Talking about Sustainability and our Forests

A little while ago a satirical graph on the use of the word "sustainable" made it's way around the internet via the National Association of Scholars.  It made me laugh because, as a student of sustainable land management at the time, I'd already become conscious of the fact that the word was being bandied around left, right and centre, without much thought to what it truly meant.

Land Clearing and the Review of Native Vegetation Clearing Guidelines

Just a quick round of thank you: Southern Dandenongs Landcare, Jordan Crooka, Bruce Lindsay of the Environment Defenders Office and Yasmin Kelsall of the Victorian National Parks Association for the detailed talk last night.  

It would appear that by reducing the situations in which a permit is required, making it easier to obtain a permit, using a risk based approach and also changing the language used that the new guidelines will have the overall effect of discounting the importance of local habitat for increased biodiversity.

Passionvine Hopper AKA Fluffy Bums!

This insect is really starting to pick up in numbers in the garden at the moment, with young nymphs and adults being seen in large groups on any stressed plant.
  

Only part of the large colony living on our fig tree

Revegation Practice and Glyphosate

Recently I raised some concerns on fb regarding the current practices used for revegatation work along creek banks in my local area.

Basically, the practice is to use a glyphosate based product to spray the area to be replanted, and perhaps repeat this at intervals.  Once cleared, the young plants used in the revegatation process then have a better chance of becoming established.

What concerned me about this, other than the fact that I believe the use of chemicals in such a way is not a sustainable practice and is in fact somewhat contradictory to the idea behind the revegatation process, was that we may be doing more harm than good.

December in the Dandenongs

The volunteer tomatoes that popped up everywhere in September are fruiting

Bye bye bee bee, bye bye!

Recently our wonderful, garage dwelling, feral bees ran out of space and a drone cut a hole through the interior wall into the garage.  Bees not being the brightest, they then congregated around the rear window to the garage hoping that somehow the glass would disappear and they'd be able to go on their merry way. 

With nothing to do but wait for a mating flight, one drone decided to create a new exit and gets berated by a female worker for leaving the back door open

Unfortunately, we didn't enter the garage for a couple of days and it was cool and wet overnight.  As the bees only knew of their main entrance to the nest, they couldn't work out what to do and few hundred of them died from exposure over night before we realised what had happened.

We covered up the hole they'd made with copper slugga tape as it was all we had to hand, then covered the window with a tarp and opened the door so the surviving bees could make their way out.  Which they did, slooooowly, over the day.  My DH then had the sad task of sweeping up the deceased.

Just to show that they're not fast learners, a couple of days later the exact same thing happened and again we lost a few hundred bees.

Fortunately, I know David the bee man! :)

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 :)