Beechworth Urban Landcare and Sustainability

by Gabrielle Prior

This is one of the catch phrases I will probably remember from a seminar I went to on 8th August. I was lucky enough to spend the whole day listening to and learning from Joel Salatin from Polyface farms in the US. What an inspiring day, and just what I needed in the middle of winter to get revved up to do “better” in the garden and with the land next year. Are you with me seemed to be a favourite phrase to make sure we were all keeping up with where he was heading… as he often headed off on many tangents before tying them all together for the “aha” moment.

My head is still buzzing with everything I saw and heard, but in particular I was really inspired by the way they used and re-used everything, and how they stacked and layered animals on the farm to reduce pathogens, and make the most of every input and output they have. I learned a lot about soils too, and making the most of any microclimates you have around.

Joel has a particularly pragmatic approach to farming in my view – he declares himself a capitalist (among other things) and made no apologies for wanting to make money from his farming, and get the best return from any investments he makes in infrastructure. Another phrase that made me laugh in this respect was “It’s easier to pick a man’s pocket when you’re hugging him” – used when illustrating the point that he doens’t mind if the “dot-com boomers” come in and buy their “land yachts” as he called them and then want to buy chickens – he’s happy to raise and sell them to them.

What is refreshing for me though is that none of this capitalism comes at the cost of animals – all the animals get to express their innate traits, and more than once he referred to them as co-labourers – using pigs to plough and help regenerate pastureland as well as aerating compost, rabbits and chickens and turkeys as lawnmowers etc.  It is a highly managed system – cows are moved daily – but just looking at the quality of his grasslands (which were the worst farmlands around 50 years ago), and the fast regeneration once animals are moved, it clearly works. His farm also generates enough income to employ 1 person per 25 acres. I suspect many farmers would be pretty happy with that kind of return. Even more inspiring is all of this he’s done in a  climate that has more extreme temperatures then I have here (+40 to -20), and less average rainfall.

Of course there was a lot more in the day’s talks and Q&A sessions, like

• all about herbivores (well, he is a cow man!)
• how to beat the “food police”
• how to develop an enterprise that’s easy to scale up and scale down
• how to get into farming with no capital and no debt / raising the next generation of farmers
• the importance of diversity in creating a stable ecosystem
• a very entertaining introduction about how we all feel we’re worse of than everyone else / how it “won’t work for me”

I was, however most inspired by his obvious enthusiasm and passion – particularly as he had been in Australia for 7 days and this was his 6th seminar. However it certainly didn’t show – there was no sense that he was jaded / tired or just rattling off “the same old story”. He was lively, witty, funny, engaging and passionate. And not a blind passion either, but an informed passion, as he clearly reads widely and is able to draw on many sources for information.  He’d definitely make the guest list of my fantasy dinner party, and I really hope I have the chance to see him again next time he comes out. If I was 20 years younger I’d be tempted to try and get an internship on the farm, just for the experience! I don’t necessarily agree with everything he said, and I’m still thinking about some things, but I can’t argue that he is the most morally/ethically grounded capitalist I’ve ever come across , and I guess that was the real core appeal for me about him. His system is on that satisfies me on both an ethical and a ‘real world’ level.

If you’re interested in learning more about his methods you can visit the website, and there are some clips on YouTube – and I also recommend another blog I read – Throwback at Trapper Creek, where you can read about and see many of his ideas in action – not to mention some very fine recipes for pies and muffins!

by Charlie Robinson

I am living proof that good luck will always compensate for stupidity and ineptitude.  In my last article I bewailed my inability to produce even one drop of apple juice, despite a considerable investment in time, money, and expletives.  Good luck came in the guise of my inventive brother-in-law who just happened to have a pork mincer, with attached electric motor, lying around the shed (as you do).  Now, this pork mincer performs the task of apple scratting to perfection.  It looks like an over-sized meat mincer and seems custom made for the task at hand.

The quartered apples are simply shoved into the top chute and a knurled shaft forces the pieces through a sieve into the bucket at just the right consistency for pressing.  The scratted apples are then placed into the press and compressed by hardwood blocks and the juice escapes through slats into the base which then flows into another bucket.  A washing basket full of apples takes about an hour to scrat and press.  This is enough to produce 25 litres of juice which I leave for a couple of days, skim off the floating residue, and pour into a fermenting vessel.  After adding yeast and a kg of sugar, a lid with airlock is screwed on and the action commences.  Before long you can see the gas bubbling through the airlock and you know that fermentation is happening.

Once the bubbling has ceased, between 7 – 10 days, you can then bottle the fermented juice.  At this stage the liquid smells and tastes a bit rough but I’m assured that the taste will improve in the bottle over the next 3 – 6 months.  I will be calling on “guinea pigs” around September to verify this. Initial reaction from a few friends has been favourable and it’s certainly a huge improvement on the apple scrumpy I purchased at a fair in Oxfordshire a few years ago.

Cypress hedge

Not everything we’ve done on our property has flirted with disaster.  Our initial decision to plant a Lleylandii cypress hedge around the perimeter of our property was a good one.  We had achieved great results with these trees on our previous property in Bungendore and were keen to repeat the success.

Lleylandii cypress receives lots of bad press but I believe this is not the tree’s fault but the people who plant them.  Nurseries market them as hedging plants when they are actually massive trees when grown to maturity – the trick is to keep them under control early and they are quite compliant to the secateurs.

I’ve limited the height of the hedge to 3 metres and the width to 2 metres.  Although the hedge is still young, this year many of the trees reached their intended height so I simply snipped them off at 3 metres.  This cut will still be visible next year when I trim them back again.

Our decision not to plant a native hedge was an easy one.  There are several varieties of acacia that will do a similar job, and grow more quickly, but they have a limited life span.  The last thing I want to do when I’m seventy is to replace all 240 trees in the hedge.  Callitris are more long-lived but don’t provide the vegetative density I was looking for. There is a long row of dead Lleylandii near the White Spot (Everton) turnoff on the Wangaratta Road, evidence of the severity of the big dry.  However, I have found them to be extremely drought-resistant (more so than some eucalypt species) and there are several examples of long Lleylandii hedges throughout Indigo Shire, but they won’t survive months of no watering.

Cast iron stove

Many people reading this were brought up with a cast iron stove as the centrepiece of the kitchen.  We bought a new one when we moved into our home and this was a good decision.  It’s so nice to have a large container of soup bubbling away when it’s cold and wet outside while the kettle is always ready for a cuppa.

Maintenance is a breeze and we just wipe the stove with a paper towel and vegetable oil every few weeks to maintain its black colour.   The wood ash is used around our fruit trees and we‘ve never had to buy wood as there is always branches falling across nearby roads or neighbours looking to clear vegetation.   The stove prefers smaller limbs so we can use our fruit tree prunings as well. We also appreciate the stove’s ability to support the solar hot water system on those long overcast weeks when the sun’s power is compromised.  With the cost of electricity continuing to rise, of all our sustainability initiatives the stove gives us the greatest piece of mind.

Next time, I’ll continue to describe the continued successes and failures of our Fighting Gully Road venture.

By Charlie Robinson

Was it Kermit who sang “it aint easy being green”?  Most of the time I would dispute Kermit’s assertion but there are times when things don’t go exactly according to plan.

Here are a random collection of initiatives we have undertaken that have had their ups and downs.

Cider Making No matter how badly I construct something, I want it to last, just so future archaeologists can marvel at the ineptitude of 21st Century humanity.  A case in point is my cider press.  Cider presses are usually made to withstand a lot of hard work and mine is no exception.  The press was bought locally and is exceedingly heavy with lots of cast iron pieces that wouldn’t seem out of place on a steam engine.  I then proceeded to build an equally massive table to support the press with steel girders for legs and several hardwood planks measuring 200mm X 45mm.  The planks were screwed to the girder supports by 12mm galvanised bolts, the table was then bolted to the concrete floor with eight dynabolts and then the press was secured to the table with even more 12mm bolts.

Having perused many books on cider-making I had not seen a more solid construction and I fantasised about the years of cider making in front of me.  I visualised large groups bringing their containers while raw apple juice cascaded into empty vessels to be converted into cider and vinegar.

Yeah, right!  On the day of the first pressing I arranged tables on which the apples would be washed and prepared prior to receiving the attention of the press.  Boxes of pink lady apples waited expectantly in rows waiting for their magical conversion into juice.  Fay and I then chopped the apples into fine pieces, loaded the press as high as we could, and proceeded to turn the large steel arm which compressed specially-cut timber to squash the apples into juice.  We turned and turned until we could compress the apples no further and waited for the juice to flow.

Nothing happened. Rapidly retiring to our library to refer to our various texts on the subject, we discovered we had overlooked one vital step – scratting.  Scratting is not an initiation ceremony for Duntroon cadets but refers to the process of pulping the apples prior to pressing.  In the absence of a suitable scratting machine I commenced to pulverise the apples with a meat tenderiser but this method proved to be disappointing.

Subsequent research has uncovered locally-made scratters, powered by electricity, to retail for around $1700 so the search continues for a more-viable option.  Hopefully I’ll have better news next time.

Produce cellar When you have the potential to produce literally tonnes of fruit and vegetables over the growing period, you need a suitable space in which to store this bounty.  We have converted a concrete water tank for this purpose but, despite foil and fibreglass insulation and heat-resistant paint, the internal temperature still rises to 29 degrees C when it is 46 degrees C outside.  This is fine for most things but not fruit and vegetables.

An in-ground cellar should maintain a constant year-round temperature of 16 – 17 degrees C which adds significantly to the shelf life of perishable foods.

So, with the naivety of old age (you may describe this as dementia) I commenced construction.  When I say “I”, I mean a massive excavator which tore large chunks out of the ground like a hungry dinosaur.  This machine was filling a large truck every five minutes and, before long, the hole was completed and the reinforced concrete slab was laid.

I had noticed that the waterproof membrane which was supposed to be laid under the slab (and carried up the sides of the excavation) had been forced under the slab during the pour and this rang alarm bells but it was too late to rectify.  I attempted to circumvent possible ingress of water into the cellar by running a continuous roll of 500mm wide aluminium/bitumen dampcourse around the base of the wall, I added a waterproofing compound to my mortar mix, I also painted the outside face of the wall with bitumen paint, and (finally) clad the entire wall with a double layer of waterproof membrane.  All no good.   After the inside walls were painted, the excavation was backfilled, and the roof was poured, I waited with trepidation for the first rain and (sure enough) there was water on the cellar floor.  Not much, but enough to make me install the shelving on a course of bricks to prevent the timber from rotting.

We will find a solution to both the apple scratting and the wet cellar because problem-solving seems to be the key to succesful self-sufficiency.

Next time, I will relate how we think we have solved the rabbit problem.  Stay tuned.

by Charlie Robinson Most high rise office blocks are equipped with speakers that transmit a form of subliminal static termed “white noise”.  This enables office workers to conduct conversations at reasonable volumes without distracting everyone on their particular floor.

Unfortunately, the media creates its own white noise in the form of newspaper articles and programs that distract people from the really important issues, such as the survival of the planet.  The Global Financial Crisis, Paris Hilton’s newest car, and the latest blockbuster movie, are all examples of this white noise.

Consider this. A recent Met Office report to the British Government predicts that the planet will heat up by 4 degrees C within the next 50 years.  This analysis is supported by the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) who stated on the ABC’s 7:30 Report that the planet is warming at the upper end of predictions and, at current trends, will reach 6.4 degrees C by 2100.

At the same time, Dr. Megan Clark (CSIRO Chief Executive) has warned that the world must produce as much food in the next 50 years as it has since the dawn of humanity to feed our growing population. Does anyone see the contradictions in these two paragraphs?

Thawing permafrost in Siberia is liberating mammoth remains that is exciting some scientists as they seek clues that may warn of human extinction. Unfortunately, thawing permafrost is also evidence that catastrophic amounts of helium could be released into the atmosphere, and soon.  Helium is far more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2 and its release will seriously exacerbate an already precarious scenario.  As Greens senator Christine Milne has stated in her June 17, 2009 speech to the National Press Club, once this release occurs “all bets are off as far as global warming is concerned”.

I mentioned in a previous article that New Scientist magazine expects that a 4 degree rise in global temperatures will wipe out 6 billion people and leave remnant populations on northern Siberia, Scandinavia and Antarctica.

So where’s the outrage?  Where’s the sensational headlines? Where’s the concerned politicians outlining their tactics to overcome this crisis?  On page 16 after the report on the latest pain free diet!

It’s blindingly obvious that you and I can no longer sit back and hope that “someone else” will fix the problem.  I predict that the Copenhagen climate summit will not produce the necessary strategies to ensure the survival of humanity beyond the next half century.  Therefore, everyone will need to bear the burden of producing food and ensuring , wherever practicable, their own water security.  We need to prioritise our time and spend a lot more of it developing coping and adaptive strategies for the extremely harsh conditions that we will face in the near future.  If Beechworth is already experiencing 46 degree summer days with less than one degree of warming, how will we fare with two degrees, then three?

One of the aims of Beechworth Sustainability is to provide people with the necessary tools to adapt to a rapidly-changing environment. These tools include the ability to grow your own food, conserve water, improve energy efficiency around the home, and to adopt alternative power sources.  Please refer to the calendar on this website for some exciting events in October and November and we can be sure of a dynamic program in 2010.

Is it an impossible dream to have a water tank, a vegetable garden, and a solar power system in every residence in Beechworth?  This should be an achievable aim but, in the end, the choice is yours.  Just don’t be beguiled by the white noise.

By Charlie Robinson

I’m tiring of the word “sustainability”.  It must be one of the most over-used words in our lexicon and every politician and company executive must be on a mission to include this word in at least every second sentence or press release.

I watch “lifestyle” shows that describe the construction of so-called sustainable homes where the owners have gone into crippling bank debt, family borrowings and maxed-out credit cards to pay for it.  Sustainable? Hardly. Sustainability should include financial factors as well as other impacts when describing an entity, whether it be a building or a way of life.

When accepting two recent awards on behalf of Beechworth Sustainability, I mentioned that even our title is purely aspirational and bears no resemblance to the lifestyles of its members or those who we seek to motivate and inspire. All of us waste too much water, use too much power, and drive cars as if our oil supplies were as abundant  as our coal reserves.  On the other hand, we do very little to store and conserve our water, few of us grow our own fruit and vegetables, and we are only just beginning to realise the benefits of solar and other alternative energies.

Since my article on food shortages in our region (June 2009), the big dry has claimed the bulk of this year’s wheat and canola crops in western Victoria and NSW (for some farmers, the tenth consecutive failure), and the Victorian dairy industry is on the brink of collapse following poor rainfalls and crippling commodity prices.  A local politician recently speculated that we may soon be importing our whole milk from New Zealand.

Australia’s population rises by around 500,000 people a year, Melbourne has 1700 new residents per week and our politicians talk about sustainable growth when water and food supplies, globally and locally, are declining (in some instances, rapidly).  While Kenya, where 4 million people are on the verge of starvation and their local politicians are in denial (sound familiar?),  may be the canary in the coal mine of the impending global food catastrophe, I see no affirmative action to support Australian farmers and to encourage greater agricultural innovation.  On the contrary, the ACC C seems to favour  the dumping of excess foreign production into Australia, at the expense of local producers, while investment into agricultural research is declining.

Where is the investment in renewable energy?  ABC’s Four Corners program of 14 September revealed the futility of the government’s investment in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology and the very next day the largest solar power array in Australia went into receivership – what an unfortunate juxtaposition of events.  Sustainable energy?  Phooey!!

Despite the bleeding obvious evidence of our demise into potential chaos, I see very little corresponding evidence that people are “joining the dots” and taking the hard decisions necessary for their future survival. I continue to see overseas holidays, new cars, and plasma TVs taking precedence over water tanks, solar power systems, and fruit and vegetable gardens.  The only ray of hope I’ve witnessed lately is the news that chickens have doubled in price on the back of increased demand for backyard chook runs, even in Melbourne.  And Yates announced a few months ago that the sale of their vegetable seeds had risen 35% – pity they’re now owned by Monsanto!

If you’re taking the high moral ground because you’ve converted to low wattage light bulbs or low flow shower heads, you may be smoking hemp rather than wearing it – the changes we are all required to make to survive will need real sacrifice (even foregoing the third car) and commitment.  This means setting financial priorities which may require keeping the old banger for one more year and buying a water tank instead, or (heaven forbid) delaying the holiday in Acapulco and using the savings to purchase a solar hot water system.  It amazes me that people will incur debts of $30,000 or more to buy the latest Commodore but flinch at purchasing a grid-connect PV system because the Government rebate has reduced.

Finances are hardly an issue with growing your own food – next month our group will be conducting its annual seed swapping day. Keep an eye on our calendar for more details.  Our tomato seedlings are doing well and should be ready to plant outside once the danger of frosts has passed.  These seeds were saved from last year’s plantings of heritage tomatoes and we can continue this practise in perpetuity.  You can do the same with peas, beans, capsicums, carrots, brassicas and corn.  Once you can grow your own food, and swap seeds with your friends and neighbours, you are well on the way to real sustainability.

By Charlie Robinson

For Fay and I, becoming as self-sufficient as possible has always been our objective.  In terms of growing our own vegetables we have fed ourselves for the majority of each year for the last twenty years.

We’ve always kept chickens and managed to supply ourselves, and our friends and neighbours, with fresh eggs for a similar period. However, we have consistently baulked at the thought of killing anything to provide a sustainable supply of animal protein.  We have preferred to let “someone else” process our meat for us. All of our previous chickens, even the roosters, have died of old age well after their productive lives were over.  We even kept a sheep that lived for about fifteen years.

The knowledge and skills associated with meat processing were commonplace in my parent’s generation, but over the last forty or so years, the emergence of supermarkets has superseded these fundamental tools.

We can expect the world’s stocks of oil to diminish rapidly in the next decade and, with oil’s demise, the availability of many of the foods we take for granted from the supermarket shelves. Hence the need to revert to the knowledge of our ancestors.

Chickens are a wonderful resource for anyone – witnessing their daily routines, both singularly and collectively, is a source of great entertainment; six hens can provide enough eggs for most households from Spring until Autumn; they can dispose of most food waste; and they can clean up pests from around your orchard.

If you have a rooster, you will invariably get chickens – some of whom will also be roosters.  Too many roosters will fight amongst each other and molest the other hens continually.  A cull is required, in which you can transform a problem into a solution (free meat). I don’t think killing animals is a job for amateurs, so we called upon a chicken-breeding relative to provide us with the necessary expertise. Once having caught the condemned birds, each rooster was beheaded with a sharp tomahawk.  This task wasn’t as problematic as I anticipated but may be initially confronting to some people.

The carcasses were then immersed in hot water.  We had an eighteen litre cast iron pot for this purpose which we heated on the cast iron stove for about three hours.  This provided enough hot water to process five birds.  After immersion, the feathers were removed very easily and I was surprised that this task could be completed so quickly.

Removing the bird’s innards was challenging and you need a very sharp knife to make the necessary cuts and incisions. The birds feet were first severed by cutting at the knee joint. By careful slicing around the vent, the innards could be removed but it took longer than we thought and required a deal of physical effort – our trainers made it look easy so it’s really only a matter of practice and experience.  The feet were then cleaned and the outer skin and toenails removed.  Apparently chook’s feet are a delicacy and I’ll report back on our verdict.  The crop was then dissected, all the sand and little stones removed, and then peeled – the crop can be diced and used in soups and stews. Once everything was removed, the carcasses were thoroughly washed in cold water and stored in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then into the freezer.

The total time taken to process five birds was approximately one hour and will be much quicker with greater expertise.  The learning experience was highly significant for us in our quest for self-sufficiency and we will soon be turning our attentions to another likely food source, the rabbit.

Stay tuned!

by Fleur Stelling

I write in response to your article Charlie – we shall have to agree to disagree! I think it is not a question of natives versus exotics, rather, our challenge is figuring our how best to use both!

This is about how to live safely, sustainably and productively in our challenging Australian environment, with the threat of a changing climate. We can do this by finding places for both exotic and native species, in designs that consider fire danger, and constraints such as lack of water. It is an imperative that we value and use all the species available to us (native and exotic), so we can maximise our future options.

Indigenous plants are of huge value to us, as they are part if the biodiversity which underpins the ecological processes, which make life on earth possible. Such processes include the provision of fresh air, clean water, nutrients and pollination. Australia is one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, home to over one million species, most of which are endemic (occur no where else), including 85% of our flowering plants and 84% of our mammals…we need to value this wonderful and unique flora and fauna! If we do not value our native plants, we shall end up turning this country into another non-descript ‘somewhere else’…it is our local plant communities that lend our places their unique character and feel.

Eucalypts are generally highly flammable and not a good choice for a small garden, but they form the basis of many of our ecosystems – plant communities which are pretty extraordinary in how they have adapted so successfully to poor nutrient soils and dry climates. The view that eucalypts damage our ecosystems is poorly informed. Eucalypts are an intrinsic part of our ecology and have co-evolved with a rich diversity of other species in the upper, middle and understoreys. They play a vital role in the sustaining ecology of this country.

Our challenge is to learn to live in this Australian environment of high fire danger and low nutrient soils. While eucalypts and many other native species are obviously not directly useful to us as food plants, we would be wise to nurture areas of native vegetation and bushland for our broader landscapes to function and be resilient for whatever climate change is in store for us. To give us an inkling of the complex nature of our local bushland and all its diverse ecological workings, consider this: around Beechworth, there are over 250 indigenous plant species, about 20 species of mammals, around 130 bird species and about 20 reptile species.

In every district our wildlife depends on our bushland. By including an element of indigenous revegetation on our properties, we nurture our local ecology. It makes sense to plant these zones further out from our houses where fire hazard may be our primary concern. We can follow permaculture design principles of planting most used food plants (vegetables and herbs) closest to our houses, followed by fruit trees and berries etc. This also makes sense from a fire danger viewpoint.

Indigenous species are a first choice for broadscale land repair by landcarers because:

• They have adapted to our low nutrient soils;
• Provide wonderful habitat for our local wildlife;
• They can recover after being burnt;
• Can cope with local frosts and most other extremes, and
• They help shore up our ailing remnant native vegetation.

Also, most local eucalypts also provide first rate firewood, such as yellow box, red box and red gum. Regarding hardiness, indigenous plants in the heart of their range are very good bets – a future climate may see changes in suitability of indigenous species on the edge of their range, such as Blackwoods in Wooragee. Many exotic species are also hardy – look no further than our grandmothers’ rain-fed gardens for proof of that. We can experiment to find the ones suitable for our places. While exotics can also provide habitat for native birds, they may also provide habitat for birds we may not really want, such as masses of starlings and sparrows in oak trees.

I don’t know of anyone around these parts so mad about natives that they cultivate a bush food garden and survive off bush tucker! I do know a lot of people trying hard to maintain what is left of our local bush and nurture it by revegetating with indigenous species. Chances are these same people are pretty keen on trying to grow a lot of their own food…vegies, fruit, berries, chooks, sheep, goats, cows. To me, this is all part of ‘the good life’.

So, here’s to lots of diversity…a place for our local plants, for other native plants and of course for all the useful exotic species, which together, will perhaps make our ability to adapt to future climate change feasible.

by Charlie Robinson

I can’t honestly say I’ve ever been really hungry, let alone starving.  Sure, there have been times when circumstances meant that I missed a couple of meals and I had that gnawing feeling which precipitates lurid culinary fantasies. But not starving.

During the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad following Germany’s ill-fated invasion of Russia during World War Two, some parents ate their children, some children ate their parents, and many other people were killed and eaten by the starving citizenry. This demonstrates of the extremes people will sink to, in response to starvation.  A citizen of Sydney or Melbourne is only four days from starvation if our transport infrastructure fails and people will resort to extreme behaviour to stay alive – read the book, “Alive”, about the Andean plane crash of thirty years ago if you want some graphic imagery!

An old mate of mine was a German POW after the battle of Crete and he told me of surviving by living on cockroaches for extended periods. I take it from these examples that real starvation, and not simply skipping morning tea, is not a condition that I wish to experience.

But that may change.

Starvation caused from climate change is already happening in northern Africa and could be a global reality within a decade.

Think it couldn’t happen here? Don’t be so sure. Consider these current scenarios:

Penny Wong is inviting farmers in the Sunraysia region to sell their permanent water entitlements to the Federal Government.  For many farmers, battling increasing aridity and decreasing water allocations, this offer is too good to refuse.  However, part of the condition of sale is that farmers must pull out their existing crops (usually wine grapes, table grapes, or oranges) and the accompanying irrigation infrastructure, at their own expense.  So where will our food come from?

Last month, a number of Victorian peach growers were left to ponder their future following SPC-Ardmona’s decision to slash its annual canning peach intake by up to a quarter. Like their Sunraysia cousins, they too have suffered from The Big Dry, not to mention hail and frosts (which, in October 2006, caused millions of dollars damage).  Those growers affected by the cannery’s decision will have no option but to bulldoze their trees.  So where will our food come from?

In January this year, potato growers in the Casterton region predicted that extreme temperatures caused by climate change would render this historic potato-growing region unviable for future production.  So where will our food come from?

In 2001, Australia produced 1.2 million tonnes of rice, in 2008 a meagre 19,300 tonnes (the lowest yield since 1928), and this year 75,000 tonnes.  This has led to mill closures and job shedding by SunRice, the most recent cuts in March of 36 staff at the Leeton mill. So where will our food come from?

Around the globe, and particularly in the U.S., our insatiable need for fuel has spawned a massive growth in the production of corn, soy, and other cereals – all to create ethanol to feed our cars.  Land devoted to producing corn alone in the U.S. is the most since 1941. So where will our food come from?

In our global economy we may be able to rely on imports to temporarily compensate for our national underproduction but, since food production has not kept pace with world population growth since 2005, how long can we depend on this avenue for salvation? For instance, Cuba announced this week that it was seeking urgent food aid from Russia to arrest diminishing food stocks.

I remember the truck blockade of the Hume Highway near Picton in 1979.  Supplies of food to all supermarkets in the ACT and NSW dried up and within four days all shelves were empty.  Being reasonably self-sufficient, even then, I had no real personal concerns about running out of food, but I was curious as to what effect the blockade was having, so I visited the local Woolworths supermarket in Dickson, ACT.  I was greeted with a chaotic scene of women fighting over the last few loaves of bread and a panic gripped the shoppers – an image I will never forget and a constant reminder of the fragility of our food supply system.

Our dependency on oil is a huge concern in relation to food production.  Don’t be beguiled by the recent news of the availability of plug-in hybrid cars, they won’t solve our food supply issues.  Think about it – most of our food is produced using oil, whether it’s diesel for our farm machinery, production of pesticides and herbicides, chemical fertilisers, and then there’s the transportation of this food to storage and processing facilities and onto supermarkets where we drive our cars to shop.

A recent report by the UK Soil Association refers to the 2000 fuel protest that brought London to within three days of running out of food – the head of the Countryside Agency reported to Tony Blair that “the nation is just nine meals from anarchy”. August 2009 Earth Garden p9.

I can’t predict when the oil will run out, but it’s probably sooner than we realise, and I’m not prepared to play Russian roulette with the calendar.  The earlier we are prepared for the inevitability of food shortages, the better.  Each of us should be on the same footing as England was during World War Two when nearly every lawn, backyard, and empty space was devoted to the growing of food for the war effort.  Peak Oil and Climate Change will present even bigger challenges for us, and the rest of the world, than Hitler and the Luftwaffe did for England.

If you don’t know how to start, or what to do, I suggest you attend the numerous events being planned and conducted by Beechworth Sustainability over the next few months.  Anybody can afford to produce their own food and our last two harvests have cost virtually nothing as we have used seeds from the previous year’s crops or obtained from the annual seed swapping event. How easy is that?

By Charlie Robinson

Before moving to this area I thought that the obvious answer to this question was an emphatic “yes”.  After all, towns such as Bright, Yackandandah and Beechworth have become tourist destinations due to their vibrant autumn colour.  Very little of these autumnal tones are produced by our native flora.

Now a resident of Beechworth, I have become very aware of an anti-exotic philosophy underpinning many people’s beliefs in this region and, I must say, particularly among “Landcarers”.  This article will attempt to inject some balance into the debate, for a debate it is.

Many myths abound regarding the vices and virtues of both exotic and native species, the main myth relating to the suitability of either species to the Australian environment.

For instance, it is a common myth that many native plants do not require supplementary water.  A common Landcare activity is tree regeneration activities along waterways and other areas of bushland – the young trees are simply plonked in the ground and then seemingly ignored in the quest to regenerate yet more bushland.  While these may be laudable activities, it’s annoying to discover a relatively high mortality rate following these events – “drought” isn’t killing the new plantings, lack of follow-up watering is the culprit.

Similarly, many exotic plants have an undeservedly poor reputation in the Australian landscape.  Once established, I would rate English Box, Buxus Semperverins, the traditional hedging plant found in numerous iconic English gardens, as one of the most hardy of plants.  I have seen ancient (possibly 150 years old) examples in abandoned farm houses far from civilisation, their python-like trunks growing over dead eucalypts.  These were obviously the vestiges of a once-manicured formal low hedge.  In our garden they are treated with indifference and seem to thrive on the neglect.

In our former garden in Bungendore, NSW, many of the native eucalypts were succumbing far quicker to climate change than any of our exotic choices such as liquidamber or English oak.  Why is this so?  For a start, many plants possess confusing common names – London Plane, English Oak, English Elm and English Box do not come from England and many of these plants are used to summer temperatures far in excess of the Beechworth historical average.

Clive Blazey , CEO of Diggers Seeds, has this to say about eucalypts :  “The leaves of eucalypts hang vertically to reduce evaporation letting through light that raises soil temperatures and reduces soil moisture…by raising soil temperatures they destroy soil carbon and reduce soil fertility.  They do more damage to our ecology than noxious weeds like blackberries, or introduced animals such as foxes” (Diggers Winter Catalogue 2009). Andrew Steiner is a beef and crop producer near Narrandera (south-west NSW) and his observations are interesting:  “I don’t believe we should just plant natives. Many of the gum trees are dying in the drought. We should also look at hardy European trees, such as oaks.  Being deciduous, they provide summer shade and in winter let the light through, while the seeds are high in protein and the leaves improve the soil” (The Weekly Times, May 13, 2009).

Last year I planted eight English oaks on our north-east quadrant – once mature, these trees will form a valuable shield against ember attack should a fire originate along Three Mile Creek, they will provide a shady habitat for birds, animals and humans; the leaves will be used to make compost; and I intend to coppice them for firewood on a rotating basis.  The only disadvantage as opposed to planting eucalypts is that they will grow at a slower rate, but this is a minor factor as growth rates in Australia are quite rapid compared to their country of origin.

One of the major recommendations following the Ash Wednesday (1983) fires was the planting of deciduous exotics around the perimeter of properties, due to their inherent fire-retardent characteristics.  Take a run along Lady Newton Drive to the junction of the Six Mile road within Stanley Forest – there is a stand of English Elms virtually untouched by the recent fires while all around the destruction to native species is obvious.  If you don’t learn the lessons of history you are destined to repeat them – what a great saying!

I don’t believe in classifying plants according to whether they are “water-wise” or not – a plant’s survivability in our environment is more dependent on how water-wise the gardener is.  The only difference between a hardy plant and a fragile one is appropriate location, and mulch.  We grow a variety of grevilleas, callistemons, hakeas, proteas (hardy South African plants) as well as numerous exotics.  With mulching, none of these plants needs more or less care than the others – they are all water-wise (even the hydrangeas).  With a thick layer of eucalyptus mulch, I would say that our rose garden would have survived last summer with no supplementary watering.

My final, and obvious, point is that you will go very hungry unless you begin to embrace the most important introduced plant – the fruit tree.  Our future survivability in the face of chronic food shortages (another topic for another day) may well depend on that acceptance.  We face huge challenges staying alive in tomorrow’s climate and ill-informed attitudes amounting to botanical apartheid, to quote Don Burke, can only exacerbate the situation.

by Charlie Robinson

The current Royal Commission into the horrific Victorian bushfires will examine in detail the current “stay or go” policy as it pertains to people in fire-affected areas.  I want to examine another stay or go issue, but this relates to whether you or I stay in Beechworth in the face of the increasingly hot and dry conditions which we are experiencing, and will continue to experience.

This needs to be addressed in the context of anecdotal evidence which suggests that some residents are seriously considering their movement options.

Firstly, let’s examine some consumer issues.  Today (Budget Day), the ABC announced that major whitegoods retailers have been overwhelmed with demand for plasma televisions and that there are lengthy delays while stocks arrive from the manufacturers. At the same time, it’s interesting to note that most suppliers of water tanks are doing it tough in the face of decreasing demand.  This was the primary reason given for the collapse of the iconic Australian company, Nylex, earlier this year.

I’d also bet that, despite the Global Financial Crisis, more Australians bought new cars than all the water tanks, solar hot water systems, grid-connect PV systems, and greywater recycling systems combined. In light of evidence that we are heading for increasing climatic challenges, it seems that most of us are either oblivious to the problems or feel that more “stuff” may attract rain clouds.

In our region we are in serious water trouble.  Bore drillers will tell you that local ground water stores are running out and most of the permanent springs that used to be a feature of our area have now dried up.  Baarmutha, which is aboriginal for “place of many springs” may have to be re-named.

If you have sufficient space, you can be totally self-sufficient in water.  Around 100,000 litres should be enough for a family of five as long as they observe sensible conservation practises.  We have another 60,000 litres for our garden and this amount is plenty for our current demands. In an urban area, even a smaller tank of around 15,000 – 25,000 litres should be enough to water the thirstiest garden. For around the price of a small car (or a plasma TV in suburbia), you can have all the water you need, and the peace of mind that goes with it.

A little water can go a long way if you’re sensible.  I’m a big believer in recycling greywater and the majority of our plants are watered by this method.  For instance, we can water up to 85 hedging plants and some of our fruit orchard, from just two loads of washing.  In winter, when water needs in the garden are low, we use this greywater to flush the loos and for bricklaying and concreting. The principle is to use water twice

People generally water their garden too much.  I was horrified to learn that a friend of mine waters his tomatoes every day.  While this may be therapeutic for the gardener, it’s unnecessary for the garden. If you thickly mulch your beds (tomatoes love this) most plants only need watering once a week, at most.  During the summer, I watered our roses every six weeks and, even then, this may have been overdoing it as the plants showed no signs of distress. My strategy is to walk around the garden every day and to take note of plants that may be suffering – then, and only then, should water be applied.  There are a few exceptions to this rule – silver birches are notorious for letting you know they’re thirsty by just dying.

On the subject of mulching, we have used nine large rectangular bales of rice and wheat straw this year.  While this may seem like hard work to spread it around, it is one of our best labour-saving strategies as most of the areas I’ve mulched won’t need to be revisited for a couple of years and will remain weed-free, and moist.  We also experience a massive increase in earthworm populations under the straw.  This has significant benefits for our food production, a topic I will discuss next week.

Should you stay or go?  Simple really.  If you’re prepared, any place you choose to live could be OK.  If you’re unprepared, every place is a bad choice.