willows

peter andrews and his system of 'natural sequence farming' extols the virtues of the willow - apart from its great service to the world of cricket - as a tree that is ideal (and traditionally used) for riparian restoration. australia faces a crisis due to the combination of global warming and gross mismanagement of our land, in particular our natural waterways. we only have to look at the murray-darling basin to see how dire it is:

the habitat along and around a creek or river is crucial for a healthy ecosystem. trees that grow in these areas form a necessary transition zone between land and water. these trees help to filter runoff and groundwater, removing pollutants from the waterway. because so much native vegetation has been cleared along creeks and rivers the natural cycle of floods and lulls have scoured deeper into the landscape. water that was usually slowed and controlled by the dense reeds and trees lining flows ever faster, causing more erosion. rain water flowing down from higher ground rushes unimpeded into the creeks and rivers, carrying precious topsoil which is easily washed away. so the cycle continues. willows, because of their tenacity and fast growth can halt this. their presence along a water way catches organic matter that is washing downstream. the raft of roots that grow form an environment that is ideal for platypus and fish, and the shade provided slows evaporation and further water-loss.

so they are important as a fast measure to halt some of the damage. of course there are native trees well-suited to the job, but they are slower growing and more susceptible to damage from fast-flowing or flooding creeks and rivers.
willows grow so easily as i found out when pete and i found one not far from here and took some cuttings. within two weeks they had grown masses of roots and were shooting with new growth.

we will have to be careful where and how we plant them and make sure they are not the 'restricted' species. but i love the idea of using them to grow a living arbour or fence...look at these.

used as a living erosion control retainer:

and this delighful post on the permaculture in brittany blog.

our DA is ready to submit

i will never again assume that a development application is a straightforward affair. i shouldn't say that because we haven't even submitted it yet, but the assembling of all the bits was pretty daunting. thanks to the amazingly helpful woman at Taree Council who assured me that i wasn't stupid and that it was hard for everyone. we needed: 6 copies of floorplans, elevations and sections (drawn up by yours truly), 6 copies of site plan including vegetation, neighbour notifications, statement of environmental effects, bushfire plan, septic (which will be a worm farm), geo-tech report, basix certificate etc... anyway it is all done and the fees calculated by the council are reasonable because we are not building a mansion!

contouring

we had 11 days at bobo creek amidst rain, heat, sun and fog. the creek is in good form and was quite high. we get to use our laser level and plot some contour lines using little orange flags that we made with thick wire hoops and orange tape. the contouring is quite easy, using the amazing laser level we bought on ebay for $70! as the top spins it emits a laser beam that in turn is picked up by a receptor that we mounted on an upright spirit level. as it lines up perfectly it lets out a beeping noise and we hammer a little flag into the grass...
the next step is to get a tractor and keyline plough to follow these contour lines. or not. pete has just completed a 3 day workshop with the expert of the keyline - darren doherty and has described ripping slightly off contour to encourage water away from the gullies and to spread it over a slope. all very technical and we have some major decisions to make regarding the purchase of a tractor. the plough we can hire for a few days from the manning valley landcare branch.


and we're concerned with the erosion on the banks of the creek and the fact the the roots of the massive casurinas that line the creek are increasingly exposed by the force of the water during flood. so, following the advice of peter andrews we assisted in the accumulation of logs and branches at places along the length of the creek. in many places there are already heavy trees and logs that have created natural water holes. we are hoping that adding to these places will trap some of the mass of organic matter that gets washed down and that in turn will provide an anchor place for more plants that will further strengthen the banks and slow the flow of the water. ultimately raising the overall water level is a desirable thing according to peter andrews.

away for a few days

pete and i (and jessie of course) are going to bobo creek for more than a week. we can't wait and are taking some more lomandra plants for the dam. i plan to mix up a good batch of compost tea with 'em' and manure and molasses and wee and stuff to put on the dam wall.

there's been a fair bit of rain so we are hoping the cabin is not flooded, and hope even more fervently it doesn't flood while we are sleeping in it.

the car is mostly full of food though, as we take that pretty seriously (!). and i made some eggnog for the evenings, to maintain the festive spirit so to speak.

more importantly we are taking a whole lot of our compost worms to put down the toilet there. the previous paragraph will give them something to live for...

watch this and learn how to save the planet

this is a coool clip, narrated by stephen fry...the message: plant more trees. we say: let more weeds grow too.

failure in copenhagen

we do not have the fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement that millions around the world hoped the world leaders gathered in copenhagen would deliver.

from tck tck tck: "This weekend in Copenhagen, our world leaders failed us. But millions of people around the world have woken to the climate crisis, know that the science is clear and have come together to create a civil society movement the likes of which the world has never seen.

We speak with one voice in response to this climate shame with a mass "home page take-over" of dozens of major websites around the world. Our message is clear: World leaders are not done yet. Neither are we."

george monbiot laments the same old way of treaty-making that failed us yet again. we need a 21st century way of negotiation...george wasn't allowed in to the main forum and spent his time at the alternative one - klimaforum where the emphasis was on stewrdhsip rather than ownership. alas though for the failure of our so-called leaders. george writes:
"Goodbye Africa, goodbye south Asia; goodbye glaciers and sea ice, coral reefs and rainforest; it was nice knowing you, not that we really cared. The governments which moved so swiftly to save the banks have bickered and filibustered while the biosphere burns."

now individual and grassroot action will have to be ramped-up.

new trees and the bad rabbit

reading peter andrews books made me impatient for willow trees on our property. they are very hard to find now, having been ripped out by zealous farmers and councils all over the place. they are a vital species for erosion control and for the general fertility of an area, and do not suck creeks dry as was thought, and do prepare the way (as pioneer species) for things like casurinas... so i found the last in stock from daleys in lismore. it arrived in great condition and i put it outside with some water. an hour later i realised the rabbit had eaten it and left a little stump! aaarrgh. i was so cross. it might recover...