CULTIVATING NEWS
From "Maple Street Co-op News", June/July 2007
Thousands Flock to The Planting Festival
By Brian Rickards
The Labour Day long weekend Tree Planting festival has
become an annual tradition at the 360-acre Woodford Folk Festival site.
Exceeding the organisers' greatest green dreams, more than 1,500 people
turned up, hoping to make a difference in their own small way to counter
the effects of climate change, while at the same time continuing to
beautify the festival site. A special camaraderie was evident everywhere;
a spirit of togetherness as people worked shoulder-to-shoulder.
The target planting for the weekend was 5,500 trees, but a total of
7,500 trees and understorey plants found permanent homes on site. The
weekend's work brought the total number of trees planted on the festival
site to 79,500.
This year there was a special focus on planting butterfly-friendly and
bush food species in the four designated working bees. It provided people
with the chance to gain all kinds of botanical know-how, while also
learning the basics of tree planting.
Between working bees, environmental eminences such as Professor Ian
Lowe, President of the Australian Conservation Foundation, and Frank
Fitzgerald Ryan, from Melbourne's Sustainability Street Project, spoke
at length on sustainability and how we can do our bit to steer the world
onto a wiser course.
There's something about the Woodford site that is almost magical. It
does wonderful things for the people who get drawn to it and also, in
most parts, is performing wonders on its plantings.
The site's terrain varies from harsh, extremely acidic, ex-Radiata pine
land, to the improved areas which have been worked on for some years.
About 100 species have been planted, ranging from the acacias (fimbriata,
or Brisbane Golden Wattle; and sauvolens, the Sweet Wattle),
through to understorey plants, (Austromyrtus dulcis, also a
bush food), the lovely Dianellas (Flax Lilies) and the golden-flowered
Hibbertias; to beautiful specimen trees.
This year, some particularly lovely species were planted in the festival
precinct area, where in years to come, patrons will be able to enjoy
their shade, lovely blooms and fruits. These include the Eleocarpus
grandis (Blue Quandong), a large, shady tree, with occasional bright
red leaves, and thickly borne white flowers followed by bright blue
fruits.
The fruits were used by indigenous people to make an edible paste, and
the stones used to make necklaces and bracelets. The tree is also host
to a large variety of wildlife - birds, bats, and butterflies - and
its timber is used for furniture, floorboards, racing skiffs, and oars.
Also planted was Sterculia quadrifida (Peanut Tree), which
has perfumed flowers, and edible fruits, due to ripen around the Woodford
Festival time. Its leaves were used by the Northern Australian indigenous
people as a treatment for wounds and stings.
Stenocarpus sinuatus, or Fire Wheel Tree, often used as a street
planting in Sydney, is another spectacular group of trees to set the
festival site aglow at blossoming time. Meliocope elleryana
(Pink Euodia) and the delightfully perfumed Pittosporum undulatum,
(Sweet Pittosporum, or Mock Orange) are also species that will spread
a swathe of colour through the site.
One platoon of Woodford's environmental army, led by festival stalwart
Ros Horrocks, had the pleasure of finishing the weekend's planting at
sunset, at a location backdropped by the stunning Glasshouse Mountains.
There they established an avenue of the stately Araucaria bidwillii
(Bunya Pine) and Araucaria cunninghamii (Hoop Pine).
A very happy principal organiser of The Planting, Becky Wandell, said:
"In all, there were 16 planting areas on site and an extensive
weed eradication program that extended across the gullies and less-traversed
areas within the festival property.
"As part of the vision for Woodford's Araucaria Forest, more than
800 bunyas were purchased and everyone was offered the opportunity to
take one home to become a bunya parent, then nurture and return it at
The Planting in 2010.
"These adolescent bunyas will then take up home on the western
hill of the festival valley, and one day look upon the festival in all
their historical wisdom - and everyone at The Planting 2007 will be
proud to have been part of their beginning."
Festival organisers are now gearing up for The Dreaming, Australia's
annual international indigenous festival, from 8-11 June. The Dreaming
has already established itself as a special spiritual event packed with
captivating performances, including ceremony, dance, theatre, song,
art, comedy, a host of workshops and speakers, forums and film.
[From "Maple Street Co-op News", June/July 2007;
published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street,
Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]