Land for Wildlife at home. Our sustainability plan.

A local endangered species.

At Riddells Botanicals:

The small red brown finch loves to nest at our farm. It is happy to forage for food in the native grassy areas around the property.

RIDDELLS CREEK

When I first moved to the farm from living in urban Melbourne I thought it had so many amazing native features, flowering plant and tall eucalyptus trees.

So many birds! Honeyeaters, Wattlebirds, many small finches, wrens, parrots and so much more (27 species in total). They return every year to nest in their favourite tree or hollow.

It is a beautiful scenic area on the bassalt plains that was once a lava flow from the volcanic eruptions at Mt Macedon over 360 million years old (it is the oldest volcano in Australia). It is known as ‘Geboor’ by the Wurrundjeri people. The heathy dry forest, riparian woodland and herb-rich foothill forest give rise to amazing flora and fauna biodiversity and magnificent wildflower displays.  Macedon Ranges flora, fauna and plants are listed in a detailed booklet:

https://www.mrsc.vic.gov.au/Live-Work/Environment/Nature-Guides

I had never heard such a cacophany of happy chirping feathered locals nesting and feeding their young. I also noticed once we lived there that we had a prolific population of frogs. At our dam they would make a huge racket at night. Usually in the spring season or after heavy rains. Such a powerful reminder of the natural seasons at play. I fell in love and we bought the old run down farm for the exactly the same price as our Californian bungalow in West Brunswick. At Riddells Botanicals we are situated on a 1 Hectare farm outside the township of Riddells Creek with mountain views of the grat dividing range..

Only a small farm but giving pockets of land back to the local fauna and birds species linking the Jacksons Creek to our place as a safe haven.

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In 2021 our farm property was listed as ‘Land for Wildlife’. It was important to us that we plant the most local indigenous plants and trees to encourage good pollinators, birds, and fauna into our property. I wanted to create a nature link -my place to Jacksons Creek, a small nature pocket reserve 2 properties away. We have spent the last 20 years replanting native indigenous trees, shrubs and encouraging our local birds and furry friends to return often through droughts a lot of plantings survived.

Reforesting the front paddock with local eucalyptus trees and local native shrubs, 2018.

Our regional towns are crowding with more developments constantly so I am wary of my responsibility to maintain and expand the vegetation. I must thank the Riddells Creek Landcare group for their timely plant advice and local knowledge. They do tireless work. They produced the book "Macedon Range Flora",  killed hundreds of weedy trees in our surrounding bushland, helping (with other groups) to put about $1 million worth of solar panels on local houses. They are part of Jacksons Creek EcoNetwork, and regularly speak out on environmental issues.

Nonetheless at Riddells Botanicals we will keep marching on. Hopefully our contribution to the local environment will be of conservation value in the future.

https://austhrutime.com/timeline_australian_volcanoes.htm