Sunshine Coast Hinterland Times

How can we put the Buzz back into Bees?

STEPHEN STILLMAN greets me at the door of his Eudlo shed in bare feet: bear-sized feet covered in honey and wax, offered hand just rinsed and dripping with water but still sticky. Here is a man obviously immersed in his work. With the sound of bees buzzing at the windows providing a gentle white-noise background to [...]

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What’s Flowering Now?

Schotia Brachypetala Native to Zimbabwe and subtropical South Africa where it is found growing in dry open deciduous woodland to areas with 700mm of annual rainfall, at elevations of 300 – 400m above sea level. Schotia is hardy and able to grow in a variety of soil conditions. Generally a slow growing tree reaching 4-5m but may [...]

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Landcare – linking people

LANDCARE is as much about people as it is about plants, production and clean water. The whole landcare movement started with people who understood the need to change and improve the way they managed their land. They in fact recognised the need to improve production by bringing diversity back into the landscape. They knew that [...]

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In the Wild with Spencer Shaw

Time to plant trees … SPRING HAS SPRUNG and all the forecasts are predicting another wet summer. I’d like to say that you could push an upside down stick in the ground and it would grow in this weather – but: a) unfortunately it’s not that easy and b) I’d be putting us out of work! Hopefully [...]

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On Yer Bike…

Alternative energy enthusiast Peter Doyle discovers the joys of cycling on an electric bike. PETER DOYLE is no stranger to technology. He’s been flying light aircraft and helicopters for the past 35 years. In the 60s, as a flying instructor with his own school in Caloundra, Peter once taught Joh Bjelke Petersen and his pilot Beryl [...]

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HINTERLAND BUSH LINKS

Connecting habitat to protect our local plants and animals BARUNG LANDCARE is launching an ambitious and visionary project for conservation in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. Called Hinterland Bush Links it aims to protect healthy bush long-term, restore areas that have been degraded by weeds and other impacts, and connect habitat with flora and fauna corridors. The Sunshine Coast [...]

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England’s new Garden of Eden…

SEVERAL YEARS AGO, I was involved with a group of Maleny residents who put together an exciting proposal for world class gardens, integrated with eco research and education facilities amongst spacious wetlands on the Council-owned, Maleny Community Precinct. Our project had the backing of some key Australian architects, horticulturists and scientists. The project – the Obi Obi [...]

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What’s Flowering Now?

Schotia Brachypetala NATIVE to tropical America and Mexico the coral plant has been successfully grown in many similar climates around the world. Russelia is multi stemmed with rushlike stems that are angled with ridges and leaves which resemble small scales. Branches start out erect then cascade down in lengths over a metre. Tubular scarlet flowers 30 – [...]

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Barung Landcare is 21!

ON OCTOBER 1 Barung Landcare celebrated its 21st birthday at a fund-raising dinner attended by the Queensland governor, Her Excellency the Governor of Queensland, Penelope Wensley AC. It’s quite an achievement for a local landcare group to grow and develop with its community over that length of time, and to achieve so many good environmental and [...]

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In the Wild with Spencer Shaw

Guarding your stock YOU CAN plant without tree guards but when it comes to revegetation and planting large areas they can be a valuable aid in protecting the time and money you have invested. Tree guards protect your trees from several threats including weeds (why can’t our trees grow as fast!), Weeding (oops, did I just [...]

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