Natural Sequence Farming

A quick update for those interested.

1)3.5km of swales have been graded along contours, at a depth of 400mm, there are 6 in total. Have already seen these twice filled with rain

2) Drainage channel that drained swamp has been blocked and so all runoff from surrounding landscape will gather in swamp as it has for millions of year.

3) Placing old railway sleepers, carp( farmer next door loves the aromas) anything organic in swales to help build bacterial and mycelium networks, which will be the foundation for the forest to grow in.

4) Collected over half a million, black wattle and blackwood seeds, these will be the pioneer species and seeded over winter

5) Obelisk footing and 3,000 bricks collected

6) There has been no livestock on land for over 12 months, as such weed and grass growth is at about 500mm - 1m and this will be slashed at seeding time.

I have plenty of photos and video and will upload these after editing.

I hope everyone else is having fun with their projects

Brett

Hi Brett, I am certainly interested in how you are going and am looking froward to the pics

Here also Brett id love to see your photos of how things are going!

How's it goin there Brett?
how did the year turn out?
Did you get the funding and the countour bank dug?
Have you got any more plans from what you are learning?
Cheers, keep it up.

Thanks Novaris, Adrian and Ian for your encouragement and interest.

Here are a few photos that best show what is happening at the moment


Ross placing old sleeper in swale and proof that they work. I have seen water in them on three separate occasions and each time it fills my heart with hope and joy.




Like a massive serpent. The swales are placed 50 - 100m apart.




A new swale joining the old drainage ditch. This former drainage ditch will soon be excavated to a depth of 3 m and will catch all runoff from swales.



Container and in the foreground soon to be obelisk. Starting to get a bit of cover, a sign of things to come



Had a land celebration day, to share the vision with close friends and family.



Ian, the year turned out better than I thought.
Didn't get funding, though didn't chase it that hard, just got focused on my landscaping business to get the cash flowing. As this is my first one I feel it is important to put my money where my mouth is and it keeps me on my toes and conscious of what I spend my money on.

I am learning so much, the vision is constantly evolving. Still the original rainforest intention, though with more depth and clarity.

How is your project?

Thanks Colin I checked out the Landcare Carbonsmart and I don't know if I will go with them. They start paying when trees 2-3 years old, they also take 40%broker fees, seems a bit steep to me. Anyway have to get them growing first

Thanks everyone again for your encouragement and blessings.

Stay focused and have fun

Well done Brett. Hope you will share more photos over the coming months and years. It already looks cool...er than a year ago!

I found this permaculture series on youtube very interesting and well presented. Permaculture and NSF go hand in hand to fix our folly.

Part 2-3 touches on Victoria's salt problems.


Dryland Permaculture Strategies Part 1

Part 1 See 60 year old swales in the US !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W15RRvKy ... re=related

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIelsCmd ... re=related

Part3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGotaEnw ... re=related

Thanks Angela,

Bill is a living legend and there is plenty of thought provoking information contained in these movies.

I thought some of that footage looks familiar and when they said central Victoria it made me feel right at home

So many opportunities

Amazing the differences the rains have made.

Wanted to share with everyone this photo below.

It clearly displays Peter's theories and techniques working in Victoria.

This is a photo of one of the swales, with blackwood logs.

6 months ago scotch thistles started growing in them, a mate and a neighbour told me to spray them, i said she will be right, they are a bandaid, a sign of low nutrients, told them about Peter and his views of them being pioneering species.

Well 6 months on all the scotch thistles on land are dead, without spraying them. Don't know if it was the logs, though the thistles are dead, in other areas where there are no logs.
Another clue was a lot of mushrooms poking there heads up. Think the mycelium has started to network and is sharing and spreading nutrients all through land.




It is very exciting.


Also tried making blackwood seedballs, threw all the ingredients, ( 5 parts clay, 1 part 300 year old rotted mountain ash and mycelium, and 1 part boiling water treated blackwood) in cement mixer, but it didn't work out, they wouldn't roll into balls. So ended up with one wheelbarrow full of blob.

Then placed handfuls on a tarp and let it dry. Then broke these into 30mm pieces and placed them on bare ground on land


Will wait and see what happens

Also planted mountain ash seedlings in the swales and will see how they go. They are semi protected, and mixed in mycelium with rotting wood from a 300 year old mountain ash



So with any good fortune, they will get the necessary rain to establish.

HI Brett,
Have you though about trying Pittosporum undulatum? A great rainforest plant for Victoria. Another one worth a try is Grevillea robusta, Silky Oak as this is a rainforest tree that drops many leaves creating mulch for the forest floor. Podocarpus elatus is a huge Plum Pine with fruits and is a large shade tree that can be grown in cooler areas. Enchylaena tomentosa is a great little saltbush plant. It has little berries, green, red, orange or yellow, birds, lizards and ants eat them, you can too! They are planted and spread by wildlife. I can send you some of those seeds if you are interested. It spreads rapidly and it is a good one for creating a ground covering. Dodonaea triquetra a fantastic hop bush with yellow/green fruits. They can grow further south. I can also send your some of those seeds but you can buy those plants readily. Have you tried ebay as I have bought a few plants and seeds through the mail that way. Don’t forget the climbers and ground covers. Billardiera scandens, I have that fruiting at the moment, they have little tiny sausage shaped fruits and can grow in Vic. Elaeocarpus reticulatus BlueBerry Ash another great tree, can grow quite big. Has lovely blue berries that the birds eat. I have that fruiting right now too. You soak them in hot water overnight and they propagate easily. Trema tomentose, some people call it native peach, small shrub/tree has small berries for small birds, good shelter plants for young trees to start. I can also send you some swamp Foxtail, Pennisetum allopecuroides if you are interested. Finches like those seed. That is a Grass species with feathery tops (native). If you don’t mind some spiky plants which the small birds like for habitat I can send you some Bursaria spinosa (Black thorn). Let me know if you are interested in doing some propagating yourself and I can send you some seed or you can source them from local nurseries or online through the post. I am very happy to see your land coming a long so well. If I can help in any way with plants or seeds let me know.
Good luck
Shirl.

Just another quick add on. There are many local native peas that fix nitrogen into your soil. They grow everywhere and usually have little pea pods on them. They are great for taking nitrogen out of thin air and putting it into your soil. Keep your eye out for them. I actually have a good batch going in my garden about 3 different native species and one lot unsure if native or not. I actually picked it fromn NSF demonstration site at Mulloon and now have that growing all through my garden. I can send you some of those seeds when they are ripe.
Bye for now
Shirley

Hi Shirley,

Have often wondered about pittosporums and grevilleas.

Please send what ever seeds you have, I will gladly plant them. I will pm my address.

Thank you for your input it is greatly appreciated.

Brett

Keep up the good work, fantastic!!!

Shirley, that was such an informative post I reformatted it so its more readable for everybody. Hope you don't mind. Can I ask how you gained such an encyclopedic knowledge of natives? Also, how many of those you listed would be happy in Mid-North Coast of NSW (I know Eleocarpus reticulatus and Pittosporum undulatum because we have two happy specimens of those!)

Have you though about trying Pittosporum undulatum? A great rainforest plant for Victoria.

Another one worth a try is Grevillea robusta, Silky Oak as this is a rainforest tree that drops many leaves creating mulch for the forest floor.

Podocarpus elatus is a huge Plum Pine with fruits and is a large shade tree that can be grown in cooler areas.

Enchylaena tomentosa is a great little saltbush plant. It has little berries, green, red, orange or yellow, birds, lizards and ants eat them, you can too! They are planted and spread by wildlife. I can send you some of those seeds if you are interested. It spreads rapidly and it is a good one for creating a ground covering.

Dodonaea triquetra a fantastic hop bush with yellow/green fruits. They can grow further south. I can also send your some of those seeds but you can buy those plants readily. Have you tried ebay as I have bought a few plants and seeds through the mail that way.

Don’t forget the climbers and ground covers. Billardiera scandens, I have that fruiting at the moment, they have little tiny sausage shaped fruits and can grow in Vic.

Elaeocarpus reticulatus BlueBerry Ash another great tree, can grow quite big. Has lovely blue berries that the birds eat. I have that fruiting right now too. You soak them in hot water overnight and they propagate easily.

Trema tomentose, some people call it native peach, small shrub/tree has small berries for small birds, good shelter plants for young trees to start.

I can also send you some swamp Foxtail, Pennisetum allopecuroides if you are interested. Finches like those seed. That is a Grass species with feathery tops (native).

If you don’t mind some spiky plants which the small birds like for habitat I can send you some Bursaria spinosa (Black thorn).

Let me know if you are interested in doing some propagating yourself and I can send you some seed or you can source them from local nurseries or online through the post. I am very happy to see your land coming a long so well. If I can help in any way with plants or seeds let me know.
Good luck
Shirl.

It has recently been brought to my attention the many very desirable attributes of non invasive clumping bamboo.

I am investigating further how I can incorporate this amazing species into my program.

I wonder how these plants might fit into your plans Brett.

I have a passion, love the bush, love the country, love the environment. Love learning! I am sure most of the plants I mentioned would love it up North, but I am one for just giving things a try. I have found that some plants will never grow in some situations but many others quite adaptable. Sometimes it is just a matter of creating a micro climate to get things going or choosing the right postion. I grow some western Australian species here and it is humid where I live and clay. I harvest seed every year and am happy to send it to partakers of NSF, if you are interested let me know.

Ian, Bamboo is just giant grass, so look at it as just that.
Shirley