and Rosie from Berkeley also gave us some wonderful long lens photos of birds and kangaroos, stars and sunsets. And of course,... Continue Reading →
There's not much competition between a long-necked turtle shell and a heavy duty truck on a gravel road. Sadly the turtles (chelodina longicollis) don't know that, and set off as soon as the rains came looking for romance in alternate ponds and dams. This one I saw after dodging dozens of excited frogs flaunting themselves... Continue Reading →
After sunset, most birds are prepared to get some sleep. The volatile sulphur-crested cockatoos cease their screeching, the galahs "zip-zip" their way to bed, and even the restless flycatchers actually take a rest. But the Masked Lapwings (vanellus miles) are always on guard, giving out alarm calls day and night. That’s because they live and... 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 →
Amazingly, we're done with our main project for 2018! After the bitter weather on our big planting a few weeks ago, I was worried we'd never get our whole Glossy Black Cockatoo project finished. Thankfully, Darren Menachemson and a wonderful crew from ThinkPlace plus a Greening Australia "Adopt a Plot" team came to our rescue.... Continue Reading →
After months of flu last year, I was very excited when Ben Hanrahan from Greening Australia offered help with planting our new Glossy Black Cockatoo area on the steep gully behind the house. It's been a dry year so far, with only scattered amounts of rain making the soil just moist enough for planting. Mostly... Continue Reading →
Suddenly, while I was still coughing and wheezing from the flu, spring arrived on the hills around us. It seemed as if every type of wattle and fruit tree began to flower simultaneously, even while the mornings remained so cold and frosty I couldn't step outside without going into a coughing fit. Best of all,... Continue Reading →
One Bend In The River 