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Yarnauwi Farm

~ Fleurieu Peninsula, South Australia

Yarnauwi Farm

Tag Archives: photography

Tiny communities

27 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by Joel in ecology, regeneration, trees

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

ecology, farm, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, insects, photography, revegetation, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, spiders, summer, trees

New growth on a red gum sapling.

We’ve been talking a bit recently about when a woodland becomes a woodland. Asher suggested 500 years of growth, but was willing to settle for 50. Perhaps it’s a woodland when the birds think so, when the firetails and blue wrens jump the boundary fence from neigbouring scrub and decide they’re safe flitting from branch to branch. As our earliest plantings grow taller than humans, and the canopies thicken and throw shade, we started noticing an increasing diversity of tiny life. Insects for whom a gum or wattle tree is their universe are finding their way across the paddocks to settle in the emerging plantings. Despite the heat and dry of summer, the trees are heaving with insect life. We recently saw the documentary The Biggest Little Farm about an idealistic (and evidently well-funded!) couple who start a diverse 200 acre farming project outside of Los Angeles. One of the messages of the film is that when you create the right conditions, nature finds a balance. As we walked through the saplings, on one, the new growth and leaves were being systematically devoured by small copper coloured beetles. We walked to the next tree, the copper beetles were present, but as we watched, were body slammed by wasps and carried away. At the next, the beetles had been busy, but now a spider had arrived, and was meticulously wrapping the beetle population in silk. Perhaps these tiny communities are beginning to find the balance too.

Here’s a tour of some of the life on the trees – we’d love your help with identification!

Beetle eats leaf.

Spider eats beetle.

Ants farm aphids on an Acacia.

A huntsman and egg sac.

Leafhopper, with comrades.

Two-spotted cup moth caterpillar.

Case moth cocoon, constructed from silk and twigs.

Ants on twisty leaves. What’s going on?!

Wasp galls on a golden wattle.

Year of Fire: Annual Report 2020

27 Monday Jan 2020

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

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

annual report, books, ecology, erosion, farm, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, kangaroos, livestock, permaculture, photography, planning, revegetation, seasons, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, summer, trees, winter, yarnauwi

A melted tree guard shrink wraps a seedling after a fire move through part of the property in January 2019.

2019 began and ended in fire. In early January, some errant fireworks set off by passers-by landed in one of our front paddocks, burning across a couple of hectares of our property. We were lucky. There was little wind, and it was quickly noticed and contained by our amazing neighbours and the CFS. Meanwhile, in Tasmania, fires ripped through the forests, and by spring and early summer, vast tracts of the east coast and Kangaroo Island were catastrophically aflame once again. While we’ve escaped the drought and bushfires that have gripped so much of the continent, these phenomena have served to focus our goals and aspirations in 2019. It’s been a year of learning as we work towards a more regenerative approach: ultimately building soil and harvesting water and carbon in the landscape.

2019 had the dubious distinction of being Australia’s hottest and driest year on record. It got pretty warm in the shed.

Learning
Our regenerative aspirations have been focused by some outstanding events this year. In June, we attended the Deep Winter Agrarian Gathering in Willunga, drawing together 150 aspiring and established regenerative farmers from around Australia to share skills and ideas. Former CSIRO microbiologist and climate scientist Walter Jehne set the tone with a rousing and inspirational keynote on restoring natural processes through agriculture to cool the climate.

The Food Forest’s Annemarie Brookman with Gardening Australia’s Costa Georgiadis at Deep Winter, Willunga.

Continue reading →

Nightlife in the Country

08 Saturday Jun 2019

Posted by Joel in art & craft, ecology, exploring

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

camera, ecology, farm, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, fox, kangaroos, photography, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, wildlife

A little while ago I received a motion camera, triggered by movement and able to shoot in complete darkness with an infra-red flash. I mounted it on a fence post, scattered some food scraps in front and left it for a week. Over the week it’s offered us a fascinating window into the life of the farm.

Curious kangaroo

Boxing match

The fight gets out of hand

Persistence is rewarded

Very curious kangaroo.

Unsurprisingly, the hordes of kangaroos feature heavily. They graze through the day and night, occasionally box, and one problem-solver has multiple attempts at reaching  the enticing leaves of a mesh-guarded sapling. Continue reading →

Treasures from the deep: more curated gully junk

31 Sunday Mar 2019

Posted by Joel in ecology, history, waterways

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

clean up Australia, curated junk, erosion, farm, Fleurieu Coast, photography, Plastic-free July, recycling, regeneration, restoration, reuse, southwestern Fleurieu, textiles, waste

Despite a long silence from us, there’s still lots going on at Yarnauwi, not least our ongoing attempt to clean up historic dumping in our erosion gullies. We feel like we’re closing in on the last 30 metres or so of junk to clear and now we’re so close to finishing it can sometimes be difficult maintaining motivation! While most of the material remaining is steel or demolition rubble, both of which we recycle or repurpose, there are still pockets of wonder in the form of various plastic domestic items. Happily, the plantings established in previously cleared areas are now well-established and working to stablise the exposed gully walls as well as restore them as habitat and an ephemeral waterway. We’ll write with more updates soon, but in the meantime, enjoy these treasures from the deep.

Specimen #51: Plastic clown launcher from a “Dandina Sky Dancer”, released in 1995. This particular clown is from the Italian Masque series of the toy. Intact toys from this series in original packaging are available online for a mere US$75.00. (Thank you to Pascelle for the ID, see comments below)

Specimen #52: Wobbling bear in winter attire.

Specimen #53: Battery operated toy train.

Specimen #54: Lightly soiled Boggle Junior console, dating from around 1988. Some cosmetic wear and tear.

Continue reading →

Farming fungi

11 Saturday Aug 2018

Posted by Joel in ecology, exploring, regeneration

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

ecology, farm, Fleurieu, Fleurieu Coast, fungi, mycorrhiza, photography, revegetation, seasons, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, winter

Getting excited about fungi on a wet day at Hindmarsh Falls, Fleurieu Peninsula.

In the last year or so we’ve really begun to appreciate the importance of fungi in a living landscape. The fungi (toadstools, mushrooms and so on) we see pop up after rain are the fruiting bodies of sometimes vast underground fungal networks. Some of these fungi form relationships with plant roots that are often mutually beneficial and enhance the plant’s ability to access nutrients and moisture. The Australian National Botanic Gardens suggest that some 80-90% of Australian plants form or benefit from mycorrhizal networks (fungal associations), and may derive up to 30% of their food through this symbiotic relationship. 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.

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 Wet Season 2016

06 Sunday Nov 2016

Posted by Joel in ecology, livestock, trees, waterways

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

ecology, erosion, farm, Fleurieu Coast, history, livestock, permaculture, photography, revegetation, seasons, sheep, soil, southwestern Fleurieu, trees, water, waterways, winter

The first big storm saw the dam fill and rivers broaden to ten times their normal size for an afternoon. A neighbour’s creek crossing dissolved in the flow, the rock and rubble broadcast along the river bottom. The second big storm saw our rainwater tank, still awaiting a shed to fill it, lifted vertically from its nest of stardroppers, vaulting a tractor and four or five fences before being swept off in the swollen waters of the Anacotilla River, carried across two properties and wedged under a red gum. The third storm came with days of warnings, threats of winds over 120km/h and rainfall to rival all of the previous deluges. It left all of South Australia without electricity, the farm a sucking, gurgling swamp, and me walking home through a darkened, scrambling city.

img_8290

Mist in the valleys

It’s been a demanding few months on the farm. The persistent moisture has made the ground unworkable, most of the farm inaccessible except on foot and the weather generally hostile to both our motivation and ability to do anything useful. The vast quantities of rain we’ve received however, have meant that moisture has permeated deep into the subsoil, so we console ourselves with the hope that as the weather warms, our tree plantings (including those from earlier this winter) will rocket skywards. Continue reading →

Farming with young children

02 Tuesday Aug 2016

Posted by Joel 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.

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Mother and child, with mother and child.

Continue reading →

Local Adventures: Kalamunda Native Forest Reserve

13 Sunday Dec 2015

Posted by Joel in ecology, exploring, history, livestock, planning, regeneration

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

ecology, farm, photography, revegetation, seasons, southwestern Fleurieu, summer, trees

 

IMG_7317

Looking towards Yankalilla Hill and The Gorge, Normanville from the northeastern corner of Kalamunda Native Forestry Reserve. The radio masts of Yankalilla Hill (the cliffs above Lady Bay) are just visible on the left of the photograph.

We pulled in at gate MH18, 50 metres from the summit of Mount Hayfield at the northern end of Mount Hayfield Road (off Springs Road, from Range Road). Through the pine plantations we could see flashes of sky and the brown paddocks stretching off to the north. It’s up in the highlands here, and where it’s not grazing land or forestry plantations, there’s still patches of native forest, the most significant of which is the Kalamunda Native Forest Reserve, part of the Second Valley Forest complex.

Continuing our research into the ecology of the Fleurieu, we’ve been looking for examples of what our own landscape might have looked like before clearing to help guide our regeneration efforts. Of the three local forest reserves, Kalamunda seemed like a good fit. Perched above Yankalilla, Kalamunda is a fragment of the kind of woodlands which were present across the Fleurieu.

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Walking through the pines

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From where we'd rather be...actually there's nowhere we'd rather be! Big thumbs up for the kids' new hammock under the old gums. So glad to finally be here at last! Happy 2023 all 🌿
First fig of the season. A monster Black Genoa, organically grown in our little windswept orchard.
As proof of the recent confusing weather patterns, these Amanita mushrooms came up a few days ago! We've never seen mushrooms here in November, they're usually all finished by August, and we've never seen this species or anything like it here before! Amanitas are mycorrhizal (they form a partnership with a tree/plant to help feed and nourish it in exchange for sugars) and these ones were growing only 1m or so from a Eucalypt we planted about 7 years ago which has always grown really well. I just wonder if this species has been there all along, waiting for perfect conditions of 45mm in one day in Nov to be able to fruit! And now it can reproduce and spread to other parts of the farm. It makes me wonder what else is out there ready to take advantage of crazy climactic conditions!
As long time admirers of @thegreenhorns we're thrilled that Joel's comic about weeds will be published in Vol. VI of "The New Farmer's Almanac". It all releases this January and pre-orders are available now through @chelseagreenbooks
Frog spawn! 🐸 We've never seen this before at Yarnauwi but with the best rains in years our dam is filling up, the air is full of the calls of the Spotted Grass Frog and the Common Froglet, and we seem to be providing enough grassy water habitat for these eggs to be laid with enough shelter for them to grow into the little black tadpoles you can see inside! Lying next to the dam listening to frog calls definitely takes us to our happy place and makes it all so very worthwhile 💚
2022 marks a decade since we started working to regenerate Yarnauwi. To celebrate Joel's been working on a little comic to acknowledge all the amazing folks in our community near and far who have supported us and this place over the last 10 years. Here's a sample, but the whole thing is on our blog - follow the link in our bio!
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.

What We’re Writing About

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