Buzz and Dig in Preston, Victoria, Australia | Gardener

Buzz and Dig

Locality: Preston, Victoria, Australia

Address: Dundas street 3072 Preston, VIC, Australia

Website: http://www.buzzanddig.com.au

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25.01.2022 It’s the mother of all mothers... you can track the maternal lineage of this kombucha SCOBY - symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. After a couple of months, I’ve split this SCOBY and kept the newer layers and ditched the older layers to the compost. It got me thinking, are there any other uses for SCOBYs?

25.01.2022 Seen some odd crescent shapes munched out of your rose leaves. Watch my video to find out who is the culprit.

25.01.2022 Blue banded bees are one of many species of bees that next the the ground. Seventy percent of native bee species nest in the ground. Have a look at these shots by Electra of a blue banding bee excavating her nesting hole.

25.01.2022 Our grasslands are amazing at the moment. Here’s my little solitude after dropping off the youngest cub at bush kinder. I feel grounded listening to birdsong and kids playing in the bush. This has been happening in this land by the creek for millennia. This little regeneration patch planted by Darebin Parklands and volunteers is a fantastic spot to look out for pollinators on flowering Anthropodium stricum chocolate lillies and Dianella longifolia. Watch with sound on and wait for a native bee to buzz in the shot.

24.01.2022 Have you made a bee hotel for your garden? We’ve popped our latest creation made by the 5 year old in the tomato patch. Look at the first guest to check in!

23.01.2022 Have you noticed small beetles buried deep in some of your flowers? beetles can also be effective pollinators on flowers that usually have low nectar yields. Beetles are attracted to flowers that have exposed sex organs, in a bowl-shaped petals. They actually eat pollen and are attracted mostly to flowers that emit musky, yeasty, spicy, rotten or fermented odours. My hollyhocks have a musky perfume and are always full with small black beetles and honeybees. Have you seen different insects sharing pollen resources?

22.01.2022 Apart from the irksome Cabbage White, are you sporting any butterflies amongst your spring flowers?

22.01.2022 The babies have hatched! We’ve had resident praying mantises outside the kitchen window for a couple of years now, and I see the new generation’s arrival as the true sign of Spring and as a sign that the soil temperature warming up. Praying mantises in the garden provide a safe, biological weapon to combat the summer’s onslaught of pesky insects. They will eat almost anything, including each other, but their pest control of flies, moths and mosquitoes and the occasional also bee, makes them incomparable natural assistants in the landscape. The praying mantis egg sac is so intricate and can contain 300 eggs which the nymphs hatch from in warm spring weather. Only a fifth will survive to adulthood. Praying mantises are able to turn their flexible necks 180 degrees!

20.01.2022 Do you like my hairy butt? Check out this awesome fly feasting on the nectar of my calendula flower. Flies can be surprisingly hairy and are considered after the bee amazingly useful at transferring pollen from plant to plant. We call them accidental pollinators as they’re not actively seeking pollen like a bee, but due to their hairy legs and butts are really good at getting the job done. I’m guessing this is a Tachinid fly, do you know?

19.01.2022 Want to make some Christmas presents with the kids? Have you checked out my 5-minute bee hotel clip on my Buzz and Dig YouTube channel? Creating native bee habitat couldn’t be easier or more fun when the kids are in control.

18.01.2022 Celebrate Australian Pollinator Week with Buzz and Dig

18.01.2022 How fascinating are trails left by insects? Why do you think these wood boring larvae have a starting line? Have they originated at the same spot or do they retrace their steps? Have these insects this killed this tree, or did the tree retaliate to pest attack by sending out energy reserves with resin sap? A lot of wood borer holes attract resin bees for nests on the northern side of the trunk. I don’t know much about wood borers apart from they could possibly be longhorn or jewel beetles, and possibly a sign that a tree is in distress, what do you know about them?

17.01.2022 Mulberries. With these berries are so many stories of stained fingers and clothes, kids climbing the mulberry tree, using the leaves to feed silkworms, enjoying a lazy swing on the hammock underneath the dappled shade, and for our first year, a bountiful crop. I taught some three and four year old kids yesterday that delighted in picking mulberries in a public urban food forest whilst other visitors were picking them with small baskets cradled on their arms. I hear stories ho...w my eldest delights being brave with her bestie climbing the local park’s mulberry tree during school lunchtime. I’ve got the Fancy Hicks (Morus nigra) variety, which can get massive, but there are dwarf, red, white and black varieties to select for your space and climate. Mulberry fruit is a very good source of vitamin C, vitamin K and iron and a good source of dietary fiber, riboflavin, magnesium and potassium. If you haven’t got a mulberry tree near you, perhaps it’s time to plant one or ask for one in a public space to be enjoyed by everyone.

17.01.2022 Can’t wait till the Aussie Backyard Bird Count starts next week, get your binoculars ready and enjoy spotting some feathered friends in your neighbourhood.

17.01.2022 There are some beautiful words in other languages that can reflect your feelings of spending time in your garden. Pace means peace in Italian. Yet other words are almost untranslatable into English such as Waldeinsamkeit which means the feeling of being alone and connectedness to nature or forest, or Komorebi is a Japanese word that refers to the sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees. The Serbian word merak is a wonderful little word that refers to a feeling of bliss and the sense of oneness with the universe that comes from the simplest of pleasures. It is the pursuit of small, daily pleasures that all add up to a great sense of happiness and fulfilment. Do you know of any words that are hard to describe or translate into English?

17.01.2022 So great to be teaching kids again about native pollinators. It’s been a long hard year, but smiley faces and kids connecting with nature makes it all worthwhile. get in touch if your group needs a park incursion or see you in 2021.

16.01.2022 It’s a wrap for 2020. A year ago you could’ve tried to explain to me what a Zoom workshop entails and I would’ve stared at you blankly. Now I’m a pro and have a few sessions organised for 2021. It’s been a buzz presenting online and a steep learning curve with internet connections! I hope you have to stare less at the camera for your work in the coming months.

16.01.2022 Enjoy NAIDOC week celebrations this week. Do you know whose Country you live on? I live on Wurundjeri Country. Wurun means white river gum and Djeri means witchetty grub which is the larvae of several moth species hidden under the bark. Love our school’s fence flag.

13.01.2022 Since European occupation we’ve cleared a lot of established trees. Birds such as kookaburras, kestrels and black cockatoos and marsupials such as sugar gliders and possums rely on tree hollows for protection from predators and to rear their young. It can take somewhere between 150-400 years for a gum tree sapling to create tree hollows, so our lovely park rangers are getting savvy in creating artificial hollows. I love this example in Darebin Parklands using a natural branch, but there are also wooden nesting boxes in all shapes and sizes to provide valuable habitat for birds, possums and even microbats. Have you got some occupied nesting boxes in your backyard?

11.01.2022 Dragonflies always make me feel like local biodiversity is in a good state. Did you know they begin their first year of their lives in a watery world in our creeks as larvae or nymphs? They’ve been around for a long time too - around 300 million years. They can fly forwards and backwards, but can walk very well. I love spotting dragonflies in my garden as they eat mosquitoes, but the adults only live for about a month. Some people consider it lucky if a dragonfly lands on your head, do you feel excited seeing dragonflies too?

11.01.2022 Child and chook. What a beautiful friendship. If you haven’t considered backyard chickens before as a good fit for your family, try some of the smaller breeds such as silkie bantams for small spaces. Chooks are a great addition to an organic garden system. They provide friendship, responsibility and love for kids, natural pest control fertiliser and eggs and hours of entertainment. They’ve all got unique personalities and enjoy treats such as lawn curl grubs, old edible plants, yoghurt, kid lunchbox scraps, cantaloupe seeds and kitchen scraps. If you have chooks, what are your favourite breeds and why?

08.01.2022 We need to ensure our native bee populations remain healthy and viable for generations to come and as many native bee species have co-evolved with local endemic plant species for healthy biodiversity outcomes, we need to do this in both rural and urban environments.

07.01.2022 Everyone seems to be lazing in the backyard this morning. The weather is being sensational I’ve bought some cucumber seedlings. My own seeds were attractive to earwigs, what are your methods to tackle earwigs nipping greenery from seedlings?

07.01.2022 Going on nocturnal slug and snail hunts has been bountiful, but what do you do with them all? I’m a little cautious giving them to the chooks as they can have gapeworm so my best and ethical solution with my five year old helper in tow has been to pop them in the worm farm as they can also break down kitchen scraps. Collecting snails at night is a proven biological control of pests rather than using snail baits around your seedlings. It’s also about keeping snail and slug populations in a balanced system as other creatures such as magpies use them as a valuable food source too. Have you been on a snail hunt?

05.01.2022 Green treats for the girls. chooks love silverbeet and kale from the garden. I grow dedicated chook veggies which they get everyday. I usually pop them on the ground with a brick at the stalk end to give resistance to their excited pecking. today I’ve hooked them up high so all chooks have access to the leaves. Veggie equality for all. What greens do your chooks get excited about?

03.01.2022 Afternoon eco swapsies! Easy swap of cotton make up wipes for organic bamboo and cotton wipes. Simple and easy to use and within a couple of months - you’ve recouped the costs. Whilst in covid times there hasn’t been much call for makeup, I use them with my homemade apple cider vinegar toner. I found the first few times they were a little liquid resistant, but now are super absorbent and easy to pop to launder in their own wash bag. Don’t just pop a lonesome wipe in the washing machine as it’ll get lost and grimy. I bought these as I didn’t have an overlocker, but you can easily make these out of old flannel pyjamas. Easy eco switch and it’ll save you money!

03.01.2022 Really enjoyed sharing my passion about encouraging pollinators in the garden. Thanks to the behind the scenes people from community groups and local government for being the behind-the-scene tech wizards. I couldn’t do this without you! Would love a workshop virtual or fingers crossed face-to-face in 2021 for your community? Get in chat to now to find out more.

02.01.2022 It’s the Wurrundjeri season of Wintooth Wootanbaj-Jumbunna. This is the season where babies are born, of regeneration and women’s business. Down at the Strettle wetlands near the Merri Creek we observe birds nesting and the cacophony of mating calls of the Pobblebonk frogs. Pobblebonk males compete with their banjo-twang calls to attract females emerging from burrows after rain. Breeding occurs from August to April. Females can lay a huge clutch containing up to 4000 eggs in ...a white floating foam raft. Eggs and tadpoles occupy still water in swamps, streams, dams and lakes. Pobblebonk Frog has quite a unique egg mass, which is easily distinguished by a white foamy appearance. The female uses her forearms like egg beaters to whip up a mixture of air bubbles and clear jelly creating the foam. The eggs are dark and tiny. The female can lay up to 4000 eggs which are embedded in to the dome of foam which floats on the freely on water reefs and rushes. Have you heard any distinct frog calls in your area?

02.01.2022 No single use coffee cup nor plastic bag was harmed in our local bulk food pick up of locally roasted coffee beans by @padrecoffee freshly ground to perfection by the team @moonrabbitmelbourne. Such an easy process to buy some of your staples and treats from this local bulk food based in Preston. Bring container, weigh, scoop, weigh and pay. I love how Moon Rabbit Bulk Foods has thought about the supply process in their zero waste mission. Refillable metal containers by the supplier are so easier to store and handle for bulk food shoppers. Have you chatted to your favourite cafe haunt how they receive coffee beans? Maybe there are some other clever ways of business doing it the eco smart way.

02.01.2022 Finding flatworms down by Darebin Creek on this perfect rainy day. These seem like a natural odd curiosity, but it’s estimated that there are 300 species in Australia with only 140 named. They are also called terrestrial worms and are carnivorous and slow moving patterned with a beautiful cream ribbon on top and are flattish underside with a bright blue hue. Have you spotted a flatworm on a rainy day?

01.01.2022 Dead chook pose. Have you been enjoying the spring sunshine lately? The chooks are loving our mulch delivery and will stay in their stretched dead chook pose whilst enjoying the warmth. If you let your chooks frolic in the backyard, they can easily pick up mites from the wild birds. Now is the time to powder their butts with either diatomaceous earth or Pesticene. I like to do this when they’re calm and pick them up from the roost at dusk and dust them gently outside the chook house. Have you got any tips to keep parasites at bay in the chook run?

01.01.2022 Can't wait to talk up the buzz during Australian Pollinator Week, there's still time to register for tomorrow's session at 7-8.30pm

01.01.2022 New visitor at the bee hotel. This is a new welcomed mud wasp to the hotel. She’s adding finishing touches to her beautiful fluted door. Have you made a bee hotel? Have you got many pollinators buzzing in at the moment? Weather is glorious and so are the flourishing flowers. There’s nothing better than offering the perfect bed and breakfast offer for our native bees. However, for this solitary wasp, she’ll actually pluck off caterpillars in the garden and take them back to her nest where she’ll lay eggs inside the caterpillar. Later the young wasps will emerge with some fresh meat to devour from the inside out!