• About
  • Anacotilla: History & Hearsay
  • Junk: A Curated Collection
  • Resources
  • Sheepskins for Sale
  • Species List
  • Yarnauwingga and beyond

Yarnauwi Farm

~ Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Yarnauwi Farm

Category Archives: regeneration

Yarnauwi: the First Five Years

07 Sunday Jan 2018

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

IMG_9876
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.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.

Kangaroo grazing and revegetation: looking for a way forward

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by nopalito in ecology, livestock, planning, regeneration, trees

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

books, ecology, farm, future, holistic management, kangaroos, planning, revegetation, trees

IMG_8035

Western Grey Kangaroos fight it out in one of our revegetation habitat zones

One of the most persistent challenges in our work to revegetate areas of the farm has been managing kangaroos. Despite its previous status as woodland, for decades the farm has been an enforced grassland as hay paddock and pasture, the preferred environment of Western Grey Kangaroos. While early accounts of the region describe the southwestern Fleurieu as “kangaroo country”, land clearing, the elimination of predators such as dingoes, reduced hunting pressure, and in our case, the provision of year-round green pick in the form of a nearby irrigated golf course has contributed to a steady increase of kangaroo numbers.

We’ve observed that the kangaroos follow a seasonal rhythm of converging on our property in numbers during the cooler, wetter months, before dispersing into smaller family groups as the weather warms and dries. During this time, they typically move into the neighbouring golf course, and because of the constant availability of fresh feed it is rare to see a female kangaroo without a joey. While most species of kangaroos typically prefer grass, the Western Grey is also noted as a browser of shrubs and seedlings. Continue reading →

New poster: Imagining Yarnauwi before colonisation

13 Thursday Jul 2017

Posted by nopalito in art & craft, ecology, history, regeneration, trees, waterways

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

art, books, design, ecology, farm, Fleurieu Coast, history, illustration, kangaroos, planning, poster, seasons, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, water, waterways

Click to view a printable, A3 version of the poster.

Over the last few years, we’ve spent a great deal of time learning about the landscape of Yarnauwi, and the broader southwestern Fleurieu Peninsula. This has been essential for us in helping us to understand how the landscape works, and therefore how we can best work to ensure its health and function. We’re inspired by a statement from the 2015 Greenhorns New Farmer’s Almanac, where Connor Stedman writes, “Farms, forests, and grasslands can store and regenerate natural capital again, rebuilding the ecological fabric that is the ultimate source of our prosperity and survival. But to know how to undertake that stewardship, it’s not enough to know the land as it is now. We need to dig below the recent surface and go deeper – find the older ecological and cultural stories of a place. It’s the wildlands that hold these stories, and it’s these lands that will return them to us if we know where to look and how to listen. An agrarian economy needs to tend, restore and engage in a deep relationship with the wild as well as the planted field.”

In this spirit, in this poster we’ve tried to imagine and illustrate the landscape of Yarnauwi and the surrounding area as it may’ve appeared before colonisation. It summarises our reading and research, as well as our experiences exploring more intact local landscapes. It’s a work of imagination, it’s definitely not to scale, but we hope it helps communicate some of the complexity of a functioning landscape and the interactions of the Kaurna in maintaining its function and ecological health over millennia. Then, as now, the southwestern Fleurieu was a cultural landscape, maintained through intentional management practices. This poster is also an effort to acknowledge our own place in the long history of this landscape. Continue reading →

Time and change: revegetation inspiration

10 Monday Jul 2017

Posted by nopalito in ecology, regeneration, trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

before and after, ecology, events, Fleurieu Coast, kangaroos, planning, revegetation, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, winter

Impatient as we are, we’ve become slightly obsessive about “before-and-after” photos in an effort to stay inspired about the possibilities for landscape transformation. About 15 minutes down the road from Yarnauwi, our friends David and Gillian have been gradually revegetating a former grazing property in the hills above Cape Jervis. Perhaps because of its steepness, the property has retained a good number of big old pink gums, together with the occasional ancient sheoak, offering the beginnings of a canopy for regeneration. Seven years ago we helped out with one of their first planting weekends, and I recently unearthed some photos taken at that time. With David, we recently walked around the property to admire the last seven years of growth.

View 1: 2010

View 1: 2017

David and Gillian have been philosophical about kangaroo grazing, with plants getting no more protection than korflute guards. Some plants have been repeatedly mowed down, reaching no higher than the tree guard after seven years, while others have finally stretched above mouth height and are now heading skywards. David notes that no plants were about adult should height for the first five years – something we can relate to at Yarnauwi. Continue reading →

The Fifth Annual Tree Planting Extravaganza

25 Sunday Jun 2017

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

≈ Leave a comment

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 →

Yarnauwi Annual Report 2016

29 Thursday Dec 2016

Posted by nopalito in ecology, planning, regeneration

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

annual report, birds, ecology, erosion, farm, Fleurieu Coast, livestock, permaculture, planning, revegetation, seasons, sheep, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, waste, water, winter

img_7646

In birthday cards I often wish the recipient a coming year of “the right kind of challenge”, optimistically suggesting it will herald positive growth and empowerment through problem-solving and negotiation. This year, I got a taste of my own medicine, with a winter of biblical proportions just the beginning of the challenges.

November marks four years since we began the Yarnauwi project. Four years of attempting to regenerate the property to our optimistic standards on the weekends, of packing and unpacking the car, of ferrying and entertaining one, then two, small children, of revegetating, managing erosion, managing pasture, managing water, managing livestock, managing weeds and managing the legacy of past land managers. These are all admirable, ambitious intentions, and what we’ve achieved has only been possible through the support and enthusiasm of our community of neighbours, friends and family. Continue reading →

Farming with young children

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by nopalito in planning, regeneration, tools

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

children, farm, Fleurieu Coast, hiking, kangaroos, permaculture, photography, southwestern Fleurieu, trees

IMG_8221One of our motivations for seeking land beyond the city was the hope that it would support our children to develop a deep connection with a particular patch of ground. Of course, in imagination, it’s all pretty easy: self-directed kids building cubbies in the golden light of late afternoon, climbing trees and constructing dams. In truth, it sometimes feels like masochism.

There are so many things we could have done (and are now trying to do), that would have made the first years of working with Yarnauwi easier. Our restorative ambitions meant that we chose a piece of land that, while superbly located, is highly exposed and has been much abused over the last almost-two centuries. It brings with it endless challenge, and the need for constant monitoring and intervention. The weather sometimes feels defined by the kind of driving winds that take water tanks for excursions around the farm. There’s always work to be done, and sometimes it feels like you’re working without progress, in an environment that can be hostile to weather-beaten, outdoorsy adults, let alone toddlers.

IMG_7155

Mother and child, with mother and child.

Continue reading →

Winter and the One Rock Dams: erosion control after the rain

24 Sunday Jul 2016

Posted by nopalito in ecology, planning, regeneration, waterways

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

before and after, ecology, erosion, farm, Fleurieu Coast, one rock dam, planning, reuse, seasons, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, water, waterways, winter

IMG_8265

Rain, and a full dam.

By late July this year we’ve already exceeded our entire rainfall for 2015, and for now, the rain shows no signs of abating. This is fantastic news for our revegetation efforts, and our dam is now almost full for the first time in two years. With heavy rains – we managed to top 100mm (4 inches) in a single day – it’s also a chance to test the effectiveness of the erosion control strategies we’ve employed.

With significant erosion in some key areas of the property, we’ve worked to adapt erosion control strategies such as those practised by Bill Zeedyk and Craig Sponholtz (see April’s Waterway Restoration workshop/working bee and our Resources page for more information). In particular, we’ve constructed Zuni bowls, for arresting headcuts, and One Rock Dams, to slow water flow, catch sediment and gradually lift the floor of erosion gullies. After the recent deluge, we toured the works to see how we went. The Zuni bowls have had mixed success: those in relative stable locations have been effective, those in dispersive soils have been unpredictable. The One Rock Dams (ORDs) have been generally successful, if swamped by sediment!

The impact of 100mm of rain in one day is significant: exposed areas lose significant amounts of soil (some areas of gully floor had almost 30cm of freshly deposited sediment), and areas of dispersive soil go berserk, collapsing in all directions. For some of these areas, we’re continually seeking further advice, but for those we can manage, we monitor and tweak over time, and try to “let the water do the work” in healing the landscape.

Continue reading →

Matching trees to tricky spots

25 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by nopalito in ecology, planning, propagation, regeneration, trees

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

ecology, erosion, farm, Fleurieu Coast, permaculture, revegetation, seasons, seeds, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, water

IMG_7914

Eucalyptus occidentalis, a hardy, salinity and waterlogging tolerant timber and bee forage WA species, putting on new growth despite a dry year.

For the first couple of years of tree planting, we adopted a pretty haphazard approach, planting a bit of everything everywhere, and waiting to see what would stick. It took only a couple of months to highlight which areas offered the conditions for revegetation at a respectable pace, and which did not. Some patches only appeared to support certain species, others seemed to support nothing at all. The challenge has been to work out why. For enthusiastic amateurs like us, the working out comes through plenty of observation, plenty of reading and plenty of research.

IMG_7870

One persistently hostile area of the farm offers saline, slaking, seasonally waterlogged clay with tunneling and cracks you could lose a child down.

For some areas on our farm, vegetation is a valuable indicator, plants like sea barley grass (Hordeum marinum) suggests mild salinity, and, in our case, seasonal waterlogging. In others, aspect and soil type present challenges. Three years of tree planting and walks through local bushland have also given us a sense of which local species might suit which locations. We keep trying new configurations in the same places, and also try to mimic the natural process of succession by planting hardy pioneers first, then waiting for them to establish shelter and canopy before adding others. As the balance of the landscape has changed through clearing, cultivation and the associated effects of erosion, shifting water tables and changes in nutrients and soil biology, many of the species that may have dominated a couple of centuries ago no longer tolerate certain areas of the block. Likewise, some areas that may have been conducive to vegetation when woodland was already present, once cleared, they seem to be hostile to its re-establishment: for example, a north-facing corridor of grey, cracking clay that has resisted our affections for two years now. Continue reading →

The Fourth Annual Tree Planting Extravaganza!

20 Monday Jun 2016

Posted by nopalito 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 →

← Older posts

Yarnauwi on Etsy

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 182 other followers

Yarnauwi on Instagram

A new prototype from our farm-raised sheep hides, this time a belt pouch for bringing Viking mystique or outdoorsy practicality to any outfit! Learnt plenty about pattern design, stitching with two needles and the right amount of waxed thread, attaching hardware and more! We're continuing to refine ideas for crafting items from our sheepskins, get in touch if you have ideas and we hope to release some concepts for purchase in the coming months. #leather #leathercraft #handmade #sheepskin #farmraised #fleurieucoastmadebynature #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula #farm #australianmade #sheep #viking #pouch #belt #yarnauwi #prototype #bag #crafts #craft #custom #handstitched #damara #dorper #thewholebeast
The "Bardi Gras" is ON! With a few good days of rain after a long dry summer, bardi grubs have surfaced emerging from their underground pupal cases as giant rain moths. #rain #bardi #grub #moth #rainmoth #bardigras #autumn #fleurieucoastmadebynature #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula #farm #yarnauwi #seasons
Prototyping a new camp stool concept for our sheepskins, raised, grazed, butchered and tanned on the Fleurieu. Scroll across for the finished product, via pattern making and a test run in denim, the tripod base in Eucalyptus obliqua, then the final product, timber oiled, hardware tested, sheep hide in position. Perfect for warming by a winter campfire! #prototype #camp #stool #sheepskin #hide #pattern #stringybark #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula #madebynature #fleurieucoastmadebynature #leather #fur #craft #handmade #farm #sheep #handmade #timber #leathercraft
Inspired by an idea in Maryanne Moodie's "On the Loom" book, we whittled some suitable forked sticks at Kuitpo forest to use as the loom for some experimental mini weavings, such fun! #naturalweaving #Kuitpo #naturecraft #whittling #kidscraft
Today's inspiring library haul, including: 'Grass, soil, hope', exploring land regeneration and tackling climate change through increasing soil carbon; 'Call of the reed warbler', looking at regenerative grazing and holistic management in Australia; 'The permaculture market garden' for its awesome illustrations and farm planning processes and 'Homecamp' for artfully styled outdoorsy excitement. Dewey numbers are included for your book requesting convenience. Much to ponder here for the next steps at Yarnauwi and beyond! #farm #bookstagram #dewey #deweynumber #onecardtorulethemall #permaculture #books #librarybooks #agriculture @home_camp @zachloeks @quiviracoalition @jcourtneywhite @adelaidecitylibraries #holisticmanagement #holisticgrazing #carbonfarming
Most of the farm is pretty dry now, but last winter we planted an embankment with Atriplex semibaccata and it's still growing, oblivious to the heat and dry. It's also covered in clouds of these tiny butterflies, a little island of habitat in the middle of a paddock! #yarnauwi #butterfly #saltbush #atriplex #revegetation #habitat #farm #fleurieucoast #fleurieupeninsula #madebynature
A morning spent at a Family Crabbing workshop with @natureplaysa and PIRSA Fishwatch inevitably leads to pre-dawn Sunday craft! Caught and released maybe eight blue swimmers, made and kept two cardboard crawlers. #crab #blueswimmercrab #natureplay #crafts #making
Second Valley market stall in progress, with first two sales made!
Yarnauwi will have our first stall at the Second Valley Market this coming Saturday 10am-3pm in the Soldiers Memorial Institute! Items for sale include these two new embroidered artworks (Ross the Tractor and The Topography of Second Valley), linocut art prints of local scenes, sheepskins from our sheep tanned by Southern Tanners, and our first 5 years commemorative publication. Head along if you're willing to brave the heat - a swim at Second Valley beach is thoroughly recommended post-market! #yarnauwi #fleurieucoast #madebynature #fleurieupeninsula #secondvalley #fish #embroidery #linocut #tractor @fleurieucoast @fleurieucoastmadebynature

What We’re Writing About

alpacas Anacotilla annual report art bees before and after birds books building cheese children climate change craft damara design downloads drosera ecology embroidery erosion etsy events farm fencing Fleurieu Fleurieu Coast food future hack hiking history illustration insects kangaroos lamb livestock logo market garden nursery one rock dam permaculture photography picnics planning plants Plastic-free July printing propagation recipes recycling reuse revegetation sea seasons seeds shed sheep shop soil southwestern Fleurieu spring stiles summer sundew textiles tractor trees ute vegetables Village Greens waste water waterways winter zones

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.com

Blog at WordPress.com.

Cancel