17 July, 2019 Annual General Meeting and talk by Pete the Permie

​Pete the Permie gave a highly interesting and informative talk about wicking beds, no-dig gardens, and fruit trees, emphasising poorer soils. Materials to construct wicking beds and no-dig gardens were discussed, as was the use of these techniques, wicking beds being considered desirable if one has a flat site, a need to protect the environment from excess nutrients, a need to grow under trees with invasive roots present, but not desirable for any plants with deep roots. Having beds no more than 1.2m wide to save backs while bending over was emphasised.

​22 June, 2019 Deer control information session

A well-attended session organised by Anne Fitzpatrick of the Northern Yarra Landcare Network and our Chum Creek Landcare president - Evelyn - listened to people from the Middle Yarra Landcare network and Cannibal Creek Landcare describe their deer cull programs. The Wonga Park people from the Middle Yarra Landcare Network have hired professional shooters to regularly cull deer while the Cannibal Creek people have opted to use amateur hunters for their regular culls. The pros and cons of both approaches were discussed. Kym Saunders from the Yarra Ranges Shire presented the Shire's approach and constraints and David Weller, the local Victoria Police Firearms Officer, discussed the legalities of deer shooting. The meeting also heard from David Rowlands, a professional shooter from Pro Cull, who has been conduction deer culls in the area. 
​Property owners placed stickers on maps indicating their interest in a deer cull. A number of property owners in the Chum Creek Rd.and Heath Rd. areas indicated such interest.

23 February, 2019 Social sausage sizzle

​On behalf of Chum Creek Landcare, the Bagleys hosted a very pleasant and enjoyable Saturday lunch where many Landcare members and friends socialised and enjoyed a variety of home-cooked foods.

​10 October, 2018 Back to the Billabong, organised by Northern Yarra Landcare Network

A pleasant sunny day saw Chum Creek Landcare members mix with Steels and Dixons Creek Landcare members and visitors walking around some billabongs near Yarra Glen. Experts discussed the frogs, birds, aquatic invertebrates, and edible weeds present. Many species of these different groups were seen or heard and everyone came away having learned quite a bit. It is hoped to run this event annually in the spring when many species are around.

​8 August, 2018 (AGM) Bush tucker talk by Ron Barrow

​Ron focused on the bush as a complex ecosystem. The type of bush tucker present in any given area, depends on the ecosystem components present – soil, organisms, and climate which determine vegetation. In Victoria, indigenous bush tucker was primarily meat, whereas in NW WA it was primarily vegetation. As we have so little bush left, Ron believes that we should not go around digging it all up, but rather grow it ourselves.

Several good books on bush tucker were on display. The Yarra Ranges shire website has a very good plant directory for our area 

https://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Property/Trees-vegetation/Plant-directory.
Ron highlighted his belief that we are not born into a society, but rather into an ecosystem, bush tucker being but one part of that ecosystem.

27 May, 2018 Dam management workshop

A well-attended event organised by the Northern Yarra Landcare Network visited 3 properties with dams in the Dixons Creek area. Kerri Goschnick, a government land management extension officer, and Gabe Marsden from the conservation and land management services company - Habitat Creations, addressed dam construction, maintenance, and conservation. Soil properties, particularly clay content (which is required for impervious dam walls), and vegetation cover, particularly trees (which are undesirable if they have large roots which can decay when the trees die, even if their shading of a dam can reduce evaporation losses of water), close to dams were the focus of much discussion.
​An informative dam management pamphlet, produced by the Westernport Catchment Landcare Network, is available here. 

7 March, 2018 Fruit fly information session

​This well-attended event saw Bronwyn Koll, the Fruit Fly Regional Coordinator in the Yarra Valley, talk about the ecology of the fruit fly, how to recognise it's presence, and how to minimise the likelihood of its presence by appropriate fruit-growing and fruit-tending practices.

The fly is indigenous to Australia and is found throughout eastern Australia, and recently in the Yarra Valley area. It presents a significant threat to home and commercial fruit growing as it can attack all fruit, from citrus to tomatoes, and often leaves little trace of it's presence on the surface of the fruit. 
Landowners should monitor their fruit growing areas using fruit fly traps available from stores such as Bunnings, dispose of all waste and fallen fruit, and, if fruit flies are found in fruit, freeze or microwave or solarise (heat in a black plastic bag in the sun) the fruit, reporting this to Bronwyn at 0490381999. More information is available at Bronwyn's website - fruitflyfreeyv.com.au

25 November, 2017 Tour of Leadbeaters Possum habitat near Toolangi

A party of 10, lead by Steve Meacher of Friends of Leadbeaters Possum, and organised by the Northern Yarra Landcare Network, of which Chum Creek Landcare is a part, visited some magnificent mountain ash forest, and a less-than-magnificent recently clearfelled area to learn about the habitat of Leadbeaters Possum and the threats to Victoria's critically endangered faunal emblem.

May 27, 2017 Upper Chum Creek walk

​A party of 16 had a pleasant social walk through the beautiful forests near the head of Chum Creek. Rain held off and many photos were taken by some of the fungi and trees present. Many plants were identified and an award of an extra bickie was given to the person who identified the first and last mountain ash (Eucalyptus regnans) trees along the walk. The first was missed but Susi identified the last. The walk provided a great insight into the type of forests that originally occurred and could occur in the future in our valley. We also saw the massive amount of soil disturbance and erosion caused by trail bikes, even encountering one being illegally driven on private property. ​Afternoon tea awaited the group at the end of the walk near the chook farm.

April 13, 2016 Wombats and wombat mange workshop

The Wombat Mange people - Jenny, Reg, and Katya - gave a fascinating presentation on how we can help to keep our local wombats free of Mange.

February 14, 2015 Indigenous Plant propagation workshop

Local horticulturalist and Chum Creek Landcare member, Doerte Drews, gave a very informative and interesting talk on when and how to collect seeds, clean and store collected seeds, how to grow seedlings/cuttings, where to collect seeds, and permit requirements, and when and how to plant. This workshop was attended by two dozen attentive people, whose many questions were well answered.

November 22, 2014.  Chum Creek Primary School flood control

The Chum Creek primary school has had a flooding problem caused by heavy rain on the roof over the outdoor basketball court overflowing the gutters and running off the ground towards a building. Chum Creek Landcare  provided volunteers to rebuild some retaining walls. Following this, a swale was constructed and planted up to seedlings, to slow surface water runoff and divert it to a drain. This latter work was done on November 22 with school parents and Chum Creek Landcare members, ably assisted by some of the school's children. An additional swale was constructed in 2015. Further work is planned.

November 8, 2014.  Healesville's 150th Anniversary Parade

We participated in the street parade and subsequently had a stand in Queen's Park for the family fun day. For the street parade, we were accompanied by the Northern Yarra Landcare Network trailer. 

October 25, 2014.  Sustainable gardening workshop

A group of 27 keen gardeners joined Graeme George, a local permaculture expert, to learn more about sustainable gardening.  Graeme emphasised that sustainable gardening practice ensures that future gardeners will inherit a productive not depleted environment.  Graeme’s presentation covered many themes such as techniques of maintaining soil fertility and moisture content and how to deal with problem soils such as very heavy clays.  He pointed out that we have in fact six seasons in our area and described how to plan our crop planting.  He advocated eating from local, organic sources and consuming more seasonally rather than expecting to maintain such a varied diet from imported sources.  A lively discussion followed where participants raised questions ranging from pest and weed control to selecting vegetable seeds that do well in our area.
The door prize, a compost bin, was won by a visitor from Dixons Creek.