Ode to The Digger's Club

Oh, Digger's Club you are the best,
By far a step above the rest,
So I just renewed my membership,
After a slight lapse in it.
Unlike others we won't mention,
You always pay attention,
To your members far and wide,
And keep them on the happy side.
Despite having lapsed for months times two,
You didn't hesitate, no, not you,
You give, and then, you give some more,
With a better deal than before.
A welcome gift you did bestow,
That's hard to rhyme when not in prose,
But I'll try and give it a go,
Some seeds from the tom-a-to.
Then just because that is your way,
Another gift made my day,
A book that is pure platinum,
All about the solanum.
So, thank you Digger's, Clive et al,
I promise you that I shall,
Renew my fees when they fall due,
So I may be as loyal as you.

Not a Digger's Club member yet?  You really should be ;)

Pumkins and lemon trees...

I've written this post for Margaret of Stone's Throw Cottage, who is making a fantastic effort removing environmental weeds and enhancing her already wonderful garden by planting some delicious edibles! :)

Margaret has the perfect location for a forest garden.  She has many established trees in an upper canopy, several fruit trees in the middle layer, different levels, a slope, sunny areas, cool areas and lots of native vegetation.

She has decided to clear away a big area of environmental weeds (Wandering Trad and English Ivy) and replace this with indigenous plants for attracting wildlife, providing habitat for local species and also increasing the biodiversity in her garden.

Yesterday, I saw her and her partner (well, mostly her partner!) struggling to rid an old veggie bed of a bad infestation of Wandering Trad, both being desperate to plant out some pumpkins.  When I suggested that they relax, take their time, and plant the pumpkins under the nearby lemon tree instead they thought I'd gone a bit bonkers.



They wouldn't be the first! :)

So Margaret, get yourself a cuppa and let me explain...

Bonk...bonk....

Those of you with a wildlife pond have no doubt been hearing the fantastic noise of the Eastern Bango Frogs (Limnodynastes dumerilii) calling for some time now.  The wonderful sound of the frog has given it a very evocative common name in the Dandenongs, the Pobblebonk.

L. dumerilii subspecies dumerilii
the most widely spread subspecies
and common in Melbourne suburbs

Other people's brilliant photo's from End of the Line

You just have to check them all out :)

 John Weeks!

I'm borrowing this one because it's the Safeway wall being painted.  Gone is the ghastly green!  Hopefully they'll let them extend it next year and cover the whole area :)

Katie & Sarah



I walk into town several times a week using this route and my kids always get excited when the see the cows and doggies on the walls - you can imagine how excited the bunting made them :)

Wow, what a superb day at the End of the Line Festival!

Just some quick pics of the day.  :)

Part of the Marketplace - this was a great area with music, artists, stalls and a brilliant KungFu display by Dom McKay and his students

And of course, the marketplace was also home to 2 Fat Ladies Weave a Garden (they called themselves that, not me!!).   Southern Dandenongs Landcare's very own Vicki Boyle and friend Marita Hanigan definitely improved the look of this chain link fence with their art work.  Great job Vicki & Marita.  Next time though, the kids definitely stay with you! :)

This is the main stage (more often known as the Cameo's outdoor cinema) and it was a great area to enjoy listening to Rob Moss.  Fantastic voice and definitely an enjoyable spot to take a break from the senses overload.  Note Baba Desi making, our local wizard, was in fine form despite his advanced age and the heat!

Here's some of the littlies jumping around like dinosaurs to Alice Makes Music.  It was great to have this kids area for them to have downtime and get in the shade.  Well, I say downtime but all the jumping and attempting circus acts or listening to exciting stories with Christopher from the Dreaming Space had them exhausted!

Here's Alice entertaining our bubs

It's almost time for the End of the Line Festival

I am so excited about the upcoming, inaugural, End of the Line Festival on Saturday 24th November!

Organised by Brent and CJ Dakis, 2 local artists and proactive, enthusiastic and generally brilliant people, it promises to be one local event that will be hugely successful and I predict will most definitely grow in stature in the coming years.

I know they've both put their heart and souls into this, working incredibly hard to convince both the Belgrave Traders Association and the Shire that such a festival will be a huge benefit to the area.

So please, check out the fantastic website for info on the exhibitors, musicians, artists and others involved, then make sure you're there on Saturday 24th November from 10am.

Help Brent, CJ and everyone involved make the End of the Line Festival an event they can be proud of! :)

Southern Dandenongs Landcare Group AGM

A quick message from the SDLG regarding their AGM, this Sunday 2-5pm at Selby Community House.

Join us to hear local conservationist, Betty Marsden AO., on the history of the Save the Dandenongs League and the work done by volunteers to preserve our Hills environment – vital work which continues on many fronts. This is a unique chance to meet and speak with Betty, community elder and local environmental champion.

Afternoon tea provided :)

Here I am, getting involved in politics again...

McDonalds in Tecoma... what can I say? I have nothing against McDonalds and in fact quite enjoy caramel sundaes. Do my kids eat there? Rarely, perhaps a couple of times a year, generally when travelling long distances. Have I been involved with the campaign? I signed the petition before the vote went before planning last year, but other than that no. Do I want a McDonalds up the road? Absolu

tely not.

My objections are that the site now owned by McDonalds is by a busy junction that already has traffic issues and is used by school children crossing. The store is planned to be open 24 hours, in what is still (despite it being the main street in the town) a quiet residential area. The building designs used by McDonalds are rarely in keeping with what would be appropriate for the area, something that is generally carefully considered in the planning process for a residential building. And Tecoma and Belgrave already have how many takeaways...?!

The Shire were right to turn down the original application based on community objections, but VCAT unfortunately had no choice but to accept McDonalds' appeal. That's the problem with the law - if you meet the requirements, and McDonalds did, then your application should be approved.

Although that said, what is there left that we can do? Should we get even angrier and start to protest aggressively? Should we start assuming it's all part of a wider conspiracy, like some of the commentators who have appeared on camera recently sounding, frankly, a bit crazy and not helping the cause in the slightest.

Nope.

The new councillors (and returning Cllr. Samantha Dunn - congratulations again Sam!) need to consider what can be done to amend zoning and planning rules for areas such as this to protect them in future. They were right to turn down the application in the first place, but now they need to ensure that one McDonalds doesn't open the flood gates for more inappropriate developments. If we can be strict with residential zoning, then we can be strict with commercial zoning bordering the residential areas.

NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges needs to try even harder to open a dialogue with McDonalds and do what they can to get them to listen to our concerns and address them. Peacefully, calmly and with respect on all sides.

However, for the most part, this is now down to McDonalds. You know what we do NOT want, you know what our concerns are and you know that the eyes of Australia, if not the world, are on you.

Now is your chance to show us all that McDonald's Australia does listen - they you can be flexible; that you can build restaurants that are sustainable and appropriate to a location; and perhaps most importantly, that you can become a welcome part of a small community.

What do you say Maccas - are you up to it?

Woohoo!

The cicadas are singing - it's (un)officially summer! :)

Companion Planting from SGA

This dropped in my inbox this past week and I thought it was worth sharing because a) it's comprehensive and b) it's free :)

Companion Planting