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Grow Goulburn Mulwaree Farms and Gardens
The Grow Goulburn Mulwaree Farms and Gardens project has successfully launched a Grazing and Farming Group that welcomes all farmers and graziers and promotes regenerative/resilient practices (now completed, see below). The scope of this group is being expanded to cover all traditional Landcare activities. The second part of the project will create urban sustainability comprising projects on individual properties; properties in a particular individual street or groups of streets. Two projects on individual properties have been completed. See:-
The vision for the Grazing and Farming Group is:-
To have healthy, sustainable and profitable farms and farming families across Goulburn Mulwaree. The Mission of the Grazing and Farming Group is:- To promote the adoption of Regenerative Practices to help farmers in times of drought and rising temperatures; to improve the landscape and to build trust and expertise in the farming community so as to be able to cope with the changing conditions. The vision for the Sustainable Gardens part of the project is:- To create a community of sustainable private gardens and public green spaces that will help to develop healthy families The Mission of the Sustainable Gardens Part of the Project is:- To help gardeners to make their gardens sustainable; to grow vegetables and increase biodiversity by planting to attract wildlife. This in turn to keep the garden and the area around the house cool. See the leaflet on sustainable gardens:- https://www.cv-4h.org/information-leaflet.html About The Street Community The plan is designed to help its residents to adapt to life in times of drought and rising temperatures in a way that will improve the environment and create new jobs. The “Building Hume’s Future Together” program aligns to existing Council and NSW Regional plans, in particular: the Regional Community Strategy Plan; Community Social Sustainability Strategy Plan; the Climate Change Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan. This project will help with one of the most important climate mitigation strategies identified in the Council’s Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation plan, which is to increase the number of trees, bushes and other vegetation to help keep temperatures down, especially around private houses. The objective of the sustainable gardens plan is to improve the ability of private and public gardens survive and, hopefully, thrive in difficult conditions. It is also to support the growing vegetables to help with the sustainability of families and individuals. This plan now come under the Goulburn Mulwaree Sustainability Hub. To align this project to the Council’s vision and its Social Sustainability Plan, the project uses the term “sustainability” in referring to the objectives of the project. Keys to Achieving Garden Sustainability and the Summary Benefits The keys to achieving garden sustainability are
This will reduce water use and help to:- Reduce soil temperature as well as the temperature of the areas around gardens and houses
Keys to Achieving Improved Grazing and Farm Productivity Since European settlement Australian agricultural soils have lost about two-thirds of their carbon content. But as soil-carbon expert John White has reported, a 0.5 per cent increase in soil carbon on only 2 per cent of our agricultural lands would more than offset all of Australia’s emissions from all sectors. It is now widely acknowledged that soil organic carbon is delivered achievable through the adoption of Regenerative/Resilient Agriculture.
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