There have been a small number of enquiries about the feral proof fence. An information session is planned for this Saturday on site, to answer any questions people might have.
 
I will be at the farm gate entrance (off the end of Dianella Walk) from 8.30 – 8.50 am this Saturday 6 March and the following Saturday as per the other announcement in the feed.
 
If you can’t make it then please feel free to knock on my door or call me to discuss.
 
Brad N - Phone: 0417 866 424

The third phase of constructing the feral fence will start on Saturday 13 March from 9am to 1pm.  The consultant Bruce Jackson will be on hand to demonstrate the last part of the construction process so that we can continue ourselves.
 
If you would like to learn about fencing techniques and are thinking about assisting the regular volunteers to complete the fence (approx 1.7 km), then please turn up.
 
Brad N - Phone: 8557 7163 or 0417 866 424 or email

Only 4 more sleeps to go! The beekeeping course at AAEV is starting THIS Weekend, 6 & 7 March.

The first Saturday session will start at 9am in the Sharing Shed.

Please bring your course payment to the first session. ($100 for AAEV lot owners; $135 for others). Note this is the price Rob quoted when we booked last year, not $145 which is the fee for bookings made in 2010). I'll collect money before the session.

If you've confirmed attendance with me, there is no need to contact Rob.

Have you printed your brochure? If not, it is ATTACHED again for convenience.

Also think about carpooling for the 2 Sunday field trips. We'll organise that on Saturday.

Bring your favourite cup. A selection of teas and coffee provided.
 
Chris Worsman - Phone: 0414 900 399
100226 AAEV Beekeeping Brochure

Apiarist Robert Beer has forwarded the detailed program for the Beekeeping Course being offered at AAEV over two weekends (6 & 7 and 20 & 21) in March.

If you have your name on the list to attend, please print off a copy for your own use and confirm with Robert as requested.

If you have questions, please contact Chris Worsman by phone (0414 900 399) NOT email.
AAEV Beekeeping Brochure

The Farm Team is looking at the possibility of an “Earthship” on the Farm for use as an Environmental Education Centre, built and part-funded as a cooperative research site with Uni SA under the Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Program.

Members of the Uni SA project team, in liaison with Steve Poole, made a short initial presentation to the Farm Team in the Village last Thursday. If you would like to see the slides used in the presentation, send me a request by email and I will forward the PDF to you. (It’s quite a large file, 4.2 MB.)

The project proposal flyer left with us for information is ATTACHED.
Please email any comments or queries to Brad N with copy to Steve P.

Elizabeth H - for the Farm Team
Earthship Proposal

A big thankyou to all those planters who braved a day when we really all felt like staying in bed.  There are now 750 plants in the ground which will make mincemeat of the North-westerlies that we were battling on the day.  For those who couldn’t make it see the attached photos to see the transformation.
 
A special thankyou to the Clampetts for their fabulous soup van which makes such a wonderful warm addition to our planting days, and to the soup makers Gillian, Jackie, Francois and Elizabeth.  Also, how can I say enough about those folk lugging mulch – the mulching finished at 4 pm so it was a big day. I hope our plants are grateful and reward us well.
 
And won’t we enjoy the rain this week that much more!
 
Jenni McGlennon
Farm Planting Day 2009

Modern science is putting a centuries-old farming practice under the microscope for its potential to help with control of pests and diseases in modern agriculture; and we can also benefit in our own small-scale agriculture here at AAEV.

Some plant species of the cabbage family (Brassicas) naturally release compounds that suppress pests and pathogens, principally isothiocyanates (ITCs), which most people would recognise as the ‘hot’ flavour in mustard or horseradish. This week, researchers, growers and industry specialists from 22 countries are sharing the latest research into use of Brassica species, such as mustard, radish, or rapeseed, to manage soil-borne pests and weeds – a technique known as biofumigation. Read more at:
http://www.csiro.au/news/BiofumigationSymposium.html
Thanks to Brad N. for the link).

During the past weekend, Paul and Chris Worsman, who are purchasing Lot 134, moved their hive of bees onto the Farm. It is now located amongst the flowering eucalypts near the NE corner of the woodlot. Their beekeeping is not a commercial operation but a learning exercise, and could certainly benefit the Village as beekeeping for honey and pollination services has been on our list of desirable activities from the start. If you would like to be involved in this learning experience, contact Farm Coordinator, Brad Nott on 8557 7163 or by email.

If anyone in your family is allergic to bee stings, alert them to the location of the hive so they can avoid it.

Those who have been looking at our farm over the last couple of weeks will have seen that the mulch crop that was slashed down onto the soil at the end of the last growing season has now been disc cultivated into the soil - nicely timed just before the rain! We now have word from our farmer-contactor that, weather dependent he will shortly be cultivating and sowing a new mulch crop once the soil has dried just enough for tractor access.

It is rewarding to find that after several seasons of using mulch crops to return nutrients to the soil, the physical and chemical health of the soil appears to be improving as intended.