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 .

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 .