My Other Hobby

As well as being obsessed with quilting I also volunteer as a Trees for Life grower.  Trees for Life is a South Australian organisation in which volunteers grow trees for landholders and revegetation projects to help regenerate SA and conserve remnant vegetation.  I initially got involved quite a few years ago and grew trees for about 3 years before I returned to work, getting busy volunteering with other projects and putting it aside for a few years.  I started again about 7 years ago and have been growing for the same landholders, Andrea and David, every year since then, as well as other landholders as Andrea and David have required less trees as the years have gone on.

Each year I grow between 6 and 8 boxes of native seedlings and everything is provided by Trees for Life, all you provide is the time, space and effort for around 6 months.  The instruction book is great and really answers all your questions but Trees for Life are always available with advice over the phone if you get stuck.  The seed for the trees is collected from plants in the region in which the seedlings will end up so the trees are specific to their area and can vary quite a lot between regions.

These are the trees I grew this year for Andrea and David, who live near Gladstone:

These are the 6 boxes I grew for Ruth, whose farm is near Jamestown.  This is the first year I have grown for Ruth and she is revegetating some new land she acquired adjacent to her property which is nearly devoid of trees.  As they had received some rain at last, Ruth's husband John came and collected their plants in late May so she could get them into the ground as soon as possible.

Last year Andrea and David very generously gave me a voucher for a night in a local B&B as a thankyou so last month we booked an extra night and drove up to Gladstone to visit them and also to see how the trees we had grown previously were doing.   It was a lovely B&B called Conyngham Cottage and it was a beautiful cottage.  I would recommend it if you're ever up that way and need somewhere to stay. Very reasonable rates, very comfy and quiet.  I might have to do another post about the cottage with more photos!

Before heading out to Andrea and David's, we drove to the other side of Jamestown to meet up with Ruth and have a look at her property. Unfortunately it was so wet that day we weren't able to go out in the paddock to see the trees which had already been planted but it was lovely to meet Ruth and see her plans for the new land.  This is the section of land which she is planting out:

As you can see, not too many trees there.  It doesn't look too bad in this photo but there was a fine misty rain falling all morning.  There's actually another row of hills back there behind the ones you can see! One of those rains that wet you right through and you don't feel it! Oh, and it was cold!

After lunch we headed out to Andrea and David's place and started by driving around their property to see the windbreak they planted out in 2007 & 2008 with trees I had grown.  This is a photo of the trees in 2009 when we visited the first time (with Andrea doing a bit of straightening up!). Believe it or not it was actually raining that day too for the first time in about 6 months, although it doesn't look it.

My hubby Brian looking over the trees!

This year it was really raining properly and as with Ruth's property,  we couldn't go to the same spot as the above photos were taken but rather we drove up to the top of the hill and looked back down.  This is a photo from there:

Here is a closer look, the photo isn't too good given there was a lot of rain falling and it was getting dark - the sheep were a bit confused about why there was a flash going off I think (that's how dark it was at 3pm in the afternoon!).

Andrea told me that if Brian had been able to stand next to the same plant now it would be over his head! (even though they don't look that big in this photo).  Some of my trees have been planted in other areas around the farm, mostly along the river to revegetate the banks.  Its nice to think that I've been partly responsible for all those trees growing and doing their bit!

We stayed for dinner and had a lovely evening of friendly chat.  They're a lovely couple and are really working hard to revegetate their property.  Another property adjacent to theirs looks very barren in comparison.

I really get a lot of personal satisfaction from growing the trees.  Its nice to think that my trees will be there for many years to come!

I had a laugh when I walked through the B&B and saw this little beauty sitting there:

Shame I couldn't take it home with me!