Be careful where you camp
WITH the high rivers, our red gums are getting their roots wet.
Without a good hold on the ground, the big ones come down. They are solid trees, but the bigger they are, the more chance they have of coming down. Their grip on the ground is not as good when their roots are under water.
There have been two big ones lose their grip on my creek this week, both near popular camping spots. Make sure you warn your visitors this weekend to look up and see which way that tree is leaning, as well as check the direction of the wind for the weekend.
Trivia night
THE Moulamein Public School is running a trivia night on October 14 at the Moulamein Bowling Club.
For $25, you get an Aussie finger food dinner as well as a lot of fun.
Tables are a maximum of eight people and it will be all Australian-themed questions and dress up.
To book in, call the school on 5887 5208.
Working sheep dog trials
IT has been two years, but they are back from Monday with the finals ay Moulamein Recreation Reserve on September 29.
The trials start at 7.30am in the morning and finish about 5pm each day. The best thing about it, it is free to watch.
You can get your morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea there from various groups from our town.
They will be using some of my sheep for the trials. They have just been shorn; they are mad. They will test the dogs out, so it will be worth a look.
If you are looking to help out, that would be welcomed as they are always short of volunteers.
Gourmet Fair
THIS will be held at the Moulamein Bowling Club from 2pm on October 8.
There will be plenty of local stalls during the day and then there will be live music by local Ian Tully after the fair.
The first time we tried this day, we were just coming out of lockdown due to our mate COVID.
There were limited numbers allowed into our bowling club and the line up outside you would never see in Moulamein unless I was shouting a beer.
I had to do something on the microphone that I had never done before. I had to ask people to leave. Not because they were misbehaving, we have done that before. But just so the next mob of people could get in for a look.
For more information or to put a stall in, call Courtney on 5887 5207.
Geelong bowlers
WE had a visit from a busload of Geelong bowlers on their friendship tour.
They seemed to have a great time and were very impressed with our club chief Andrew, as we all are.
They got to see the Mooloomoon Woolshed and visited our Moulamein Heritage Village as well as the Moulamein Lake.
They then had a bowls challenge on our bowling green, lovingly prepared by our greenkeepers Grahame and Beezy.
As president of our club. I got invited over to welcome the Geelong bowlers and represent our club.
I apologised to them for turning up in my work clothes, but I had to go out and pen up sheep after I left as we are shearing.
I thought, being grand final week and them being from Geelong, I would make them a bit of a presentation to take back to the Mighty Cats for the big game.
I put a brick in a handbag and presented it to the tallest feller in the room with a Cats hat on. Evidently, the brick in the hand bag is not such a joke down there at Geelong as it is up here. If you are too young to understand what the brick in the handbag means, ask an old fellow, he will know what it means. I am sure they will forgive me for my joke if they read my notes.
Hoof and hook competition
AFTER a two-year break because of our friend COVID, the Central Murray Best Wool, Best Lamb hoof and hook lamb competition will be at the Swan Hill Show again this year.
Get your best lambs put aside, you NSW fellows. We have to show these Mexicans south of the border that we can grow the best lambs over here.
All you have to do is pick your best lambs, drop them off to the Swan Hill Show on October 1 between 7.30am and 9am and you are in.
Your lambs will be prosiest first thing Monday morning at Woodward Foods abattoirs and you will be paid commercial rates for the carcase. Unfortunately, due to OH&S, we cannot go and see the processing part of the competition.
However, you can meet at the Swan Hill Club at 12.30pm on October 3 for a video of the judge and his comments on the lambs entered.
For more information, call Rick on 0428 372 357.
Rain forecast again
AT the time of writing, we are going to get about half-of-an inch in the old language.
Even though our rivers are high, locally we need the rain.
The tree foil is just starting to wither. Any crops that were not pre-watered are starting to look for a drink.
We held off as long as we could, but everything has now been watered that was not pre-watered.
I have not grown a barley crop for about 15 years so it was a steep learning curve to grow barley that you can water in the spring without killing it.
The old saying in my day was pre-water your barley and then break your shovel. Ken Polkinghorn told me that and it was always good advice.
Last time I grew barley, I thing that Schooner was just getting replaced by Gardner. Sheep and rice were a better option.
Rice will be big in our district again this year. With water being cheap and plentiful, every spare acre will go in.
The best thing about trying to double crop is that SunRice wants more Sherpa rice due to changing world markets.
This is a quick developing rice variety that suits late sowing. Get your winter crop off and drop it in. We are going to give it a go this year. Unfortunately, that paddock is beside the road, so everyone will see if it does not work.
River levels
THE Edward at Moulamein is sitting on around 4.55 metres and around 8500 megalitres a day at the time of writing and should stat to level out in the next few days.
The Ovens, King and Loden Rivers are on flood watch at the moment. This could make it interesting.
