permaculture pilgramage

Discussion in 'Jobs, projects, courses, training, WWOOFing, volun' started by andrew curr, Apr 4, 2012.

  1. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    We are heading down to Victoria to visit Rowen Rieds property on the 27th April
    want to gather lots of cuttings acorns etc
    will drop in on mulloon ck for a sticky
    anyone have any good ideas??????
    there is a fodder tree demo site near warrigal and some good oaks at Hamilton:)
     
  2. purplepear

    purplepear Junior Member

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    Occupation:
    Farm manager/ educator
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    Hunter Valley New South Wales
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    Climate:
    warm temperate - some frost - changing every year
    good luck on your quest Andrew - is the whole tribe going?
     
  3. Tamara

    Tamara Junior Member

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    ooooo oooo oooo
    very interested, I've heard about the oak site down that way.
    Are you visiting Steve LaValley at Botanical Ark at Warrigal too? He has about 30 different oaks including the Holm oak var Balotta.
    Bit out of the way but there are some great edible acorns in St Arnauld. I've made flour and they only needed one rinsing!!!!!
    I have some quercus robur seedlings too.
     
  4. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    We have only very young oaks andrew but you are most welcome to drop in for a visit.
     
  5. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    i went to a place at warrigul owned by jason alexandra (pretty special)!!
    i got a burbary from the lovly curator of the bot gardens at Albury
    many of the best oaks seem to be in avenues of honour
    does anyone live near Dunkeld? i spoke to Bill Funk who is a collector of trees he is an amazing recource much of his collection is displayed at the Dunkeld arbouraetum
    what kind of tree is at st anaud???? i got some at elmhurst, lots at Bendigo(where they pump sewage into the bot gardens not surprising the yields were better there
     
  6. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    ta Graham, got your massage after we left
    camped at Barmah amazing!!
    at rutherglen winery there are some excellent 15 year old cork oaks yielding acorns they can be our little secret
    cheers
    andrew
     
  7. Grahame

    Grahame Senior Member

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    I'll be in Dunkeld over the Queens Birthday weekend. I might be able to find a spare moment. What do you need me to do?
     
  8. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    treat yourself to some Bill Funk he is an amazing rescource im particularly interested in fodder species
     
  9. cottager

    cottager Junior Member

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    Andrew, I know I'm a bit late, but if you want to see one of the oldest weeping oaks in Victoria, let me know. It's a magnificent beast of a tree.The babies of this tree don't seem to even think about becoming pendulous until they're at least 15-20yo (there's a bit of a grove happening, most of the babies are under 30yo, but the little ones pop up every spring, without fail ... the acorns are large).
     
  10. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    I would love to see that one, can u get any viable acorns for me/???
    what type do you think it might be
    can you show us a photo//..?
     
  11. cottager

    cottager Junior Member

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    Yes.
    I don't really know, but it is extremely tall, and the leaves look like a proper English Oak, if that makes sense? It's canopy is wide and hangs to the ground ... I'm don't know precisely how wide, but enough to park a tractor, a flock of sheep and a few tractor attachments under it and have enough room left over to build a small house.

    Nope. I tried and tried to take a good photo ... from 50 to a hundred metres I could get a shot of the tree, but it didn't have size perspective, and from near or under the tree it was just branches and leaves ... a difficult thing to photograph! I climbed it a couple of times ... the first fork was hard to reach, until I dragged out the cherry picking ladder and stood on it's top rung and climbed up from there. If you do get a decent photo of it, I'd like a copy! :)
     
  12. cottager

    cottager Junior Member

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    Hmmm, I did research it a while back ...

    It's definately Quercus robur (English Oak), of the pedunulata type, but I've never before seen this particular weeping variety (and, as I said, the babies don't begin to weep until they are decades old ... five yo trees would be quite straight and tall, for an oak, with just the tips of their branches showing what they eventually planned on growing into!). An aborist that checked the mother tree said that it was well over 100 years old, but had no way of telling beyond that, so it would have been one of the original trees planted in the area when the area was colonised. The region itself is dotted with old English and European trees, but I have never dated when the land was first farmed.
     
  13. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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    what is the trees adress?

    what sort of soil?:(
     
  14. cottager

    cottager Junior Member

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    The tree would require an introduction (it's on private land, not for publication).

    Red ferrosol soil.

    I'll set myself the task of fetching acorns ... that might be a good start :)
     
  15. andrew curr

    andrew curr Moderator

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  16. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Someone has an awesome tree on their property and the photos of it aren't for publication? That is heresy!

    Here you go:

    [​IMG]

    Quite possibly the biggest Ficus virens in Australia. Ask me where. Keep in mind, that's a standard cattle barb wire fence there, chest height.
     
  17. cottager

    cottager Junior Member

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    Unfortunately, it isn't on my own private property (otherwise there'd be tours and invites!) ... just respecting the owners privacy 'tis all ... BUT I will ask the question (on publishing for a permie group), while I'm fetching the acorns :)

    That's some magnificent tree S.O.P.!

    I do have wonderful childhood memories of strangler figs ... playing in the empty spaces where the original tree used to be ... not so fond of mangrove mud, but that's another story ;)
     
  18. annette

    annette Junior Member

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    Where is it?
     
  19. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    So, it got me researching big trees again. Check this out. Be proud of the Industrial Revolution.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. eco4560

    eco4560 New Member

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    SOP I reckon that there are probably dryads and all manner of faery life living in that magnificent old creature.
     

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