The world’s tallest tree is the Coast Redwood (Sequoia sempervirens). It is indigenous to northern California and during our research trip to California and Nevada in May 2018, we were lucky enough to spend a peaceful three days nestled in a Sequoia forest at Salmon Creek Farm in Mendocino County, northern California. This 35 acre […]
The town of Lone Pine, California, with the Sierra Nevada mountains in the background Lucas and I travelled to California and Nevada in April 2018 to have a look at what others are doing in the field of socially engaged art practice. It took many weeks to line up various people and venues to visit, […]
In 2016 Lucas met with Richard Brown, director of Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens, to propose The Botanic Gardens Land Art Project. Over the past year, we’ve had several meetings with Botanic Gardens staff and we’ve gone through a process of negotiation, proposal writing and revision. John Sweet and Simon Mattsson have worked with us closely […]
It’s mid-March, and we’re back in Mackay to have meetings with quite a few people and organisations. It’s very hot and humid and locals are saying that although there’s been some rain, the usual wet season of March hasn’t really happened. Simon Mattsson, our main cane-farmer collaborator, is hoping for some rainfall for his […]
In 1987 I had my first Great Barrier Reef experience, snorkelling on one of the outer reefs off Cairns. Seeing for the first time a wonderland of corals and tropical fish remains one of the most astonishing things I’ve witnessed. It was sheer, glorious, teeming beauty. The second Great Barrier Reef snorkelling trip was in […]
Tuesday 4th October – Lucas and I got an early start this morning to drive from Mackay to Townsville for a 1pm meeting with environmental scientist Jon Brodie at James Cook University. Jon is the Chief Research Scientist, Centre for Tropical Water & Aquatic Ecosystem Research (TropWATER). He has a long list of research articles […]
Over the past month while I’ve been here in Mackay I’ve met many people who are in some way connected with agriculture – soil scientists, environmental scientists, official representatives of the sugarcane industry, local food producers, Australian South Sea Islanders who are descended from the indentured canefield labourers of the last century, a local MP […]
On Friday Lucas and I spent the day at Simon Mattson’s farm, having a fun time printmaking with his wife Susie, son Luke and daughter Sophie while Simon was out in the paddocks working. The harvesting crew could be seen in the background, giving the fully grown sugarcane a number one clip to the ground. […]
This meeting was my first introduction to some of the people in Mackay who Lucas has been cultivating connections with. The Greater Whitsunday Food Network is an alliance of food growers who are building a profile and promoting local food through events, demonstrations, educational programs and a Wednesday Growers’ Market. Deb McLucas from Freckle Farm […]
This morning I visited the Garden of Tegan in Balberra, about thirty minutes south of Mackay city, where there was an open house for the recently established permaculture market garden. Tegan and her partner are now living their dream of growing organic food and are currently experimenting with different crops to gauge their suitability for […]
