Pine Hill Workshops Now On

 Hello again!

It's a very busy time at Pine Hill with school holidays and the Berragoon Production Sale coming up this weekend, and now we are planning our first Regenerative Equine Property workshops! This is very exciting as we are finally able to offer our acquired knowledge and experience to more people. I have put up a link and poster on our website, so check it out if you're interested.

The rehabilitated creek area is now pretty finished and it has really taken off! Full of literally dozens of different grasses, herbs, shrubs, trees and packed with birds and wildlife, it is a very important part of the farm already. It is clear that this area is going to be a literal seed bank for native grasses throughout the property and the water coming down the creek is beautiful.

Kangaroo Grass in the foreground, the creek gorge behind

Strong growth!

Waist high grasses

The grass growth in this most excellent spring and summer season has been nothing short of phenomenal. The grasses are greatly varied and about 95% natives, growing waist high and dense down in the 'bottom' area that has been badly eroded over the years.

The question will be how to manage these grasses in the coming dry seasons, particularly in relation to fire risk. We are keen to explore 'cool burning' practices so watch this space as we make some connections and learn more.

Erosion in the bottom area has been challenging to manage and halt. We started by filling eroded sections with offcuts of timber and branches from tree-fall clearing - even the yearly Christmas tree goes into the gully! This has certainly helped to slow the running water and allowed silt and other debris to build up and 'choke' the fast-flowing water, however the waterfall areas are still doing significant damage and forming deeper and deeper ponds. 

You can see the in the photographs above how the new grasses are holding the banks together. Keeping all stock off this area has been vital to giving the plants and grasses the chance to hold the soil together.

The 'bottom' section - effectively a grass lane now.

This photograph on the left shows an area of ground that had been heavily infested with Capeweed a couple of months ago. Capeweed hates hot temperatures and always dies off by late spring, leaving bare patches of earth - the most problematic part! You can see native grasses encroaching on this area, thought, and the mulch left from the dead Capeweed is very useful in providing nutrients for the soil microbiome.

There is no need to spray Capeweed if it is not completely dominating your pasture - it will die off in due course.

I will post another section after the Berragoon Sale (8-10 January - check out Elite Livestock Auctions for the auction info!) focusing on the eroded 'pond' we have worked hard to re-vegetate and rehabilitate. It's quite a changed area!