Looking good

We had a good roll up for our October meeting and it was very pleasant working in the shade. It is nice to see the small seedlings which come up.
We seem to be getting on top of the climbing asparagus ferns, apart from those at the eastern end on the road alignment. These need to be stopped before they produce seed to spread into the scrub.
We also found some more cat's claw with quite a large bulb so we are keeping our eye out for more outbreaks.

Spring time in our scrub

Looking forward to checking out our scrub with you this Wednesday morning October 29th.
A hot day is forecast for our gathering so we will try to get out there a bit earlier than 9 am and stop for smoko at 10 am.
It will be nice to get outdoors for a while and see what Spring has brought to the scrub before we retreat indoors during the hot part of the day.
This year seems to be one of the driest we have had for a while.

May meeting at the scrub

Once again we will be meeting at Franke Scrub this Wednesday 28 May from 9-11 am. Bring weeding tools, camera, binoculars, smoko and chair and enjoy a morning out in the lovely weather we are having at present.

The scrub on display

Today, as part of Volunteers week, the council held a Parks Volunteers Recognition and Networking Event at Newtown Park Hall.
In addition to our display we were well represented as Trish was asked to stand in as a speaker at short notice. She gave an interesting, illustrated talk on birds and local vegetation in relation to our local environment and our own gardens. She may have been speaking to the converted but there was plenty of food for thought as well as for the birds.
This was followed by another very good illustrated talk by Nathan the Snake Catcher, who also brought some reptiles for us to enjoy.
While the number attending was limited, it was a great idea and good to meet other people interested in volunteering in our parks and bushland areas.

Well spotted

While looking for our new mistletoe yesterday, we found some large asparagus vines which had either been missed in the past or had grown very rapidly. Small ones are continuing to germinate and elongate towards the canopy.
We also found another small patch of cats claw creeper, so we will need to remain vigilant and regular with our weeding.
If you are not keen on weeding, we could do with a spotter!
In fact we did not manage to locate our new mistletoe so we will need to return soon.

National Tree Day

We had a great day on Sunday at Peacehaven's National Tree Day Celebrations. Peter Bright and Gary Alcorn did the lion's share of the setting up, and Gary and I spent all morning on the stall, talking to interested people.

Gary got more pamphlets printed up for us. We were so busy that it was difficult to grab a chance to look at the other displays. They were an interesting lot, and included including a dozen or so animals (echidnas, blue-tongue lizard, wallabies, and a sugar glider) from Trish Leehong's animal refuge.

We were joined for a while by Dougal Johnston, and you may see a photo of the three of us, in the Highfields Herald, holding an appalling cats claw root (not one of ours) which Steve Plant brought along for us to show off to the public.

Peter Hardwicke, editor of the Chronicle, was there, and says he will send someone out to one of our working bees to do a story on the scrub.

Kym Campbell, from Toowoomba Landcare, asked me whether we would be interested in having some trainee volunteers to work there. It sounded like a good idea, so we may get a bit of help from them.

We also had a good talk to Kerry Shine, who was particularly interested in the scrub's value as part of our social history (representing the original vegetation type cleared by the early settlers in Toowoomba and Highfields). He asked whether we had told the Toowoomba Historical Society about it - we have passed this message on.

Several people showed an interest in joining our working bees, and have been added to our emailing list. We look forward to seeing you on the last Wednesday in August!

Trish Gardner.

Winter in the scrub

Winter is a nice time of year to visit the scrub. Beneath the canopy you are sheltered from wind and rain and you know you are not alone, with birds and no doubt other inhabitants also enjoying it.
Four of us came this morning to weed. We are still removing cats claw from one corner and some asparagus vine continues to germinate. We hope we can keep up and we are being assisted by many interesting small plants which have been waiting their opportunity.
Consider joining us on the last Wednesday in July when we next meet.

February working bee

Hullo to all Franke Scrubbers, and a happy new year to you!
Our first working bee is due next week, Wednesday 23rd February. We expect to have one on the last Wednesday of every month from now until November, so now's the time to go through and make ten little notes on your 2011 calendar!
It will be at 9.00 as usual, with a break at 10.30 for morning tea and a chat.
I haven't been out there since before Christmas, so don't know what the tasks are - but expect that everything will have grown well with the rain.
We can expect some pleasant surprises from the native plants, birds, butterflies, and so on, and perhaps a larger quantity of weeds than we would like. As usual, our priority will be the prevention of seed production.
Bring:
* digging and cutting tools, and gardening gloves if you use them
* something to put rubbish into
* practical clothing including protection from sun and the possibility of ticks
* morning tea and a chair
* camera if you think you might use it
I look forward to seeing you all there - together with any new scrubbers whom you can persuade to join our happy group.
Trish

More rain

What a wet season we are having. We decided not to churn up the road in September and had a bit of a chat at the intersection of Franke Road instead. It will be interesting to see the growth in the scrub after all this rain.
Hopefully we have got all the big asparagus ferns in the canopy and there will be limited flowering and seed set this year.
We will however be busy dealing with the young plants before they climb into the canopy.
The nice thing about this work, apart from the sounds of birds and the company over smoko, is that we see all the small plants that are now growing since we have cleared up the scrub.

August meeting

The rain should be cleared away for our monthly meeting at Franke Scrub this week. After our very successful information stand at Peacehaven Botanic Garden on National Tree Day we hope to see some new faces. Bring smoko, chair, camera, secateurs, chipping tool and weed bag if you are so inclined. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday morning 25th August.

National Tree Day

We will have an information stall at Peacehaven Botanic Park, Highfields on Sunday 1 August from 8.30 am. Come along and plant a tree, find out more about your local vegetation and how you can use it around your home and for recreation in your local area.
How to get there on Kuhls Road off Cawdor Road.

June meeting

Once again we are meeting at Franke Scrub this coming Wednesday morning 9-11 am to see how the place is going. We must be approaching the stage of awarding prizes for the discovery of large asparagus vines in the canopy. They are becoming rare.
Bring the usual gear and smoko.

National Tree Day in August

Friends of Peacehaven are having a community field day at Peacehaven Botanic Park in Highfields on Sunday 1 August.
This will be National Tree Day and Toowoomba Landcare will be marking their 10th anniversary on the day.
A joint display with Friends of Franke Scrub is proposed. We have much in common as many of the plantings at Peacehaven are of species surviving in our remnant scrub on the edge of Highfields.
We are looking for ideas and assistance for this display.

Under supervision

Graham and Judy noticed some movement in the canopy while working, and we then found that our owl was keeping a close eye on activities just above us. We enjoyed our morning in late May, sheltered from cold winds.
The diversity of plants in the scrub is quite challenging when one is more accustomed to other vegetation types where a few species predominate. Perhaps it is a reason why this type is endangered? We just can't get our heads around it?

April in the scrub

A small group attended our monthly working bee.
It is very pleasant in there with the birds and seeing small scrub plants appearing as we remove the asparagus vine. We still come across occasional large vines which we hope to eradicate before they next set seed. With the favourable weather in recent months the reserve is coming on well and we are doing a good job of keeping the new asparagus plants under control. The results of our efforts are seen in the interesting canopy now almost devoid of strangling asparagus vine.

April meeting reminder

We will be meeting again next Wednesday 28th April from 9-11 am at Franke Scrub for working bee/social stroll/morning tea.
Hope to see you there.
The place is looking great after the good rains.

First meeting after the recent rain

A reminder that we are meeting again next week on Wednesday 24th February at 9 am.
With the recent rain, things are growing well in our lovely reserve.
We hope you can find time to join us there.
Bring secateurs, chipping tools and a bag for weeds if you feel inclined to work, or your camera, binoculars, a book to read, or just a chair and smoko.
We hope you can join us to experience our local vegetation as it was before we cleared it.
If you can't make it, we will be meeting again on the last Wednesday in March.

A June meeting

We are having an extra working bee on Wednesday 24th June.
Every fifth Wednesday just does not come around often enough for some of us.
We will of course still be meeting on Wednesday 29th July as scheduled, so we hope you can make it to one or both of these.
As usual we start around 9 am or earlier if you wish.
Bring a chipping/chopping implement, secateurs, gloves, bag for weeds and your morning tea. Cameras are also welcome, to record interesting things happening in the scrub.

Friday fun

Six of us turned up last Friday afternoon for a couple of hours of weed control. We managed to locate the crowns of some of the large asparagus vines remaining in the canopy and can now feel more relaxed about our competition with them until our next scheduled meeting on Wednesday 30 July. Bird sounds were more apparent during the afternoon.

We meet this month

The fifth Wednesday falls on the 30th April, so please remember that we will be meeting once again at the northern side of the scrub reserve at 9 am.
Bring smoko, gloves, secateurs, chipping hoe, and a bag for rubbish.
Bring your camera, notebook, plant ID keys if you prefer to survey the area.
See you then!