A GREEN DROUGHT

The Severn River which forms one boundary of our farm flows south-west to join the largest river system in Australia, known as the Murray-Darling Rivers system. Like the Mississippi River in the USA it drains inland waters south to the sea. Early Australian explorers thought there must be an inland sea in the middle of Australia, as all the rivers they discovered on the far side of the Great Dividing Range drained westward. By following these rivers they found that they later joined with the Darling River to flow south and into the sea in what became the State of South Australia. Thus water from southern Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria flows south over several months before reaching its destination in South Australia. It is a slow flowing river and subject to periods of drought when it becomes nothing more than a series of water holes. A hundred years ago paddle steamers worked the river, carrying out wool bales and other produce from the interior. During times of drought they remained stranded waiting for “The river to come down.” During the past decade drought has once more dried this mighty river to a series of water holes.

Here on the Granite Belt at the northern end of this river system, we rely on summer storms to start the water flowing. Most years we get sufficient rain to bring our river down in a flood and on average, once in a decade we will get a mighty flood as happened in January 2008.

Flooded Severn River January 2008

Since this January flood we have received little rainfall and experienced a dry winter.  During these spring months, storms have only brought small falls. This has created a green drought. The countryside appears green, but there is little grass growth. The abundance of water in our frontage to the Severn River has provided me with the ability to irrigate my garden and Remembrance Field of Flanders poppies during this drought.

The true cost of water is seldom realised by city residents, but country folk understand the cost of installing river pumps, water mains, the reticulation system and the ongoing costs of purchasing fuel for the pumps, the labour involved in servicing those pumps and the time required to operate the whole system.

Just as I had overcome all weather difficulties and the Remembrance Field had reached its peak for 11th November, I was in the garden at the rear of our home on Monday 10th November, when called inside to answer the telephone. Imagine my horrified surprise, as I glanced out my office window to see a large white cow standing in the poppies. Naturally, I dropped the phone and hurried to chase it. The cow jumped over the Rosemary hedge and galloped off to join her nine sisters munching our grass.

The cow only trampled a few poppies.

My neighbours are overstocked with cattle. While their land looks green, the grass is not high enough for a cow to wrap her tongue around a clump. For those of you who are unaware of such details, sheep, horses and goats are able to bite grass with their teeth, but cattle pull grass off with their tongues, so are unable to denude the ground and destroy roots as are the other herbivores.

My neigbour’s cattle had forced their way through a boundary fence and onto our land and could have devastated our Remembrance Field.

I’m a great believer in thinking laterally and I have proposed a Win Win situation. My elderly husband, Eberhard, is no longer physically able to slash the grass and we have had to pay a man to keep the grass cut every summer. I suggested to my neighbours that they erect an electric fence across the open country on our farm, fronting their property, and they have now begun to do so. By tomorrow I will be able to look out my office window, across the field of poppies and see a herd of cattle grazing on our land.

Another example of thinking laterally, has been the vegetable garden I have established this year. When we had trees removed from our garden in August, the heavy machinery destroyed the section of Flanders poppies near the front garden fence.

Heavy machinery removing trees.

Before they left, I asked the men to rip up the ground the machinery tracks had compacted. I then worked into the ground a quantity of well rotted manure obtained from a cattle feed-lot. When the weather warmed I planted this ground with sweet-corn, bush beans, radish, beetroot, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes and potatoes.

Fay in her vegetable garden.

Had I not seen that cow, she and her sisters would not only have trampled the poppies, but feasted on my sweet-corn and lettuce.

Lettuce and poppies.

There is an old saying that it is an ill wind that blows no good.

So it is that I can name several blessings that this green drought has brought with it. Because there is no lush green feed for the cattle to eat their manure hasn’t provided a breeding ground for the infamous bush flies and this year I haven’t had to be swishing away flies from my face when working outdoors.

Because there have been no storms with damaging hail or pelting rain my garden is looking great and I now have an abundance of fresh vegetables. To my delight, poppy seed germinated between the rows of potatoes, now almost hiding them from view.

When I suggested the construction of an electric fence to enable our neigbours to graze their cattle on our land, Nerrina laughed and said, “Now you will have free manure.”

I agreed and added, “And probably field mushrooms in the autumn!”

Vegetable garden and rows of potatoes amongst the poppies.