Hastings small farm network

Agricultural Information day – Kempsey

hastingslc — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:02:44 +0000

You might be interested in this Agircultural Information Day

2012 – getting back on line

hastingslc — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:46:18 +0000

I have finally found time to update this small farm site and I am hoping that my edits come through OK – Time will tell – so please bear with my initial efforts. Please send any feedback – I will endeavour to check the site weekly.

It has been a busy time sorting out a Calender of Events for the next few months but it is finally done.

I am working on including feedback from the various events held late last year for the balance of the 2012 calender. Check out the Events page for the current program.

re Service Providers / Contractors in the Sustainable Farming and Natural Resource Management Field

Hastings Landcare Inc. is currently determining a policy re listing of local contractors / service providers in the sustainable farming and natural resource management field. We aim to provide equity of opportunity and cover any associated liability issues. I will keep you updated on what is resolved.

Small and sustainable – Caring for our Country project COMPLETE!

hastingslc — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 02:18:45 +0000

The funding received from CfoC for this project to run workshops and establish this website has now been spent, bringing the project to an end. It has been a very successful project and there is ongoing interest in workshops and field days. Therefore, Hastings Landcare is keen to continue on with the website and offering educational opportunities to landholders. For a summary of the project and its achievements, click here Small & sustainable_Summary.

Daintry Gerrand will now be the contact for the group established through this project and will be keeping them updated on all projects and activites of interest. Hastings Landcare would like to thank all participants (over 180 attendees at all the workshops!) for their interest and enthusiasm which made the project such a success. See the contacts page for all Daintry’s contact details.

Regards,

Ann E.

Field Days coming up – soils and paddock plants

hastingslc — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 01:03:08 +0000

Hi All,

Just letting you know about some workshops coming up.

Carol Rose (DPI agronomist) will be running paddock plants days at Bellangry and Ellenborough on the 18th and 21st October. For more information and booking see the Events page.

Dr. Christine Jones will be running soils workshops in the Manning and Great Lakes regions on the 25th, 26th and 27th October. Car pooling arrangements are being made for the 25th October – please contact Hastings Landcare on 6586 4465. For more information see the Events page.

Also, some forward notice for Dr. Maarten Stapper who will be coming to the Hastings on 12th March 2012 to talk on biological farming. We will post more information on this as it comes to hand, but mark it in your diary now.

Farming workshop bits and pieces

apeggert — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:28:08 +0000

Thanks to all who attended the latest workshop held last Mon and Tue the 5th and 6th September. We had a great attendance level and everybody seemed to enjoy it. Thank you very much to Andrew, Chris, Kelly, Michael and Beth who gave up their time to attend the workshop. All the speakers were very knowledgeable and professional and were very well received by the participants. I have added Michael, Andrew and Kelly to the contacts and the Dung Beetle Express website to the links (Beth also said she forgot to mention that dung beetles do not like the acidic environment of feedlots and that they are fussy when it comes to the moisture content of their dung!).

Something I forgot to mention at the workshop – there is to be a local Landcare group in town – the Wauchope Landcare group is currently in the formation stage and will run under the Wauchope Progress Association. They will be working on improving various sites around the town in close cooperation with council. Their first task will be Blackbutt Park. If you would like more information or would like to join the group, please call Paul Scott at the Hastings Landcare Office on 6586 4465.

Thanks

Ann E

Workshop on Trees!

apeggert — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 04:31:51 +0000

The last workshop to be run through this project will be a three day extravaganza on trees, bush tucker and tree crops this Monday, Tues and Wed (19th, 20th and 21st September). A flyer is attached for your information Tree workshop flyer. If you would like to attend, please RSVP ASAP!

Regards,

Ann

Farming workshop

apeggert — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:10:20 +0000

Hi All, It has been a bit quiet on the western front lately, but I have been rather busy. Have finally now got around to organising another workshop. This one will be on a variety of topics, which will hopefully be of interest to you. Please see this attached flyer for further details. Farming workshop flyer As I nail down the minor details, I will post a more detailed timetable. Please RSVP as soon as you can, so I can see how we are going for numbers. Any questions, please give me a call.

There will also hopefully be another workshop on the 19th and 20th September on various topics related to trees, but I am still working on that one. I am also trying to work out the best way to post your various questions/issues that were raised at the Holistic Mangement course in a way that can be easily tracked and organised. Paul is also in the process of ordering some books which will be able to be borrowed from the Landcare office. I will post the titles and details as I get them.

That’s about all for now, Ann E.

Flood Recovery Information Days

apeggert — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:40:37 +0000

Just to let you know that there will be some information days on flood recovery next week in Wauchope, Smithtown and Macksville. See the events page for more information and a flyer.

Information session with Nutrisoil – 13th June, 2011

apeggert — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 12:34:02 +0000

Nutrisoil, who have developed and manufacture the product called Nutrisoil LS (liquid spray), which is a concentrated liquid plant food, have offered to do an information session for us on soil health, soil biology and their product. Unfortunately, the only day they could do it was the 13th June, which is a) not far away and b) the Queen’s birthday! Although for those of you that work, that may work out OK. Anyway, hopefully, we we’ll get a few there. See the events page on this website for more information and a flyer and brochure.

Regards,

Ann

Northern Rivers Food Links – a treasure trove of resources for food producers

achearne — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 03:15:41 +0000

The Northern Rivers Food Links is a wonderful initiative involving seven councils and the community in the NSW northern rivers whose aim is to secure a sustainable food future. Based on extensive planning, “the project seeks to mitigate climate change impacts associated with food production, distribution and consumption by reducing the reliance on food sourced from outside the region and increasing adoption of more sustainable food production practices. The project also seeks to enhance community resilience to climate change and peak oil impacts by keeping food affordable and accessible and tapping into local production capabilities.” Sounds like a very good idea to me.

An important part of the Northern Rivers Food Links is a series of Sustainable Agriculture Projects, many of which had their outcomes or progress reported on at presentations at the Sustainable Farming Forums in May 2011 . Some of the topics included Sustainable Farm Planning, Softer Farming Methods for Sustainable Agriculture, Biological Farming Methods Integrated into Conventional Systems, and Sustainable Grazing.

Full details of the sustainable agriculture projects along with links to the presentations at the Forum can be found here.

I found the project Compost for Soil Health in Commercial Food Production of most interest. Which one did you like?