Oldmeadow Dog 2009

The Oldmeadow site is in the beautiful Samaria Valley on rich volcanic soils.

This site was in 3 sections and was well prepared -totally herbicided by a spray contractor.

Some hand planting of eucalypts was planned for after the direct seeding.

There were rabbits living in the site , the small terrier was onto them !

Randon lines were requested. 4ha.

Helen Repacholi DPI Grant .

First Ready but Last Sown

11/11/2010

Helen Repacholi DPI Grant

Samaria road , Benalla.

Wet ground has prevented us from getting onto this site since June !!!

Finally nearly 5 months later we were able to sow seed in Sarah's site . We had visited the site three times earlier to check the conditions , today it was dry but up to 150mm of rain is predicted for tomorrow .

This site was beautifully prepared - sprayed three times.

It was a roadside corridor in 2 sections totalling 5ha.

We sowed 4 rows in the north section & 6 rows in the south section.
Recent floods had covered most of the site .

Over- hanging river red gums will probably have taken advantage of the wet conditions and will naturally regenerate .

Pasture growth in the adjoining paddocks was amazing.We could barely see the sheep for the grass.

Grasshoppers / Locusts seemed attacted to the bare, sprayed soil .I hope this was not a bad sign .

Barjarg Beauty

24/11/2010

Cockies root up directing site !

Revisited Rosie's site with Jim nearly 4 weeks after sowing and found an unusual thing happening. While she was away on holiday cockatoos had turned over all the soil in the direct seeded scalped trench . They were digging out the dead onion grass bulbs to eat. Loose soil was scuffed all over the place burying the tiny seedlings in many places. I suspent the cockies may have been eating the germinating seeds as well . The fog grass had been slashed from between the rows. We observed a smattering of germinated wattles and hope that more seeds will survive the cockatoo attack. Rosie says they arrive in flocks of 100+birds.

28/10/2010

Rosie B. at Barjarg near Mansfield .

1.4 ha of valley grassy forest

100% Understorey species only . Hand planted overstorey .

Helen Repacholi DPI Grant

This well prepared site had been strip sprayed twice .

This site has been very wet all season .

Justus got bogged at the back of the dam today , luckily John and Trish were able to pull him out with their trusty little Subaru.

The site was dominated by fog grass .

Helen's Last Bloke

22/10/2010

Helen's Last Bloke of the day was Alan at Warrenbayne.

2.4ha site . Resowing of an earlier job done in 2007 . Alan said the seed germinated well then the plants looked sick and died after a few months . He felt frost may have caught them in late spring . The only plants surviving were Acacia genistifolias which are normally slow to generinate so maybe they missed the frost . These were now 2 metre tall

This site was sprayed a few days earlier and the grass was still long. Fog grass dominated.

There was no gate into the plantation so Justus cut the fence then rejoined it !

( Tom Mahers seed went into this site )

We knocked off at 7.30pm after a long day visiting 5 properties. ( this is a Hagen record )

Yet another one of Helens Blokes.

22/10/2010

Peter Lloyd , Samaria

5ha of direct seeding along the Blind Creek

plus a private job sowing down a narrow plantation along a boundary fence.

Helen Repacholi , DPI grant .

High quality fencing . Totally herbicided.

The Blind Creek flooded in September covering most of the area we were sowing ( If we had sown earlier the seed would washed away )water was still laying around in places.

This farmer was a serious operator , big developments were happening on this place as you can see from the photos.

Another of Helens Blokes

22nd October

Anthony Bailey of Tatong .

This site did not qualify for a DPI grant , so Anthony ordered his own seed and contracted us to sow it. Unfortunately Anthony was working at his Berrigan property on the day we visted but we spoke many times on the phone .

Helen was very organised with a timetable and map drawn up for day , (to make best use of our time) , and her picnic basket packed.

Small site along a roadside .

Fully herbcided and grazed .

Fence not completed but marked.

The landholder wanted 'swirly' lines to create a more natural effect.

Soil a little dry and even dusty in a few spots. This site was too wet to get onto athe week before !

Helen's Bloke number 2

Ian Cuming . Tatong

Helen Repacholi DPI Grant

A long 2.5ha site adjacent to the Benalla -Tatong roadside.

Site sprayed twice with herbicide.

Soil condition on the site excellent , moist and warm .

Paddock access boggy ( as can be seen from the photo )

Local CFA man visits to inform us we are sowing a north - south ' wick for fire' .

Ian assured him access gates for fire trucks will be (have been ) installed where appropriate.

Helen asserted that formal discussions on a regional CFA level about corridors and revegetations projects have taken place.

Four rows were sown . Understorey only in the first three rows .

Overstorey & understorey in the row nearest the paddock fence .

Gaps for Power lines and road access .

There is a high potential for natural recruitment of red gum from the roadsides given the favourable seasonal conditions . This will need to be monitored.

Helen's Blokes . Number 1

22/10/2010

Bob Whytlaw of Tatong.

Resowing of a 'failed' site done last year .

Bob reported that plants germinated then went black and died . He is worried so we a seeding it again at no cost to the landholder. Helen & I checked it earlier in the year and decided to put some more seed in . I hope it comes good this time !

1ha of riparian woodland.

Stock have been excluded .

The strips had been strayed twice .

Soil moisture was excellent.

The red gums are regenerating well on their own , we added 400 gms of understorey .

Bob is one of Helen's favourite blokes and she guided us to his site .

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.

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 !