Many thanks to everyone who has helped recently with the weeding at The Fair site. We have now made some headway with the hand weeding of flowering and seeding Paterson’s Curse, however there are still scattered plants particularly in the northern parts of the planting site and a few other weeds to tackle – see below notice of the special Weeding Party which is on this Sunday. Please help if you can, we need many hands!
Bagged Paterson’s Curse @ the Fair, the outstanding result of joint efforts by FoMM volunteers and the Majura Mountain scouts! (Photo: Waltraud Pix)
Sometimes with all the weeds it is easy to forget about the little Majura gems like the beautiful Fringe Lily (Thysanotus tuberosus) and the field of Hoary Sunrays (Leucochrysum albicans var. tricolor) featured below. It would be fantastic if you could take photos on your Christmas walks on Mt Majura and register them on Canberra Nature Map – after all the rain it is such a rich year for our native plants (as well as the weeds!). Merry Christmas everyone.
Looks like it’s going to be a fantastic year for the Fringe Lily on Mt Majura. (Photo: Steve Bittinger)
Hoary Sunrays at Mount Majura recorded on Canberra Nature Map recently. (Photo: Matthew Frawley)
Please help us collect Paterson’s Curse and hand weed Saffron thistle and St John’s Wort. Join in for an hour or more. Paterson’s Curse is still flowering i.e. visible but is starting to develop seeds – it will be too late in 2 weeks! There are only a few Saffron thistles which are developing flower stems (this is good news considering the large amount of Saffron thistles present when we started work at the Fair and the wet winter/spring) so it would be great to remove them all! The other task is to hand weed as much of the flowering St John’s Wort growing under or close to the planted Bursaria spinosa and Acacia genistifolia shrubs as possible, as we can’t spray in these areas. The idea is to remove the flowering stems now and spray the new flat rosettes in the autumn. Since it hasn’t started to develop seeds yet, any flowering plants can be left on the ground (no need to bag). The rest of the St John’s Wort is due to be broad sprayed in the next week or so by a contractor.
Meet: Meet at Tay Street park entrance, The Fair, North Watson.
Bring: sun protection and long sleeves. Bags and gloves will be provided.
Inquiries: email here
Also, please feel free to help with this work in your own time over the next week! Please bring gloves and pick up a bag at the Tay Street entrance.
Flowering St Johns Wort (Photo: Waltraud Pix)
Other news and events:
ParkCare and Landcare Christmas Party 2016 – Tuesday 20 December, 5.30 to 8.00 pm
All ParkCare and Landcare volunteers and their families are invited to attend the ParkCare and Landcare Christmas Party, 2016. Many Rangers and other staff will be attending to help celebrate another year of a successful partnership. There’ll be a trivia quiz and prizes so bring your thinking caps. BBQ dinner, dessert and drinks.
Where: Jerrabomberra Wetlands Offices 2 Dairy Flat Road Kingston
RSVP: by Friday 16 December to Phil Selmes Ph. 62057384 or this email.
Carping at Christmas – A Community Conversation – Friday 9 December, 3.30-7.15pm
Did you know that carp is the most commonly eaten freshwater fish around the world, and at Christmas is it is a special dish served in many European countries? While the rest of the world finds Australia’s hatred of carp difficult to understand, they have not seen the negative impact this fish has had on our waterways, making it difficult for our native fish to survive and thrive. We need to do something… and this ‘Rivers of Carbon community conversation’ is about efforts in the southern tablelands of New South Wales to bring back native fish, as well as updating us on the potential release of the carp herpesvirus, and what this might mean for our waterways. This event should be extremely popular. Bookings are essential. Click here for more information and to book. Please pass this email onto interested fishermen you may know as well. Where: Hall Pavilion, Hall Showgrounds, ACT
Times: 3.30 pm: how to fillet and cook carp; 4.30–6.30 pm: speakers; 6.30–7.15 pm: refreshments
