Cath Marriot gives direct seeding a try

21/10/2010

Cath Marriot & family of Tarnook near Baddaggine.

Large 10ha site around an old shire quarry and gravelly outcrop .

Jim Begley DPI Grant

Wide 10 metre spacing between rows. Fencing not completed yet.

Remnant native pastures and mature Eucalyptus blakelyi.

Herbicide had applied the day before & we followed the wheel marks made by the quad bike .

The site was nice and firm but access across the paddocks was a bit hairy. The creeks and wetlands were looking extremely healthy.

Cath lead us around on her quad bike , we had some good chats about mutual friends and farming for biodiversity outcomes.

Pasture Cropping approach to Direct Seeding

21/10/2010

Rob Heal of Euroa is an innovative farmer , also willing to try new stuff !

Pasture cropping and biological farming are his interests.

Site 1 was revegetating along a drainage line .

Site 2 was revegetatiing along an unused lane.

Durringile Prisoners had done the fencing .

Susan Sleigh DPI Grant & Grey Crown Babbler Project .

The method he suggested was slashing away the pasture grass and sowing into the mown strip .

The soil was moist and conditions perfect , as we set off following his tractor.

It will be interesting to see how the Rob Heal Method works .

Wetland Restorations

14/10/2010

Ian & Deb Holmes of Swanpool .

Three site - two wetlands along creeks & dams and one adding to an existing tree plantation.

Sites 2 & 3 were wetland restoration projects .

The sites had been strip sprayed and crash grazed before sowing.

We were mainly adding understorey.

The sites were wet & boggy after recent rain .

We will need to go back to the very wettest parts in early summer to complete the job .

Sowed about 3/4 of each site , on the drier ground.

Deb guided us around the property - checked out the site for the 'Green Haystacks' project ( David Millson will be direct seeding this later in 2010)

Highlights were the rare breed British White cattle and the Jack Russell Terrier puppy who bravely accompanied us .

Balmattum Babbler Site

14/10/2010

Helen McKernan's block between the railwayline and the freeway at Balmattum has valuable remnant mature box trees and fallen timber. These have now been fenced out from stock grazing and we direct seeded understorey back into the site . There are native grass and herbs growing in the site so Helen opted not to spray with herbcide. The site was wet after overnight rain with swampy areas/ remnant creek lines that we needed to avoid. Pastures grasses were long and the soil 'puggy'. ( this is a technical direct seeding term which means mud gets up the seed delivery pipe and blocks it. We need to stop and unplug it with a piece of fencing wire every 100metres !) .

Helen Repacholi DPI Grant.

*The pugging problem has now been solved by grinding back the end of the acacia tube by 45 degrees , the lip no longer catches mud.

Neighbours combine to create extra wide corridor

11/10/2010
Jane Davey and Libby& Roy Search , adjoining landholders in Longwood, have combined to fence 40metres wide each side of a disused lane way , creating an extra wide corridor and habitat for grey crown babblers which have been recorded breeding in the area.
Durringile Prisoners erected the fences.
Susan Sleigh DPI Grant , Grey Crown Babbler project.
Charles boom sprayed both properties and the grass have not quite 'turned' when we were seeding.
Libby came with us in the car to help navigate around the properties and we enjoyed a good chat !
Rain started falling as we were packing up so the seed was off to a good start.

Local Direct Seeding Pioneer

Simon Edwards has been a pioneer of the direct seeding process in the GB , with sites on his property going back 10+ years .

Mixed success rates in the past 5 years ( drought ) Some sites will be resown .

This year we were adding a "North- South corridor going into the paddock , on the Northern Boundary"of his Creighton Siding property near Euroa.

Prisoners from Durringile Prison erected the fences.

Susan Sleigh DPI Grant , Grey Crown Babbler Project .

The site 2.5ha was flat and boom sprayed with herbicide .

Designing a Landscape for Bush Tender

10 October 2010
Cinnamon Cunningham's site at Fawcett out of Alexandra is an interesting project.
Bush Tender Grant through Cath Olive at DPI.
We had sown along parts of the creek line in 2007 but very few plants appear to have successfully germinated so far . The plan is to revegetate most of the 120ha property over a number of years with a combination of hand planting and direct seeding . Cinnamon & David run a few horses , four alpacas and one sheep called "Elliott" so there is plenty of long grass and weed covering the site. Lots of fog grass this year and not so much patto.
Because this was a Bush Tender grant the species mixes were very site specific :White Box Grassy Woodlands , Valley Grassy Forest & Swampy Riparian Woodland in three separate boxes and individual species packets .This meant we could match the seed to the landform we were sowing into and had more scope to design the landscape .
The site had been hand sprayed with herbicide along the contours. The wetter season has meant we arrived later than expected and the sprayed pathways were overgrowing in places .

The site was still boggy and we had to quickly retreat from the spring soak areas.

Scenic Seeding

November 24th 2010
Progress report : 6 weeks after sowing and the first seedlings are coming up .
The Egan site which was ripped and herbicided twice looks the best at this stage.
Natural regeneration of red gums is happening . The combination of large mature red gums &
warm bare moist soil create the idea conditions for forest of eucalyptus to emerge.
This burst of growth brings new management issues.

Richie Site

8th October 2010

The Mansfield District is home to some of our most successful direct seeding sites.
The local landcare groups really promote this type of revegetation .Erica Lowing is the driver of this project , she personally collects the seed used and supervises site preparation.


Shinns Site

Steven Shinns at Mansfield was so impressed with last years site he set aside another 1 ha to be seeded this year. He has beautiful soil with a high clay content . The soil was moist and a bit sticky in places causing plugging . Hillside site Steven herbicided the whole area . Last year the local red gums readily self-seeded in the sprayed parts of the sites . Private contract. Ercia treated the seed the night before , soaking it overnight & drying it with a hair drier.

Egan

Karen Egan at Mansfield , neighbour of Steve and Erica . Again Erica organised the seed and supervised the sowing .Gentle ridge top site of 1 ha. Sown to attract wildlife. Private contract.

The site was totally sprayed and deep ripped prior to sowing.

David Richie of Mansfield , 10ha of steep rocky hilltops. Ungrazed for 2 years , lots of cape weed and pasture grasses. Well prepared site , sprayed twice and just as well . Finding all of the herbicided paths was a challenging maze. This hilltop site provided us with spectactular views of the snow on Mt Buller , the Paps , Strathbogie Ranges , Mt Skien . 360 degree views!

Cath Olive DPI Grant.

Thunder Storm at Dookie .

6th October 2010
Finishing John Hunter's jobs for 2010
John came with us as usual to guide us around the sites , this speeds things up greatly !

• Completed Ian Hammond's roadside strip at Bungeet. The site was now quite firm to drive on , sprayed lines were becoming faint .
• Returned to Graham Reid's at Almonds . Site very well prepared , strip sprayed twice . Seeded along two creek lines . Quite an extensive area.
• Ian McPerson's at Bungalong . Added understorey to remnant bush block . Followed sprayed lines.
• Don Carrmichael's at Dookie . Resowing an unsuccessful remnant bush site ( 'Demonstrate Site ") with understorey . Big thunderstorm and 25mm of rain while working . The seeding trench filled with water immediately , soaking the seed in well .

Dry at Last

After long break due to wet weather , major floods and boggy paddocks we resume seeding .
4th October 2010

• Trish Lele , Locksley . Remnant Box hillock . Beautifully prepared site (10/10 SCORE ) . Strip sprayed twice . Landholders home to show us about . Managed to sow a few lines in an extra remnant tree site with left over seed . Susan Sleigh DPI Grant .




• Warren Ellis , Violet Town . Site 1. along Turnip Creek had been sprayed a fair while ago but was still OK , evidence of recent flooding across site . Site 2. along drainage line / wetland at the back of property still pretty wet , had to hand sow the wettest area near dam . Creek crossing was a bit tricky but we did the job without getting stuck . Grass growth in paddock amazingly good , crop growth amazingly poor - too wet. Helen Repacholi DPI Grant .





• Greg Ellis , Violet Town . Roadside plantation , very narrow , private contract . No gate into plantation so we had to cut the fence !

Sunny Yarrawonga

2nd August 2010
Second Day Direct Seeding with John Hunter.DPI Grants

• Graham McInnes , Yarrawonga . Resow a failed site amongst murray pines ( 2004 )Cropping Farm with sandy soil . Site totally sprayed with a fair it of rabbit activity evident .
• Mick and Jane Griffin , Lake Rowan . Adding understorey to Remnant Vegetation patch and sowing along a dry drainage line / creek . Site sprayed in strips.
• Ian Hammond , Bungeet. 5ha block , quite wet and boogy , some 'pugging' problems. Need to return when drier.
• Peter White , BoomahnoomoonahTouch up job on last year's site , a few more lines of understorey added with some seed John had . No payment .

Alexandra Autumn Sowing

21st May 2010
Cath Olive DPI Grant
Simone Elliott - Eildon Rd out of Alexandra.
This site had the potential to get very swampy over Winter so we got onto the site after the autumn break . Sticky clay soil .Tussocks , Slopping site . To be sprayed after we seeded. .8ha .

Autumn Sowing Trial

26th April 2010
Wilkinsons Lane Euroa
First direct seeding job of 2010 was at Jill & Mals place .
Admired the new eco-friendly house being constructed. This was a private contract to sow roadside screening. Mature roadside trees , grey box and hill redgum could affect success . Site preparation was good . The whole site had been herbicided . Sowed 3 rows 350 metres long . Soil dry but rain expected . We supplied and treated the seed .

A day with John Hunter

Our aim is to get the northern most sites sown earliest in the season .
This often depends on how prepared the landholders are. Site preparation is important.
In cropping areas at least one application of herbicide before seeding is vital .
12/7/2010

• Peter Ryan's site along a drainage line at Canniambo was well prepared ( flooding in September may have washed the seed away)
• Hamish Carrmichael at St James had sprayed his 2 sites just before we arrived , we followed faint wheel tracks . These were reseeded after failure in the dry season of 2006. A few hop bushes and mallee wattles had made it . Murray Pine sand dune and previously cropped roadside reserve.
• Ruth Horton at Cosgrove - rehabilitated quarry site with some tree regeneration , no herbiciding , rocky, we added understorey only .

'Molliacca' at Pylong

Record for most seed sold to a single project , $22,000 worth

DPI Peter Mitchell EMI Grant

An early autumn break and Wills urgency to get thick habitat established quickly ( fox hunting season ) prompted us to get started early on this site.

Seed sown at higher rate of 300gms per Km ( added extra silver wattle from personal supplies )

' Molliacca ' 555 West Rd Pylong .
21/6/2010 Day 1 Site 1 = 8 ha sprayed and ripped .

22/6/2010 Day 2 Sites 4a & 5= 14 ha sprayed and ripped

65mm rainfall

28/6/2010 Day 3 Sites 6B & 4 = 12ha ripped not sprayed yet . Got bogged once .

5/7/2010 Day 4 Site 6 = 11ha not ripped or sprayed yet .

EVC seed mixes:

Damp Sands Herb Rich Woodland , Swampy Riparian woodland, Valley Grassy Forest