Farm Chemical Users Course - Flowerdale

Over the 12 and 13 October landowners from Flowerdale, Kinglake and the surrounding district  attended a free Farm Chemical Users Course organised by Upper Goulburn Landcare Network (UGLN) with the assistance of the Flowerdale Community House and funded by VBAF.

Participants at the recent farm chemical users course

The recent course was held at the wonderful new facility at the Flowerdale Youth Space and as usual run by Goulburn Ovens TAFE lecturer and Kinglake resident Kevin Chandler.

Kevin demonstrating herbicide application techniques

Since 2010 UGLN have been running free Weed Identification and Control Workshops, 1080 baiting and Farm Chemical Users Courses throughout the fire affected areas of Murrindindi Shire.

The courses have also been held in Kinglake, Yea, Strath Creek and Marysville.
They have all been well attended with well over 300 people having benefited from the opportunity provided by UGLN and funded by the previous Federal Governments Çaring For Our Country' program.

Participants at last years course in the Kinglake Scout Hall

If anyone is interested in attending a Farm Chemical Users Course UGLN will be running another one on the 30/11 and 1/12 in Yea.

Phone 5736 0105 for more info.

Lorax Project 2013

Recently we have been busy with our Lorax Project along the Yea River and it's tributaries.

NAB volunteers at Murrindindi

JBWere volunteers at Break O Day Reserve

In late September a large team from NAB planted almost 700 plants at the Lawson property in Murrindindi and another team from JBWere helped plant and mulch over 225 plants at the Break 'O' Day Rd Reserve in Glenburn and then after a BBQ lunch we put in another 50+ at the nearby Alf Miller Park.

JBWere volunteers after a days planting at Alf Miller Park

On 24th October a group of TAFE students studying Conservation and Land Management planted 250 trees and shrubs on a section of the Katy's Creek at 'Graceburn' the farm of Sally and Tom Abbott-Smith who also provided a delicious BBQ lunch.

TAFE students at the Abbott-Smith farm in Glenburn

Our final Lorax Project planting for the year was on 29th October on the Yea River at Devlin's Bridge. Again the TAFE students returned to plant many trees and shrubs. After the planting it was back to Graceburn where Tom gave the enthusiastic students a tour of his free range chook and cattle farm.

TAFE students at Devlin's Bridge Glenburn

The Lorax Project has now come to the end of another very successful year.

This year over 500 volunteers from NAB, ANZ and JBWere and students from Yea High School, Flowerdale and Kinglake Primary Schools and many more planted over 10,000 plants on farms and properties from Strath Creek and Kinglake across the Upper Goulburn region to Marysville and Buxton.

If you are interested in volunteering with our Lorax Project in 2014 or a landowner thinking about revegetating a section of your property contact UGLN Landcare Coordinator Chris Cobern on 5736 0104.