We had an interesting workshop a few weeks ago, on the property of Landcare member, John MacGregor. Thanks to John for letting us on his property and to David Griffith for conducting the workshop.

John has been using a range of techniques to slow down water flowing across his land, in order to decrease erosion in a gully. This is what we learnt:

• ideally adjoining properties (in this case state forest) further up the catchment need to apply the same strategies to slow down flow
• I was surprised that John didn’t need to use logs or fallen trees – branches and sticks were successful
• these techniques can be combined with plantings around the edges of the erosion areas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Great to see the bike ride go off well yesterday. We’ve decided to make it an annual event.

Sunday 8th October 11am
Sawmill Road and Prison Farm Road
If you don’t want to ride, you can meet us at the Kangaroo Hotel in Maldon where we will have lunch before the ride home. We hope to be there by 12.30. Kids are welcome.

Join the Landcare crew this Sunday – 8th October at 11am to ride the bike track from Muckleford to Maldon and back. We hope to have lunch at a pub in Maldon before riding back. A support vehicle will be available.

We will meet on the corner of Sawmill Road and Prison Farm Road – follow Sawmill Road along until you get to the part where the bike track joins it and this is where we’ll leave our cars and start the ride. You get there either from the McKenzie Hill end, or from the Muckleford-Castlemaine Road.

Any problems, call Beth on 0431 219 980

Sunday 24th September 9.30am, 78 Cruits Lane, Muckleford, for a walk and talk on landscape restoration techniques. There will be free plants and free brochures available. See you there. Any queries, phone Beth on 0431 219 980.

Workshop on Sunday 24th September 2017 – Meet at 78 Cruits Lane, Muckleford at 9.30am. We will have a look at some landscape restoration techniques on this property and discuss methods that landholders can use on their own places. Come equipped with any questions you might have as an expert contractor will be available to answer them. You don’t need to RSVP, but you can call Beth on 0431219980 with any workshop queries. We aim to finish by 11.30am.

Join the Friends of Muckleford Forest this Saturday 12 August 4.30-8.30pm to explore stories of fire in our landscape. The event includes visiting a spot in the nearby forest, for readings and to listen to the language of the forest.

Back at the Newstead Railway Arts Hub, Tivey Street, Newstead, with hearty soup in hand, there will be sharing stories and creating some new stories too. Please RSVP to Chris on 5476 2457. https://mucklefordforest.wordpress.com

This journey through place, story, memory, myth and experience is a special event offered by the Talking Fire group as part of Newstead’s Words in Winter. Bring a story to share, torch, folding chair, dress warmly and wear sensible shoes. Car pooling is available to and from the Newstead Hub.

Please note the change of date for the landscape restoration workshop – it has been moved to 23rd September 2017. We will be going to a landholder’s property and looking at techniques that have been used to slow down water moving across the landscape, and the way it has changed the rate of erosion on the creek (amongst other things). More details to follow.

 

Here is the on-line resource that helps support the Indigenous Plants of Castlemaine guide. The on-line guide lists all the native plants in our area, with photographs and descriptions.

Bookmark this site for the upcoming Spring – https://castlemaineflora.org.au