Weeds are the Healers
Gunning District Landcare hosted the Gunning Garden Weeds Workshop last weekend.
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This interactive and fun workshop looked at various techniques to manage backyard weeds.
Alison Elvin from Natural Capital identified an array of wild and mysterious plants participants bought in. Each participant had the opportunity to explain and discuss their individual weed situation.
Alison explained the role of weeds in the landscape as the healers. They prepare bare ground for other plants to move in. They can also be messengers, telling us what nutrients and minerals are deficient in our soil.
By observing and seeking to understand, there is much information laid out in plain sight.
Once we understand the system, we are much better placed to work with it to achieve the positive outcomes we are looking for.
Faded but Not Forgotten
Driving on the Hume Highway southbound, the wind farm on the Cullerin Range catches the eye in a way that is both distracting and majestic. Whether you are for or against them, you cannot argue that they make a statement in the landscape.
What probably goes unnoticed is the faded billboard for Gunning immediately underneath. It unfortunately directly catches the sun of a morning, which has made its pastel shades fade quickly.
That, combined with the wind turbines that form such a compelling backdrop, means the billboard almost disappears.
Day visitors stumble upon Gunning and are quite surprised that it is such a vibrant village with an engaging streetscape. In their search for a food or coffee break that differs from the average roadhouse fare, they are pleasantly surprised by what is on offer.
A simple and perhaps surprising low budget change would be to put something bold on this billboard that echoed the welcoming feel of the village and the whole shire. Perhaps we could even get to the point of having day visitors say, ‘I stopped off because I saw that amazing billboard that frames the majestic Cullerin wind farm….’ or something along those lines.
I know there are works in the pipeline to fix it, but the call for help in this regard is almost deafening – perhaps even as great as the wind that blows across the plains and drives those very wind turbines.
Village in the Making Again
The recent sale and subsequent subdivision of land directly bordering what was the village of Breadalbane is making slow but reassuring steps. There was not the real estate hype that saw the Greendale Estate atop the hill behind the village selling out in record time, rather a somewhat low-key change over on small blocks that lead down from the Greendale boundary to the village proper.
The most obvious signs of the subtle changes are the new driveway connection on Cullerin Road from the block, between what was the post office and fuel station, the new boundary fencing on the house that sits on the ridge behind the school, and the council development sign on the block immediately behind the school.
The Breadalbane Public School is playing their part, ensuring that their small and well-resourced school is well placed to ride out the tide of school numbers by providing a weekly playgroup for new residents with little ones. For those who would like to know more, the school is holding a presentation night on Tuesday, December 11 from 4pm to showcase what the school has to offer and reflect the vibrancy of the Breadalbane community.
It might even be just a good excuse to take a ‘sticky beak’ at the new houses being built, with the Prominda steel modular home suspended off the ridge in the Greendale Estate being no exception.
Remembrance Day
The Gunning ceremony was well attended with approximately 50 counted. The beautiful early summer weather was seemingly at odds with the solemn occasion, which signals that the 100-year curtain on the end of World War One is soon to fall. Numbers were perhaps bolstered by the weather, Landcare workshop and Rural Fire Service regional training day. All were welcome.