2020

November 2020 News

November went well with a good roll up for the wayleave maintenance.

With ‘lock – down’ of activities for three months due to covid – 19, the yearly morning/afternoon tea supplied by COH as our X-mas present  was delayed.

So Sunday 19th Nov. was agreed upon.  As it rained that afternoon we had it at our place, and it was very enjoyable for the people who attended.

We will have a planning meeting on the 21st Jan. 2021, but more about that later.

I hope you all have a pleasant summer time and all the best for the New Year.

 Regards,   Astrid.

October 2020 News

With quite a bit of rain this spring, we had to cancel one activity. The damp ground has made it possible for millions of forget-me-nots, thistles and wild turnip/wild mustard to grow. It may seem like ‘King Canute trying to turn back the tide’, however, the weeds suppress the new grass that is also growing well.

And if we can give the endemic flora growing space, I think it is hours well spent. So we have spent much of our time hand pulling these weeds all over the reserve. The plant-give-away went well, there was just the right amount of plants.

A management plan is being drawn up for Salvator Rosa Glen, and we are looking forward to get some guidelines.

The date and place for the annual COH bushcare BBQ has been set, so pencil in this date and info: THURSDAY 19th NOVEMBER 5.30pm – 7.30pm at Legacy, Park Queens Domain.  More details later

September 2020 News

This month went very well, with more people than usually attending our activities.

We were able to remove some gorse we missed above the Weerona Trail, and a lot of forget–me-nots and thistles below the trail. Both the Glover Track and Salvator Rosa Glen were ‘gone over’ and can be left for another year, though the periwinkle in the glen is a worry.
And we are now allowed to share coffee and biscuits after, though YOU HAVE TO BRING YOUR OWN CUP!!
 
Some of our members, who are registered as ‘independent volunteers’ even went as far as Clarence, Ridgeway and Waterworks reserves and did some extra work!
 
Our invoice to TasNetworks went in for a year’s maintenance of the wayleave under the powerlines. This year we earned $1725.  The money will be spent on other improvements in the reserve.
 
Teachers at Mt. Stuart Primary School feel it is important that the children are told what volunteers do to maintain the schools neighbourhood  reserve, which is used for outings and instructions; so I took two classes, teachers and some parents for a walk & talk, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

August 2020 News

August's program went well.
Prof Bowman gave us a very interesting ‘walk & talk’ on bush fires, and about what will happen when big fires hit Hobart’s surrounding hills. He recommended many, small, frequent fires, taking out areas of dead bracken, old dry grass and dry bark & dry scrub. However, this is difficult, as it doesn’t fit into the usual schedule of big hazard reduction burns. He also recommended making life easier for browsing and gracing animals, as they keep flammable vegetation down.

Then the rain washed out our Sunday planting activity. We had already paid for the plants and brought them down from the Plants of Tasmania Nursery, and they  needed to get into the ground. So on the Tuesday a few of us dug 120 holes in the designated planting area above the Weerona trail. On the Thursday 12 volunteers helped dig another 140 holes and plant 260 plants! We spent about 55 hours on the task, and I am so impressed with our members willingness to give of their time.

Here is a list of the plants:

Half the plants were covered lightly with dead, burnt gorse sticks, the other half has individual plastic ‘sleaves’. It will be interesting to see how the different plantings perform.

July 2020 News

The first activity this month had to be cancelled due to inclement weather. Though more rain is really needed. Then we did cut & paste of re-growth gorse near the Bandicoot Corridor.
On the Sunday we hand pulled a lot of forget-me-nots. It seems this pretty, but very invasive flower is popping up everywhere in reserves and on crown land. So if you see any on your wanderings in the bush,  PULL   IT   OUT!
 
Prof Bowman has agreed to come and talk to us about susceptibility and preparedness for fire in the Reserve. It will be very interesting and everyone is welcome. We are just walking around, no extra activity needed.
 
We are planting 250 little pots of four kinds of grasses on Sunday 20th, so please come along and lend a hand.

June 2020 News (2)

We were able to return to our bushcare activities Thursday the 18th, and we had a good turnout.

The same on Sunday 21st.  We worked both times above the Weerona Trail, mainly removing EURYOPS and small gorse.

Because of the COVID–19 pandemic we are more careful with personal equipment and tools, and only our own individual refreshments after.

The weather has been a bit miserable a few days, but with very good rain, which was really needed.

June 2020 News

AS you can see from the news below from COH, we can get back to bushcare this month!

The Sunday protocol is covered by the council supervisor. On Thursdays  protocol is covered by our own volunteer supervisors. COH will provide our hand sanitiser and disinfectant. As you can see, we will not be allowed to supply morning or afternoon refreshments. However, I hope you will bring your own drink/thermos/biscuit etc.  Then we can gather after the activity (with proper distance) and have a chat and talk about what happens next.

In the 10 weeks since the close-down due to COVID-19 , three of us were able to continue working in the reserve, as we were registered as ‘Independent Volunteers’. So Rodney, Greg and I have spent about 175 hours  flattening the burnt gorse sticks, in the old burn area above the Weerona Trail, in readiness for planting of grasses in August. We also spent four Thursday mornings in May doing the wayleave maintenance from the Lenah Valley boundary to the West and South Hobart boundaries as per our obligation to TasNetworks.

January 2020 News

I hope you all had a good summer break. We had a good annual planning meeting, and some of our people did a really fine weed survey. As you can see from the calendar, a few days are still not filled in, but the program is always a bit fluid.

February 2020 News

I hope you all had a good summer break.

This month was spent removing re-growth gorse from the area beyond the end of Forest Rd., that our contractors cleared two years ago.
Because it has been so dry most of that period, the cut gorse has not rotted down as much as we hoped, and this makes it a rather unpleasant work site when removing re-growth gorse, but it needs to be done.
A much more pleasant afternoon was spent walking with the new owners of a large portion of 88 Summerhills Rd. We looked at their land from the bottom of the gully below the Weerona Trail, and also from the top. They have a long boundary with the reserve, and are keen to maintain the natural interface.
I’m having trouble with my back, and after an operation, will be out of ‘on ground’ action for six weeks. However, we have several ‘volunteer supervisors’, and the program will go on as usual.