A small nursery team kicked off this year’s Climate Ready Revegetation growing season. The group put together the seed mixes which be grown into thousands of plants, grasses and trees in five nurseries across the region. These plants will end up being a part of various projects aimed at increasing habitat connectivity, providing shelter for livestock, habitat for native animal and increase the vegetative biodiversity across the region.  

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The climate ready seed is a selection of species which are expected to thrive in both the current climate in the Yass valley region as well as expected hotter climates (hotter wetter or hotter drier). 

The seed is sourced from a number of different locations (provenance) including locally sourced seed which is mixed together to provide genetic diversity and potential adaptability in different climatic conditions. Geographic spread of the seed ranges from northern NSW through into Victoria. The Climate Ready Revegetation project has 40 species which will be grown this year and each species has an average of five provenance in each mix. 

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All of this seed is germination tested by volunteers prior to being allocated to the nurseries to ensure seed viability and the best chance of growing them successfully. The seed will go on to be treated as needed. Some seeds benefit from being watered in with smoke water, acacia seeds are often scarified (shaken in a jar with sand paper ) and then  treated with hot water overnight before sowing;  other seeds need to be kept in the fridge before sowing; some seeds benefit from sowing during Spring and Summer while others need to be sown in Autumn.

If you’d like to get involved get in touch with your local Landcare group and see any volunteer opportunities they may have coming up. 

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Curious to know what each of the seeds in this picture will grow into? Answer below . . .

Top Left: Acacia melanoxolon - Blackwood Wattle

Top Centre: Allocasuarina littoralis - Black Sheoak

Top Right: Eucalyptus melliodora - Yellow Box

Middle Left: Brachychiton poptneus - Kurrajong

Middle Centre: Cassinia longifolia - shiny Cassinia

Middle Right: Dodoncea viscosa - narrow leafed hop bush

Bottom Right: Daviesia mimosoides - narrow leaf bitter pea

Bottom Centre: Calistemon sieberi - river bottle brush

Bottom Right: Hardenbergia Voliencia - purple coral pea or sarsaparilla

A capacity crowd from babies to grandparents filled the Community Centre on Sunday to hear about all matters insect from 5 expert speakers. Insect Posters, Reference Books, Microscope Views and insect colouring-in pages brought the hall alive.

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First off was Michael Devey from Bindaree Bees, who explained how important bees are to our food supply, to the creation of honey, and to overall ecological health, and people flocked to examine his preserved hive at the end of his talk.

Dr Peter Abbott built on Michaels’ talk, focussing on the abundance of native bee species in our region, helping us to ID them with slides and a brilliant book he has published on native bees in our region. He provided a sample of wild bee honey to taste – delicious.

He also brought with him samples of different bee hotels that people could create for their gardens – and the fun began! Thanks to Jeremy and Kate Wilson, and Glenda Snape, there was an abundance of appropriate materials for children, and adults, to build their own fully functioning Bee Hotel. A treat to take home and observe bee activity through the spring and summer.

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Ying Luo, a PhD researcher from CSIRO, then provided a stimulating and engaging talk on all insects generally, reaching above the chatter of youngsters to fascinate her audience. Fresh from National Science Week, she provided kids with stickers, and insect boxes to take home and begin their own collections.

Somewhere in all of this, the audience was able to partake of morning tea, whilst the children continued to draw, build bee hotels, colour in, and listen!

Dan Meehan gave a riveting explanation of native termites, why they can be such a problem in our buildings – and how to prevent termite attack happening.

The finale was three dedicated members of the ACT Waterwatch team, who set-up outside with samples of Yass River water to examine for water insects. People decanted small amounts of water into old ice-cube containers and marvelled at the diversity and abundance of the water insects zipping around in the water. Shrieks of delight came from youngsters whose water shrimps kept leaping out of the water and onto the table, and somehow had to be skilfully returned to their water home

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It was a great day, with very many thanks to all those from Yass Landcare who helped so much; to Sarah our new YAN Landcare Coordinator for the promotion of the event; and of course to every speaker for their willingness to share their knowledge and enthusiasm. 

Alison Elvin  

Yass Landcare Group

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Recently Elizabeth Goodfellow - member of the Bowning Bookham Landcare Group and YAN Climate Ready Revegetation Project Manager spoke at the ACT Environmental Volunteers Conference. This conference united volunteers, community organisations, experts, and policy makers, fostering idea exchange, experience sharing, and mutual learning. 

Under the theme "Resilient Environments, Resilient Communities," the event delved into innovative approaches, local insights, and cutting-edge research in environmental conservation. It addressed climate change challenges and nurtured a sense of connection with nature. 

Elizabeth was the speaker at the popular session on how the ACT and its surrounding region can become climate ready. Highlighting YANs climate ready revegetation project and how YAN can work together with groups across the region to prepare for the future. 

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More information about the Climate Ready Revegetation Project can be found here

Boorowa Landcare group hosted an inspiring afternoon for regional grazing groups to get their heads together and plan how we can work to help support farmers and graziers. Members of the Bowning Bookham Landcare Group’s Landcare on Farms grazing group ideated with other passionate groups to swap ideas, thoughts and create plans on how we can assist each other in the common goal of caring for the land we work and which supports our agricultural businesses. 

Through collaborative efforts like this we are working together to ensure the food and fibre we are producing from our farms is done in a way which is both sustainable, profitable, and better for the consumer and community as a whole. 

Our Landcare on Farms group has a solid calendar of activities planned for the coming months. If you are interested in joining the Landcare on Farms Group on-farm, please feel free to email [email protected] for all the details. 

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More About the Landcare on Farms group

The Bowning Bookham Landcare group invites farmers and graziers in the district to join the Landcare on Farms group. This is an active and passionate group of farmers who is working and learning together to better their farm businesses, the properties that they run and the landscape as a whole. 

The group meets regularly throughout the year with farm walks and other formal activities and training. The group aims to share ideas, help members plan and manage the upcoming season and provide peer support in decision making and problem solving.