Barbara Alsop Latitude 41"27'31.20"S Longitude 146"22'41.36E Elevation from 228m to 260m balsop@bigpond.com It's over 5 years since we embarked on our journey from the Mainland, via a most memorable ocean voyage down the coast to our 'Island'. Through storms and high seas, some vomited their way down here, while the rest of us stood fast, trying not to get blown over the rails! Truly a trip that is emblazoned in our memories, and reminiscent of my pioneering ancestors. We arrived at the abandoned pig farm, the stench in our nostrils, gazing into the darkness, to wonder where on earth we had landed. After almost burning the house down, by knocking over a heater on the carpet, we slept side by side on mattresses on the floor, huddling for warmth, but glad to be on land....our land. We are surrounded by plantation, hence the website name. I am attempting to identify as many plant species growing in our immediate area as possible. We are trying to balance native flora and fauna with trying to function as a farm. Trying to reclaim the land has been a challenge. We don't want to use pesticides or herbicides any more, after finding that Roundup was pretty useless.... killed any blade of grass that appears, and makes stronger the one you are trying to kill! I am detailing how we have approached some of our problems here, and our successes and failures. |
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It has been a challenge to reclaim this land after years of neglect and damage as a pig farm. Ringbarked trees, both native and introduced species... bare earth.... and pyrethrum running rampant. It took years to overcome the pyrethrum problem, and still the odd plant pops up. After initially trying very unsuccessfully with Roundup... we opted for the non-chemical method of hard labour... pulling each plant out by the roots. It took a few years for the grass to grow in the worst fields, but now they are fully grassed, and we graze cattle and sheep on them. The thistles are still a problem, but regular slashing.... digging them and kicking them out etc is reducing them. The plantations surrounding us have thistles growing  |
 The photo above shows a section of willows (salix fragilis) in winter that have invaded a section of our waterways. We are trying to eradicate them without herbicides. The cattle have been helping by breaking off branches, and eating quite a substantial amount of foliage, which has reduced some of the trees in size. I aim to practice my basket weaving skills with some of the smaller branches as it is supposed to be very good for that. I have tried researching whether the bark and leaves can be used medicinally as the white willow is, but so far it would seem not to be of much use. When the weather improves I will start looking for any younger plants and hand pulling these.  From the photo above it is obvious why the wallabies and kangaroos have become such a problem. They hide amongst these trees during the day, but there is virtually no foraging for them...... they then come out at night and devistate surrounding farms. |
 We have a mix of reeds and bullrushes (Typha latifolia) that clog areas of our dam and creek. We are trying to structure a means of reducing these. Due to the depth of the dam, and the unknown wildlife within, there has been some hesitation to date..... we will be trying to cut them off below surface level as a start, but very difficult in the middle of the dam where it is very deep.  Big on my list has been to improve our own environment. One of my main areas of work has been to reduce the xenoestrogens around us. I have mad a move from plastic storage containers, to predominantly glass and ceramic. I no longer buy tinned products with white lining in them because of the Bisphenol A found in them. I don't buy beef or lamb from the supermarket. We run our own sheep, and are careful what we feed them. I only buy free range chicken that I know hasn't been fed GM product. Any beef I buy comes straight from an abbatoir that we know, are are confident of what the animals have been fed, and how they have been killed. I try to avoid buying any imported meat product, though with the inefficient labelling system we have, this is quite hard sometimes. |
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