Newsletter No 78 JANUARY 2010
In this issue we have a report on the Christmas gathering and the calendar for this up coming year.
Report on the 2009 HBD Christmas Field Day at Susanna and Graeme O’Brien’s 5th Dec. 2009  

 Reporter; Gloria Peacock
(Apologies from Simon Brownbridge, Ian Russell, Helen Grosvenor, Barbara and Rod Zamanek)
Susanna and Graeme’s pad is a 128 a property that is nestled in a little valley, surrounded by rocky hills, with
plenty of bush bordering the 500,000 ha Wollombi Nat. Park. Graeme says that he has not found their back
boundary yet, but knows that they have one, as he has a GPS reading for it! We were shown different parts of the property by our hosts, as they stopped at different vantage points to talk to the well-attended gathering about the biodynamic care that is involved in running the various aspects of this busy venture.
“Where the grass would not grow”
We were taken to a spot close to the house, where there had been a lot of wombat activity and a “bald patch” resulted. Susanna had peppered the area with a male road kill (peppermade when Venus was in Scorpio).The resultant grassy patch was admired in all its simplicity for what it represented.
“A gift from nature”
The next talking point was a “natural” compost heap made up from material including ash that had been
washed down from the National Park, which looked and felt like peat to the writer, and was a very useful
source of great topsoil, that the neighbours reckon “would grow rocks”.
“Water management - surveying the contours”
From this vantage point that showed the different levels on the property, Graeme talked to us about their
plans to contour the land so that water will flow laterally to a big dam, as per Peter Andrews’ ideas. The
couple had applied unsuccessfully to the Catchment Management Authority to put in a Peter Andrews type
structure, but will apply again. In addition to the dam, the property also has a well and is well supplied with
water, an aspect of this farm that had most of us green with envy! Despite this, it was good to note the
careful and sustainable use of water.
“Protected pests and Underground mutton!”
The next stop in the tour was the vineyards where we checked out the wombat (protected animal) damage. This area obviously required Susanna’s peppering touch, but was vast, and was also inhabited by rabbits,
“underground mutton”, as Graeme referred to them – reminding us of other recycling uses for this vermin.
“White Doves of O’Brien-land”
Susanna referred us to an article in the Autumn 08 News Leaf, where white doves were used to deter other birds from feasting on the grapes. White birds in particular are meant to “scare” others away (white cockatoos must be the exception to prove the rule!). Loss to bird damage is substantial, up to 25% of the potential crop, in any one year. Susanna’s young doves were new arrivals, getting used to their caged abode, when we looked in on them. She will train her young charges to bond with the area, before putting them to work.
“Thirty-year old Muscat’s”
We checked out the aged vines of black Muscat grapes, grown in soil of at least 5 foot in of sandy loam topsoil – (yes, I had to check if I had heard right!)
The previous owners had taken off two tonnes of grapes for fruit, and Graeme and Susanna had doubled the yield in the ten years that they have owned the property. They are considering machine harvesting this year. They also plan to rejuvenate the old vines from new shoots, a favourite delicacy of the local wallabies. These uninvited guests are managed with peppers, but one can get permission to cull then from the National Park. We also learned that bats can smell fruit 90 kms away and old timers would recall that rags soaked in dieseline would be set up on poles to deter these creatures.
Integrated Pest Management is the policy on this vineyard. Botrytis is not a problem for this variety of fruit, but mildews and mites are managed with sprays of copper and sulphur. They sell their fruit to certified organic wine processors.
“Soil Show “N Tell”
At the foot of the windmill, we surveyed an area that was well vegetated. Graeme then passed around a photo showing the devastation, and moon-like landscape after the 2007 flood of the area we were surveying. Susanna has sprayed the area with BD 500 four times a year, and adds her “Roo pepper” in the spray. We noted the impressive results, as Susanna told us about observing roos speed-hopping over her property to get to the neighbour’s lavender farm to graze. The area is plagued by fireweed, which they control by slashing as soon as the yellow flowers appear. Graeme sets the slasher as high as possible and also commented that it could take 5 years to get control the plant.
“Hot Rocks and Rocking Hot!”
In a shady spot, we stopped for a well-earned breather, where Graeme pointed out a spot, where surveyors have drilled and located a source of “hot rocks”, a non-polluting alternative source of energy, which he was pleased about. In answer to a perceptive question about local exploratory activity, Graeme expressed his concern about the governments push to try and drill for gas, with seemingly draconian regulations that limit landholder’s rights to what can be permitted on their land. He also mentioned the pollution of the water table that is regularly and conveniently not included in official blurb. Whilst he feels quite passionately about the issue, Graeme was restrained in his opinions, but suggested that we Google “hvpa” to see what a methane mine looks like.
“Cattle Peppers ‘N Preps”
Our last stop before lunch was to look over the healthy herd and the sick bull that was quarantined in a shady spot. Pragmatic Graeme pointed out a frisky, handsome looking calf that he had earmarked as a successor if the ailing bull did not survive. The animals are sold at 9 months to a local butcher. Re management and care of the cattle, they are wormed 24 hours prior to a full moon, with Hedley’s Cattle Wormer and use a drench gun. Pat Colby’s mix is put out, but the animals do not seem to be too keen on it. Someone noted that Michael Winchester has commented that if the animal’s nose just touches the mix, it is a sufficient dose.
Susanna had all her preps and peppers in glass well-labelled jars, and one could hear from her enthusiasm that this was a labour of love. Her BD 500 is stored in a copper pot with hessian covering it, and looked and smelled moist and sweet. There were a myriad of peppers including rabbit, roo, wombat, cockatoo, fireweed, pee-wee bird, cotton seed.
“CHRISTMAS FEAST”
There was a determined and focused path tread to the cool and shady garden Chez O’Brien, where the empty tables were soon covered by a sumptuous feast of gourmet offerings, where Blackburn’s lemon-gum-smoked ocean trout took pride of place for this feaster, washed down by Macquarie Dale wines and the Black Muscat port! There were some great conversations and lots of laughs – true Christmas cheer!
Midst all the enjoyment of being in each other’s company, some of us also brought to mind those who had left us this year, in particular Ray Marshall and Lynette West, who had contributed so much to the development of so many of us Biodynamic growers. However their spirit will live on in our application of BD practices, with Lynette’s voice and image in particular, via her DVD of which the Library did a brisk trade.
“Wait – There’s more!”
Susanna had to drag us away from the party, to show us around her blossoming herb garden, just 3 months old, put in with the help of friends and protected by a rabbit-proof fence. The vege garden consists of 6 raised timber-framed beds which were laid with flood-damaged carpet, gravel, newspaper and plenty of that beautiful mulch from the creek. The veges were also thriving from the nurturing conditions and all the TLC. We also checked out the compost row, compost heaps (as per Hugo’s method), the horn pit, the Cow Pat Pit and the 8-bowl ceramic flow form, with an impressive stand built by Graeme from recycled material. Susanna pointed out lots of examples of recycling all through the walk.
This was a very full, interesting and enjoyable day and a great way to end another very stimulating Hunter Biodynamic Group year. Susanna and Graeme were gracious hosts and had put in a lot in the preparation towards the day. A BIG THANK YOU to both our hosts!
On a personal note, I would like to say how much I enjoy being part of this genuine, friendly group of people who want to learn together and are so willing to help each other. I also want to acknowledge the Committee, & their hard work to make our gatherings happen. Have a safe and blessed Christmas time everyone and look forward to more BD insights in 2010!

Contact:
                                 Hunter Biodynamic Group PO Box 68 East Maitland 2323
                                                     www.hunterbiodynamic.org.au