Trees for our block
As of now there are maybe 150 trees in the existing woodlot and maybe 40 significant red gums across the rest of the property. My new best friends at Austrahort Seed Merchants supplied me with a few thousand river red gum seeds, ironbark and maculata (spotted gums) as well as tens of thousands of acacia victorae.
So far I have 300 river redgums seedlings sprouted and moved into tube stock. These will become the base of our woodlot next spring to be planted once the frosts have stopped. This should be enough for our firewood needs managed as described in the post about woodlot management.
Currently we have the first of 2500 acacias potted into seedling trays and in the mini greenhouse. We will be using these as commercial seed trees, acacia seeds being a native food and keenly sought after for the nutritional and health value. Once the acacias sprout and can be moved on into tube stock the ironbarks and maculata will be next.
The spotted gums are sought after lumber for fine furniture and beautiful decking and will be planted with a 20 year harvest in mind, like a small super fund. The ironbarks are so incredibly strong they will be staggered 4 deep as a windbreaks around the property line and around the perimeter of paddocks for the same reason. They are also a commercially in demand lumber.
We are looking to plant out 300 red gums, 2500 acacias, 10 000 spotted gums and 10 000 ironbarks plus fruit and nut trees in our orchard. Potentially we have the capacity for 20 000 acacias in addition to the above, how many we end up with will be left to farm gate/market returns for the seed.
One thing is for sure – our block will be a green and thriving oasis amongst the thousands of hectares of cleared grazing land around us.