A couple of items of interest

Connecting Country Workshops
Lena Mazza has drawn our attention to a series of spring rural workshops being run by Connecting Country from Castlemaine.

Sunday 2 August: Living with fire & wildlife
Sunday 30 August: Biodiversity in the paddock
Sunday 13 September: Conservation fencing
Sunday 25 October: Back from the brink –land regeneration

Full details are available at this link or you can call Krista Patterson-Majoor on 5472 1594 (Mondays & Thursdays)

Hosting backyard beehives
Craig Terrell is a bee enthusiast living in Yandoit. He is expanding his enthusiasm into a small business based on setting up a network of managed bee hives throughout the district. For a donation of $250, you can host one of Craig's hives in your yard or on your property. Craig and his co-apiarists will be fully responsible for managing the hive/s and, in exchange you will receive 5 litres of pure honey per year.
Autumn is the optimum time to get new hives located (best time for the bees!). Craig can be contacted on 0449 982 632. Note: Craig is also happy to have visitors out to Yandoit… interested people can call him to arrange a visit.

(Thanks Lena!)

July bee: some light-hearted heavy lifting at Rea Lands

The wall at Rea Lands has been beautifully re-built over the last 3 months...  Thanks Hepburn Shire Council and the great brick artisans that saw to this restoration.

Over the last couple of weeks community gardeners Anita and Rob began re-shaping the slope immediately inside the gate to create the makings of a large new bed with better pathways to the left and right.

Today's bee concentrated on consolidating that new bed, combined with some much needed general maintenance and mulch-spreading across the top food forest area.

1–2–3... Luke & Patrick

Let's rock...

... & roll !

Many hands... (Luke, Woody hidden, Jasper, Violet, Meg, Patrick, Tim, Jeremy)

(Patrick, Meg, Luke, Violet, Ginger, Andrew, Lindy, Jeremy)

(Lindy & Andrew mulching the almond bed)

(Su, Andrew)

The rake's regress! (Jeremy)

(Jasper, Violet, Ginger)

(Arden & Woody)

Ho hoe! (Lena)

(Fiona & Tia)

(Tim, Maureen, Woody Wheelbarrow)

(Tia & Tim)

(Helen, Lindy, Andrew dividing and planting out thyme, Meg & Su in the background)

The morning's work

Break time (Ginger, Violet, Lindy, Woody, Meg, Zero, Lena, Catherine)

Zero helps himself to a bird's eye view!

Todays gardeners and visitors included: Patrick & Meg with Woody, Luke, Andrew & Lindy with Violet & Ginger, Lena, Catherine, Maureen, Tia & Jeremy with Arden & Jasper, Su, Helen, Maureen, Steven, Fiona, Donghwan, Ellen, Tim, Greg and Ian.