War of the Weeds / Victory....sort of.

Today I finished the weed spraying.
It was the end of the second round cleaning up what I had missed the first time.
I also made a concerted effort on the remaining bracken using metsulfuron-methyl.
This was originally developed by DuPont and known as Brush-off®. It was very expensive although the addition rate is very low 10g/100L. But the patent expired and more and cheaper brands came on the market.
I use Associate from Nufarm.
For bracken (and blackberry) a non ionic surfactant needs to be added to improve penetration.
The chemical is systemic and works by inhibiting plant cell division eventually killing it.
This can take some time. With bracken it can be six weeks before ‘yellowing’ of the fronds is noticeable.

The loneliness of a long distance sprayer

As for the other weeds, generally there was success. However, where dense clusters have died off this has left the soil exposed to sunlight which has lead to a secondary explosion of seed germination and growth.
I will have to wait until these get a little more mature before attacking the second wave, maybe a month or so.
As frustrating as this is I always remember one of my horticultural lecturers saying “one year’s seeds, seven year’s weeds”.
I hate to think how many kilometres I have walked around the property doing this project. But with initial load of around 18kg of backpack sprayer to carry it sure has improved my fitness level.
And as I have said before, with the nice autumn weather, strolling in the bush for a few hours a day is not such a bad thing.

COVID-19 / Australia / Social Impacts

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) surveyed what has been stressing Australians in the last month.

Loneliness topped the list.

Women were more impacted then men, with 28% of women reporting feeling lonely, compared to 16% of men.

Around one in five people (19%) also reported that they were experiencing difficulties maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which was more of a problem for those aged 18 to 64 years (22%) than those aged 65 years and over (9%).

The survey also noted changes to people’s lifestyles during the period early-April to early-May, including:

—22 % who said they are eating more snack foods such as chips, lollies and biscuits.

—14% who said they are consuming more alcohol, and 10 per cent who said they are consuming less.

—58% who reported spending more time in front of their television, computer, phone or other device.

—29% who reported less frequent consumption of takeaway or delivered meals, while -38% spent more time cooking or baking.

Socialising on ‘First Freedom Weekend’ with 2m distance applied

The ABS also reported more people were slipping on the social distance requirements, compared to March.

Fewer people were taking the following precautions in late-April to early-May:

—keeping distance from people (94% compared with 98% in March).

—purchasing additional household supplies (21% compared with 47% in March).

—additional medical supplies (8% compared with 29% in March).

The proportion of Australians who said they were wearing a face mask remained about the same: 17% in March and 15% in late-April to early-May.

Almost half the nation, 46%, is working from home, while 89% of workers who aren’t working from home, report it is because they can’t due to the nature of their job.

Source: Guardian Australia 

COVID-19 / Australia / Sport

The virus has knocked the stuffing out of Australian sport, both professional, amateur and recreational.

The virus ‘hit’ at the end of the cricket season which is predominantly played through summer.

The major domestic competition, the Sheffield Shield did not reach the finals stage. Luckily the Women’s T20 World Cup reached a final which Australia won. 

The domestic T20, the so called Big Bash, also was completed (but who really cares!) and various international Test matches involving the Australian men’s team were played without interruption.

There are four codes of football played across the nation, Australia Rules (AFL), Rugby League (NRL), Rugby Union (RA) and soccer (FFA).

The season had already got underway for all four when the competition came to a sudden halt. Some tried playing in empty stadiums but it wasn’t working and the travel ban made it impossible to play in other parts of the country.

The NRL will start a limited season at the end of May under some very unusual conditions.

The AFL are looking at end of June for their season to start again but quarantine issues have that date in doubt. Again, playing in empty stadiums for TV audiences only must be a downer.

Rugby Australia has announced an interim domestic men’s competition to replace the Southern Hemisphere wide Super Rugby tournament and hopes to kick off in July.

The FFA is set to resume in August.

The National Basketball League (NBL) men’s competition made it to the playoffs but they weren’t completed.  

A controversial decision was made to award the championship to the team leading the playoffs at the time of cancellation.

Of course the ordinary person hasn’t been able to participate in recreational sporting activities. Golf clubs, lawn bowls clubs and tennis clubs have been closed. And the lower grades of the above football codes have come to a standstill.

It seems that fishing, surfing and walking/jogging have been the only untouched pursuits although city beach goers had access problems.

So as the restrictions slowly come off we will probably see most sports returning but under a whole lot of new rules.

Of course the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics is a major blow not only for the athletes who have trained years for their events, but also the armchair spectators. Hopefully we will see that event in 2021.

COVID-19 / Australia / 9th May 2020 Update

Prime Minister Scott Morrison yesterday announced the details of a three-stage plan to wind back coronavirus restrictions in Australia.
It is, however, up to the individual state and territory governments to implement this in their own time and as appropriate to their local situation*.
There is currently no plan to reintroduce international travel outside of New Zealand. 

Colourised pic of human cell (green) invaded by the virus (yellow)

STEP ONE
COVID safe reopening commences with physical distancing & hygiene.
Up to 5 visitors to your home.
Gatherings of up to 10 outside of home.
Work from home if it works for you and your employer.
Libraries, community centres playgrounds and boot camps open.
Australians can do more: 
· Shopping
· Restaurants and cafés
· Home sales & auctions
· Local playground
· Outdoors boot camps
· Local and regional travel

STEP TWO

Most business reopen with physical distancing & hygiene.
Gatherings of up to 20 outside of home.
Work from home if it works for you and your employer.

Australians can do even more in gatherings of up to 20:
· Gyms

· Beauty therapists
· Cinemas, theatres or amusement parks
· Galleries and museums
· Some interstate travel

STEP THREE

All Australians return to work with physical distancing and hygiene.
Gatherings up to 100
Return to workplace
Consider cross-Tasman, Pacific Island travel and international student travel
Australians can do even more in gatherings of up to 100:
· Food Courts
· Saunas and bathhouses
· All interstate travel

Despite a few new clusters in some states, our figures are still looking reasonable.

As stated previously, we won’t be going ‘extra social’ any time soon. We shall wait to see what the new restrictions bring. Some are fearing a spike in cases. 

One of our neighbours had a visit from the police the other night (unannounced gun cabinet security visit) who said there are seven cases in town all doing mandatory self isolation. They are all a result of the Ruby Princess. The cops visit the houses every day to make sure they are conforming.

*Update: 10th May

From Friday next NSW residents will be permitted to have outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people, visits to a household of up to five people, while cafes and restaurants can seat 10 patrons at any one time.

Children can return to the playground and people can work out on the outdoor gym equipment in parks, but caution is urged. 

Outdoor pools can reopen with restrictions, which are expected to include no change rooms and a cap of 10 people using the pool at one time.

Religious gatherings and places of worship will be allowed up to 10 people, weddings can host up to 10 guests, while funerals can have up to 20 mourners indoors and 30 outdoors.

A ban on regional travel and use of libraries and community centres will be maintained.

War of the Weeds

As already posted the fire ground has produced a myriad of dense weeds.
Here are the worst offenders:

Thorn Apple

Wandering Jew

Paddy’s Lucerne 

Cobblers Pegs

Wild Tobacco

Thistles

Thankfully our five year offensive against the poa tussock and the bracken fern has not been adversely affected. There are small patches of bracken and the odd tussock appearing but they are easily dealt with by spot spraying.
There are some other strange ones which I have been unable to identify so far but they are not of major concern.
Herbicide metsulfuron-methyl (Associate from Nufarm) with a wetting agent used for bracken, glyphosate for the rest.

Poa Tussock                                           Bracken                 

Prosecco

Prosecco is a very popular wine it seems. A light, low alcohol white with a bit of fizz, it’s easy drinking. 

The co-driver’s friends drink a lot of it and we decided to take the plunge and bought a bottle of Brown Brothers who produce it from grapes grown in the cool climate of the King Valley in Victoria.

Prosecco is a white grape variety of Slovenian origin which was brought to the village of Prosecco (Slovene: Prosek) from Slovenia's Karst region.

It is believed to be a very old variety and it has been suggested that it was cultivated already back in Roman times.

Prosecco was traditionally used as the name for both the grape variety and the sparkling wine produced primarily from it.

When the Italian wine industry’s DOCG status was sought for Prosecco di Conegliano e Valdobbiadene, it became complicated as the the grape (which had become cultivated over a larger area) and the protected designation of origin had the same name.

To resolve the issue, the old synonym Glera was officially adopted as the name of the grape within the EU.

This change was also made to reduce the possibility of sparkling wines of other origin being labelled "Prosecco" by using the grape variety's name.

The name change was rejected by Australian wine producers who continue to refer to the grape variety and the wine made from it as 'Prosecco'.

This has become a bone of contention when trade deals between the EU and Australia are discussed.

In the past, Australia has changed the generic name of many locally produced wines to comply with EU rulings eg. Champagne, Hermitage, Port, Burgundy, Chablis, Sauterne, Moselle etc are no longer used in this country.

But it seems we are ‘holding out’ when it comes to Prosecco!

Unlike Champagne, Prosecco is usually produced using the alternative Charmat method, in which secondary fermentation takes place in large stainless steel tanks rather than in each individual bottle. This  makes the wine less expensive to produce and reduces the minimum production time to 30 days.

The wine we drank was pleasant enough as a quaffer, but is certainly no Champagne / méthode champenoise sparkling white wine.

COVID-19 /Australia / 2nd May 2020 Update

Figures are improving every day.

Over three million have downloaded the Covidsafe app.

But the target of 50% of the population downloading is still a little distant.

Restrictions related to COVID-19 have been eased in a number of states and territories from this weekend and national rules could be eased next Friday ie. a week earlier than was originally expected.

In NSW and ACT, two adults are now allowed to visit other households.

ACT residents are also allowed to travel to NSW and shop for non-essential items.

The Northern Territory has removed restrictions on the size of social gatherings. Queenslanders are now allowed to travel up to 50km from their homes and shop for non essential items, in what is a two week trial.

Gatherings of up to 10 people are now allowed in Western Australia, up from the previous limit of 2 people.

A 10-person limit on gatherings remains in place in South Australia and density restrictions still apply.

However restrictions are unchanged in Victoria and Tasmania.
The calamitous border failure that is the Ruby Princess is now responsible for over 850 cases and over 30 deaths. It is also responsible for the significant outbreak in Tasmania.
The inquiry into this matter continues.

The government has now released more detailed information about infections.

Our post code (zip code) has registered 6 with a recovery rate of 4 so far. Considering the large area covered by the code, this is not a significant figure.
Despite the easing of the restrictions we will continue to socially distance just in case it is too early to celebrate.

April 2020 / Indian Summer

April produced a Indian Summer over the four weeks with temperatures almost reaching 30℃ some days. It rained a little, dropping around a welcome 75mm on us but mostly during the night.

This topped up the tanks and the dams and gave the pasture an incentive to grow just a little more before ‘shutting down’.

All in all it was perfect autumn weather. Good for working outside, spraying weeds and removing the netting from the now mothballed grape vines.

Then on the 30^th, dark clouds gathered, the temperature dropped and the rain drizzled down. The first taste of winter had arrived.

Gusty cold westerly winds had the day time temperature struggling to reach the mid teens.

There was the first dump of snow on the high country a few hundred kilometres to our south west.

Time for our first fire of the season. 

Also time to get out the heavier red wines that have been stashed away for drinking with our winter comfort food.

Bushfire Aftermath / Weeds

It seems the fire ground, with a bit of rain, has turned into a weed jungle.

Tens of thousands of seeds must have lain dormant for years under the pasture and now, with a bit of moisture, warm weather, no competition from the grass and the richer ash laden post fire soil, have taken off. 

There are about eight different types, four of which I have never seen in this area before.

One of concern is the thorn apple. It is toxic to stock (and humans) and needs to be gotten rid off before winter reduces pasture growth and the cattle start getting interested in alternative feed.

Thorn Apple

So this means back pack spraying with glyphosate ie. Roundup or it’s equivalent.

Since Monsanto’s patent ran out in 2000 many new and much cheaper brands came onto the market.

We normally use a Chinese product.

This chemical is a little controversial and is in the midst of a few court cases around the world and its use is being cut back. There is also a resistance problem developing.

My old company bought Monsanto a few years ago and are now maybe regretting inheriting a bit of a poison chalice.

But I have used glyphosate for decades. It is a very effective product. Whether it has affected me health wise remains to be seen. I think I was in much more danger during my business career working in industries which at the time had little or no protocols for chemical exposure and worker safety.

Glyphosate molecule 

The chemical usually diluted to 10-15 mL/ L in water is absorbed through foliage and minimally through roots and is transported to growing points ie. a systematic herbicide.

It inhibits a plant enzyme involved in the synthesis of three aromatic amino acids: tyrosine, tryptophan, and phenylalanine, all essential for growth, causing the plant to die and eventually desiccate. While growth stops within hours of application, it takes several days for the plant to show signs of a successful ‘kill’. We have found the some species eg. blackberry and tussock can take weeks to yellow, while others eg. thistles take two days. It also depends on the stage of plant growth related to its environment. Low temperatures and dry soils can slow down the chemical’s action.

So it will be a few long days attacking this unexpected problem but the autumn weather is nice to work in ie. sunny but cool and with the Covid ‘stay at home’ rules in place there is not much else to do.

COVID -19 / Australia / 27th April 2020 Update

The COVID curve continues to flatten across our country with state and territory leaders confident of another day of small case numbers.

However all are quick to warn this won’t mean a sudden return to life as we knew it.

Relaxation of the physical distancing rules is in the pipeline with a couple of states, Queensland and Western Australia leading the way.

Schools returning to normal onsite learning is most likely soon.

The Parliaments (Federal and state) may start sitting again next month, but budgets have been pushed back into the second half of the year.

The border lockdowns still have many months to go. And it wouldn’t be a surprise if there are extensions to the travel bans in some regions.

Until there is a vaccine, Australia will see some version of what’s in place now for some time. 

If there is a flare-up, we’ve already been told the response will be to lock it down.

To some, the governments’ responses have been quite draconian but when you look at the chaos and mismanagement of the situation of many other western countries over the last four months most of us can see how well we have done to contain the spread. 

Certainly if that one mistake regarding the Ruby Princess had not occurred the figures would look even better. 

10.5% of national cases and 21 deaths, not to mention at least 36 international cases, so far, can be traced to the ship.

The inquiry into the ship’s uncontrolled disembarking of 2700 passengers currently underway will get to the bottom of this fiasco.

All Australians have been asked to download a Covid tracing app onto their phones.

COVIDSafe recognises other devices with the COVIDSafe app installed and Bluetooth enabled. When the app recognises another user, it notes the date, time, distance and duration of the contact and the other user’s reference code.

The app then helps find close contacts of COVID-19 cases by assisting state and territory health officials to quickly contact people who may have been exposed to the virus.

This has been controversial from a privacy point of view but it seems many are embracing the concept so far. It was only released last night but the uptake has been high.

More information here.

ANZAC Day 2020

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

COVID-19 / A Personal Whinge

Before the enormity of the Covid -19 pandemic became apparent, we had booked three trips away, two overseas, one interstate.

Obviously with border restrictions and stay at home laws in place, all these activities became less likely to happen.

Airlines, hotels, car rental and other businesses reacted in different ways as to the funds already paid to them.

Sydney airport parking refunded all pre bookings immediately after cancellation.

Car rentals were cancelled without penalty or cost.

Some hotels would only credit for future stays, others refunded. 

Air New Zealand would only credit for future itineraries for a limited rebooking window despite the fact it was illegal for us, at the date of intended departure, to leave Australia and to enter New Zealand.

Most unfair I thought.

They have since extended the booking window to 30th June 2021 with 12 months to complete travel from the time of booking.

Ok, that now makes it more likely we will use that credit eventually.

For our trip to the USA in October, we decided that it was, under the on going situation there, not safe to go. In any case it is most likely our border would still be closed.
United Airlines allowed us to cancel without penalty with a two year booking window credit for the paid fare and returned my FF points in full immediately plus refunded the copay amount.

Fare (sic) enough!

Our interstate flight is to Tasmania. Unfortunately our airline, Virgin Australia, has gone into voluntary administration due to the virus inflicted travel restrictions so no fare refund or credit there. Whether they will be around when we are due to travel (September) is anyone’s guess despite the fact there are a number of suitors looking to bail them out. 
Add to that Tasmania’s currently closed state border and the trip looks really ‘iffy’.
Who knows what will happen to that airfare. Maybe a credit card charge back might be a route to go down.

At least we can cancel our accommodation there without penalty a month out. This is very disappointing as we were looking forward to 10 days isolation in a nice house (see above pic) on the island state’s east coast.

So that’s my personal gripe on the COVID-19 affect on our travel plans.  

Tough bikkies / stiff cheese, I know, when taking into consideration the devastation it’s causing around the world.

Bushfire Followup

Representatives of the contractor appointed by the NSW government, Lange O’Rourke, came on Tuesday to assess our damaged buildings and discuss their removal.
There had been some controversy in our area as some people had been refused the free service for various strange reasons. We had noticed that suddenly in correspondence we had received lately that an eligibility clause had been added. Maybe the government’s generous offer was costing far more than anticipated and they introduced some retrospectivity into their terms and conditions. A bit sneaky and unfair I would have thought.
But this didn’t come up at all in our conversation and it was decided that our demolition and removal would take place in around five weeks.

We have yet to decide whether the concrete slab the shed now sits on will go or not. Our builder needs to assess whether it would be suitable for the new structure or whether it is too fire damaged.
He unfortunately has been laid up for weeks after a hip replacement operation and is way behind in business matters.
But the contractors said they only need to know on the day they are here to do the work so no urgency on that.
Anyway we are still mulling over whether we actually need a building the same size or could get away with something smaller. An important criteria is roof area. We would be collecting rain water off it into a tank to supplement our domestic water supply.
We will be glad when that site is completely cleared and we can get on with the fencing replacement program in the vicinity. A 10,000 volt electric fence is currently the only deterrent to stop cattle from wandering.

COVID-19 / Australia / 21st April 2020 Update

New Daily Cases by State

COVID-19 / Australia / 17th April 2020 Update

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has indicated that restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the virus will remain in place for at least the four next weeks, before a gradual easing of restrictions may be considered. Social distancing requirements will not be relaxed for the foreseeable future.
The government’s economic response to assist people and business adversely affected by the shutdowns is here.
Bemusing to see our rampant capitalist regime turn to socialism as soon as things go pear shaped.

Almost 80 per cent of Australians participating in a national survey have backed government efforts to slow the spread of coronavirus, up from 66 per cent last week and 56 per cent the week before.
So nationally it appears we are doing relatively ok. The same can’t be said for other countries. 
Personally I don’t think all this will be over on a world wide basis until a vaccine is developed.
It certainly looks like we won’t be opening up our borders to international travel any time soon.

COVID-19 / Australia / The Ruby Princess

On a recent post I put up this graph.

People have asked why the state of New South Wales has such a higher number of cases of the virus than other states and territories.
Apart from the capital, Sydney, being Australia’s major gateway for international travel with many cases coming from overseas, two words encapsulate the reason ie. Ruby Princess.
This cruise ship docked in Sydney on 19th March after a trip around New Zealand ports.
Despite there being a number of suspicious health issues (maybe 140 ill passengers) on board, authorities let 2700 disembark without testing. They caught private and public transport and even overseas flights to get home.

Latest figures, above, show the large number NSW passengers diagnosed with the virus.
The national figure now tops 650 passengers.
Obviously this is a debacle of the highest order and both state and federal agencies are pointing fingers at one another while at the same time heading for cover.
The case is now under a criminal investigation led by NSW homicide detectives.
The ship is currently docked at a secure facility at Port Kembla just to the south of Sydney and is expected to be there 10 days while the investigation continues.

The ship’s ‘black box’ and other evidence has been seized.
The crew of 1000 have remained onboard.
Certainly some ‘heads will roll’ after this investigation is complete.
One can only speculate what our virus situation would be nationwide without this happening.

COVID-19 / Australia/ April 9th 2020 Update

Australia’s stats show a decline in cases. For sure this is due to the strict self isolation and social distancing polices put in place by the Federal, State and Territory governments.
And they are not taking their foot off the brake.
The ‘stay at home’ rule will be enforced by our police over the Easter holiday period. Their car number plate recognition system will instantly tag someone who is not where they should be. Fines are considerable.

This is good for our region. So far we are virus free. Unfortunately supermarkets are still sparsely stocked. Any increase in population due to tourism is unwanted.
Self and social isolation will be in place until the end of April when reviews will take place.
Personally I think it will be June before life returns to some sort of normal.

COVID-19 / Australia / April 4th 2020 Update

Rules have been tightened considerably in New South Wales.

As of 12am last Tuesday, residents now legally have to stay in their homes unless they have a “reasonable excuse” for leaving.

“Reasonable excuses” are broadly categorised as:    

Obtaining food or other goods and services

Travelling for the purposes of work or education if the person cannot do it at home

Exercise

Medical or caring reasons.

The new laws allow for fines of up to $11,000 or six months’ imprisonment for those who leave the home without a reasonable excuse, plus an additional $5,500 fine each day the offence continues. Fines for businesses are higher still.

NSW has also adopted a two-person gathering limit.

Other states and territories are employing similar policies.

Australia

New South Wales