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Yarnauwi Farm

~ Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Yarnauwi Farm

Category Archives: events

Nine years of tree planting

13 Sunday Jun 2021

Posted by Joel in ecology, events, regeneration, trees

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

design, ecology, farm, Fleurieu Coast, permaculture, planning, revegetation, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, trees

Yarnauwi, after the first year of planting, Winter 2013

Nine years ago, our community of friends and family stepped onto a soggy and windswept paddock and began their first year of tree-planting at Yarnauwi. Despite the disappointment of early failures, they’ve returned every winter since and in 2021 our friends returned again, taking the tally of trees and shrubs planted to almost 7800 since 2013.

After planting about 1000 trees a year for the first few years, we now have the luxury of reducing our plantings to a few hundred, filling in gaps and tweaking projects. This year, the focus was on developing a shelter and habitat belt around the front paddock and filling gaps in the emerging woodland of our “wilderness zones”. In honour of long-time friend-of-the-farm Anthony, currently constrained by lockdown interstate, we also planted several rows of Old Man Saltbush on contour through our silvopasture block.

Planting kicks off in 2021, looking in the same direction as the photo above.

Over the last nine years we’ve learnt a lot. With the right guards (corflute for humidity, mallee mesh for kangaroo protection) we’ve significantly increased the survival rate (from almost 0 to about 70-80%) without supplementary watering. Although we still have plenty to learn, we’ve learnt much more about reading soil and aspect, and matching the right plants to the right spots. After a subdued, Covidian planting last year, it was wonderful to welcome volunteers back to Yarnauwi and for the first time, there were moments when it felt like working in a woodland, rather than the open paddock of almost a decade ago.

We’re so grateful to our friends and family for their support and belief in the future. We look forward to seeing what the next nine years may bring.

Digging a spot for a new tree in the emerging woodland.
The 2021 Tree Crew

Fleurieu history: Imagining landscape change

07 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by Joel in ecology, events, exploring, history, planning, regeneration, trees, waterways

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

books, climate change, creeks, erosion, fire, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, Fleurieu Peninsula, history, history society, Kaurna, land management, rain, regeneration, regenerative agriculture, research, revegetation, rivers, water

In March 2020, Joel was invited to present to the Yankalilla & District Historical Society on our research into how the landscape of the Fleurieu has changed over the last few centuries. Below is an edited version of the talk. If you’re interested in knowing more, we can also send you some links to interesting historical images from the colonial period. Any errors are our own – let us know if you have any questions or comments.

In 2012, my wife Sophie and I, with our children Asher and Annika purchased Yarnauwi, just outside of Second Valley. Our property is just under 50 acres, running between South Road and the Wirrina golf course, and over the last seven years with the generous support of our friends, neighbours and family we’ve worked to regenerate this patch of the landscape.

Our property is intended to remain at least partly agricultural. We’re not seeking to return it to a prior state of imagined ecological perfection. As we’ve discovered through our research and through our experience of working with the land over the last seven years, too much has changed and is still changing to return what was there before colonisation.

Instead, we’re working to restore its health and function as a landscape, and to build its resilience in a changing climate. I’m neither an historian or a scientist, however we have spent a lot of time contemplating both history and science, and tonight I wanted to share with you some of what my wife Sophie and I have discovered in our process of working to regenerate Yarnauwi. Continue reading →

Yarnauwi (Virtual) Farm Tour 2020

09 Thursday Apr 2020

Posted by Joel in events, history, regeneration, trees, waterways

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Tags

ecology, erosion, events, farm, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, permaculture, revegetation, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, tour, trees, water

There’s been so much growth and change at the farm over the last year that we really wanted to share with our team of volunteers and supporters. However, with everyone staying in their postcode this holiday weekend and farm tours suspended for the foreseeable future, we thought we’d put together a little video so you can still enjoy the big skies of the Fleurieu! Take care, and we hope to see you back under the trees soon!

Deep Winter comes to the Fleurieu!

16 Tuesday Jul 2019

Posted by Joel in events, food, livestock, regeneration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

agrarian, conference, deep winter, ecology, farm, farming, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, food, gathering, livestock, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, soil, winter

Joel dusted off his design degree to contribute a logo to the gathering.

Each winter since 2015, aspiring and established small-scale and regenerative farmers and their supporters and allies have gathered somewhere in Australia as part of the Deep Winter Agrarian Gathering to share ideas and inspiration for their projects and enterprises. In June 2019, this convergence drifted westwards to be held in Willunga, South Australia, and we were delighted to participate.

150 aspiring and established regenerative farmers, growers and their friends gathered in Willunga, SA, for the Deep Winter Agrarian Gathering.

The tone for the convergence was set with a keynote from former CSIRO microbiologist and climate scientist Walter Jehne, who spoke on the role and responsibility of rebuilding soil carbon and water cycles through agriculture and land management. Through his inspiring presentation, Jehne drew on indigenous land management as described in the work of Bill Gammage and Bruce Pascoe to also establish a precedent for the capacity of Australian soils to hold significant amounts of carbon and water.

Walter Jehne, in full flight.

Continue reading →

Yarnauwi: the First Five Years

07 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by Joel in art & craft, diy, ecology, events, history, regeneration, trees, waterways

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Tags

art, books, design, ecology, history, illustration, photography, planning

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Towards the end of 2012 we first came to Yarnauwi Farm. The property at that time was a single paddock, carved up with junk-filled erosion gullies and with two regal, remnant red gums smeared up the hillside by the wind. However, set within a grand landscape of rolling hills and a couple of kilometres from the coast, there was something about it that captured our attention and our aspirations.

Five years later, the property is beginning to change. The survivors of annual tree planting are now heading skywards, most of the junk is gone, paddocks have been fenced, some erosion gullies are stabilising, sheep graze, fruit trees peek from the tops of tree guards and rain thunders on a shed roof. The last five years have brought with them an almost vertical learning curve, challenge, plenty of failures and the indescribable satisfaction of seeing seedlings become trees become woodland.

We’ve tried documenting this process online here at yarnauwi.com, but to celebrate this milestone we’ve also produced a limited edition book curating photos, illustrations and writings from the last five years.

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Yarnauwi: The First Five Years is divided into sections on the history of the property, trees and tree planting, creek restoration and erosion management, treasures extracted from the junk heaps, property planning, “obtaining a yield” and landscape change through the Fleurieu seasons. Each section is copiously illustrated with photographs and drawings and hopefully provides inspiration to others who are seeking to regenerate their own landscape or who have a connection with the spectacular landscape of the Fleurieu Coast. A number of sections contain “before-and-after” photographs of locations around the farm showing the impact of tree planting and low-tech erosion management strategies, predictably however, with a few decent summer downpours the changes were even more dramatic just a month or two after taking the final photographs!

It’s available for purchase now from our Etsy shop and we’ll also have a few copies available, together with sheepskins and farm- and Fleurieu-inspired artworks at the Second Valley Market from 10.00am-3.00pm on Saturday 27 January 2018.

Yarnauwi: The First Five Years
Softcover, 48 pages, full colour on premium satin paper.
Approximately 21.7cm x 28cm.

The Fifth Annual Tree Planting Extravaganza

25 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by Joel in ecology, events, propagation, regeneration, trees

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Tags

farm, Fleurieu Coast, permaculture, propagation, revegetation, seasons, seeds, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, winter

“Trees are the poems the earth writes upon the sky” said Kahlil Gibran. Pete, Shani and Sophie prepare to plant.

This year is our fifth on Yarnauwi, and this June saw our fifth annual tree-planting extravaganza. Over the last five years, our amazing community of tree planters and supporters have planted 5000 trees and other plants on Yarnauwi as we work to restore woodland, stabilise and repair erosion and plant trees for future timber, forage and food. Following the last four years of observation and experimentation, in 2017 our main focus was planting carefully selected species into some of the more challenging areas of the property. Each year we’ve propagated and planted trees sourced from both Trees for Life and our own seed collection. In addition to their generous labour and time, we’re honoured that Yarnauwi regulars Richard and Marg have now immortalised the annual tree-planting tradition in a musical saga, published below and sung to the tune of Loudon Wainwright’s The Swimming Song. The lyricists also pre-emptively apologise for any character assassination contained within.

Putting in soil-stabilising groundcovers around the shed.

A week or two following the tree-planting extravaganza, we were delighted to host the Permaculture Association of South Australia for a walking tour and lunch, sharing our property planning process and how we’ve approached the landscape restoration through a permaculture lens – of which these plantings are a central element. Thank you to Tree Team 2017: Anthony, Pete, Shani, Arlo, Freya, Jeremy, Claire, Innis, Sal, Mary, Branny, Richard, Marg, Nat, Jess, Oliver, Gillian, David, Geoff and Andrew.

One of the electives at this year’s tree-planting fiesta was making plaster casts of animal tracks. Here we have a collection of fox tracks from the dam’s edge.

Continue reading →

A tour, a shed-warming and four years of change on the farm

03 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by Joel in building, events, planning

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

art, design, events, farm, fencing, Fleurieu Coast, map, permaculture, photography, picnics, revegetation, seasons, shed, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, tour, water

Guests take a tour of one of the revegetation areas, inspecting the growth of four years of planting. Photo by Jeff Catchlove.

On a balmy autumn afternoon, we celebrated the new shed with sixty of Yarnauwi Farm’s friends and supporters. Following a tour of the farm, we settled into a shared dinner and drinks by the campfire.

To mark the occasion we also produced a self-guided tour map of important developments and points of interest on the property, hard copies of which were gifted to our guests to be stuck on fridges and toilet doors.

Yarnauwi Farm Self-Guided Map. (Click for a printable A3 version).

The changes that have occurred at Yarnauwi over the last four-and-a-half-years have only been possible through the encouragement, support and labour of our community of friends, neighbours and family. We hope that this celebration went some way towards expressing how grateful we are.

Continue reading →

The Fourth Annual Tree Planting Extravaganza!

20 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by Joel in ecology, events, planning, regeneration, trees

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

ecology, farm, Fleurieu Coast, kangaroos, revegetation, seasons, sheep, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, winter

IMG_8069

Reforesting the Fleurieu, one tree(guard) at a time.

Over the June long weekend, once again our loyal crew of tree-planters descended on Yarnauwi for the fourth year of tree planting. This year we planted 600 plants, local species associated with pink and red gum woodlands.

IMG_8095

The 2016 Crew

After 3 years of planting, many patches of seedlings are now well established, and on rainfall only they’re slowly growing into the landscape. Our mission for this year was to fill in some unplanted spaces, trace windbreaks and corridors between islands of vegetation, replant tricky spots with specially selected vegetation and to expand some of our successful woodlots. Spots that we cleared junk from earlier in the year were planted out, and areas of erosion control will also be planted with sedges and reeds this season. Continue reading →

Waterway restoration at Yarnauwi

20 Wednesday Apr 2016

Posted by Joel in ecology, events, regeneration, waterways

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

ecology, erosion, events, farm, Fleurieu Coast, picnics, recycling, southwestern Fleurieu, waste, water, waterways

In April, we belatedly participated in Clean Up Australia Day, focussing our attentions on the final lode of rubbish in the gullies and constructing erosion control structures in areas of active erosion. Kitted out in dust-masks and gloves, our amazing team of volunteers completed in an hour what it would take us weeks to do alone, and by day’s end had removed six trailer-loads of steel, and about 20 sacks of rubbish, together with miscellaneous sun umbrellas, fitness treadmills and bmx frames. (See our Curated Junk page for similar treasures – undoubtedly there are more to come!)

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Continue reading →

The Yarnauwi Farm Annual Report 2015

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Joel in diy, events, livestock, planning, regeneration, trees

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

annual report, design, ecology, farm, livestock, permaculture, planning, revegetation, seasons, sheep, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees

You can view a printable version of this Annual Report here.

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We’re now three years into the Yarnauwi project. With all of our major water and fencing infrastructure in place, 2015 was a year of consolidating and refining our planting and grazing systems, and continuing to restore habitat while also developing income streams. Once again, we thank you for your support this year, whether that’s been planting trees, purchasing meat, hauling junk, offering advice or just being generally encouraging! We feel enormously privileged to have such a supportive community of family, friends and neighbours contributing to the restoration and development of this patch of ground. Continue reading →

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Thanks to everyone who came joined us on our farm tour as part of @historyfestival and @heritagefleurieucoastfestival - we really appreciate your interest and enthusiasm!
We're honoured to have this story pop up on @abcnews_au sharing some of the work we've been doing to regenerate our patch. Our deepest thanks to all the friends, neighbours and family who have helped transform the property over the last decade!
It's been a good year in our little orchard, with plenty of ripe figs for us - and others! Here's one we found, positioned just like this on top of a fence post. I'm looking for a raven with fig juice running down its chin.
It might have an Instagram-unfriendly level of detail, but here's a comic Joel's been working on about our relationship with a particular weed, and some of the people who have inspired us to rethink how we manage it. You can have a look at the whole thing on our blog.
For the last few years we've been planting acorns in our front paddock. They're for Holm oaks (Quercus ilex), adapted to a similar dryland Mediterranean climate as ours. They're evergreen, and in decades to come will offer shade, fire suppression and both stock and human feed throughout their acorns. They're slow growing at best, but we've been able to get them growing with mulch, complete organic fertiliser and occasional watering. We've sliced pickle barrels into rings and partially buried them to form a well to hold water in the root zone when watering. The difference between those with and without the wells is pronounced. This little one is perhaps 3 years old, direct seeded.
After a couple of years, our stone terrace garden is complete and freshly planted with a pomegranate, mulberry and loquat. Thanks to @anacotillasprings for the stone! The scraps of mesh and sheep panels will keep the kangaroos off while we establish the garden.
The nopal with a fighting spirit! 💪 For years this single old prickly pear pad sat in a metal bucket only half full of soil, repeatedly gnawed at and knocked over by roos and presumed to be long dead. A bit of heat and dose of summer rain and what a resurrection! With its delicious fruit and young pads, we are so lucky to have such tough plants in the world!🌵#opuntia #pricklypear
We have reached a major milestone with the arrival of a Superb Fairy-Wren family! This is one of the species we have most been trying to attract by planting plenty of dense bushes for cover. In the end they used chest-high brassica weeds to hop up from the Anacotilla creek valley, and have set up a nest in one of our Old Man Saltbushes. One blue male and two brown females/juveniles can now be heard merrily cheeping as they flit along our wildlife corridors from saltbush to saltbush to kangaroo thorn to feral fig tree - just goes to show weeds have their place in habitat creation! 🌿 (this image taken at a different location). #maluruscyaneus #superbfairywren #fleurieucoast
"The best fertiliser is the farmer's footsteps," goes the old proverb, so we try and make a habit of walking and observing what's going on, whenever we can. Here's a few spring time happenings: Christmas beetles arrive, shinglebacks on the move, callistemons in a pollination frenzy, and roos chilling in the shade in small family groups. Observing helps us to understand what's working and inspires us to keep going.

What We’re Writing About

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