Here is our programme for 2012:
FEB 15 SOLAR, WIND & GAS FIRED POWER STATION @ URANQUINTY
MAR 15 CLIMATE CHANGE
APR 19 HORTICULTURE
MAY 17 ERIN EARTH
JUN 20/21 OVERNIGHT TRIP GRIFFITH – COTTON/HYDROPONICS/WINERY
JUL 19 MANGOPLAH COMMUNITY GARDEN & HOLBROOK PADDOCK EGGS
JUL 28 CHRISTMAS IN JULY & TOUR OF THE THIRSTY CROW BREWERY
AUG 16 METALWORK
AUG 23 MOSAICS
SEP 20 AIR POLLUTION
OCT 18 GARDEN VIEWING & FLOWER ARRANGING
NOV 1 YOUNG WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
DEC ? CHRISTMAS PARTY
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Christmas Party
Last night we held our Ag n Chat Christmas party at Marilyn and Ian's beautiful home. We know it is a bit early to hold a Christmas party because it's still November, but most of us had received 50mls of rain over the last few days so it was decided that while harvest was on hold and before everyone got busy again, that it was the perfect opportunity to hold the get-together. Thank you very much for an enjoyable year and we're all looking forward to 2012 for Marrar Ag n Chat!
Merry Christmas!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Garden Viewing - 20th October 2011
Marrar Ag n Chat Garden Day at "Raywood", "Caloola" and "Inglewood"
Present – Donna , Lisa, Kim , Anne , Debbie , Felicity , Heather , Vicki , Maureen , Jan , Cathie , Liz , Marilyn , Carol and Wendy
Apologies – Lyndal and Barb
We had a lovely group of ladies and everyone started at Marilyn’s garden “Raywood” and no doubt everyone was inspired with the Art in the Garden. Thank you Marilyn for volunteering your garden.
Then everyone arrived here at “Caloola” and morning tea was on the agenda and lots of chat! We had a brief talk about the garden and everyone had a wander around. A large lawn area dominants the back garden with gums and garden beds all filled with cuttings from family and friends. An avenue of plane trees are planted on the northern side. On the western side is a bark area which is outlined with agapathus and dietes and filled with scrubs and trees. These all need to be hardy as being on the western side it gets fairly hot. A few cuttings were taken and Lisa wins the most organised – cuttings taken and then pots and potting mix in car and all potted up! Wow!
I’m sure everyone appreciated the time and effort Marilyn, Carol and Wendy put in to make the morning an enjoyable one!
Present – Donna , Lisa, Kim , Anne , Debbie , Felicity , Heather , Vicki , Maureen , Jan , Cathie , Liz , Marilyn , Carol and Wendy
Apologies – Lyndal and Barb
We had a lovely group of ladies and everyone started at Marilyn’s garden “Raywood” and no doubt everyone was inspired with the Art in the Garden. Thank you Marilyn for volunteering your garden.
Then everyone arrived here at “Caloola” and morning tea was on the agenda and lots of chat! We had a brief talk about the garden and everyone had a wander around. A large lawn area dominants the back garden with gums and garden beds all filled with cuttings from family and friends. An avenue of plane trees are planted on the northern side. On the western side is a bark area which is outlined with agapathus and dietes and filled with scrubs and trees. These all need to be hardy as being on the western side it gets fairly hot. A few cuttings were taken and Lisa wins the most organised – cuttings taken and then pots and potting mix in car and all potted up! Wow! From “Caloola” we then travelled to Carol’s place “Inglewood” and had a lovely wander around. A beautiful Albertine (I think I have got it right) climbing rose greeted us at the front mixed with ground covers and established trees including a Chinese Tallowood and a Chinese Elm. Then we wandered out the back and the garden has been extended out the back gate! Carol has used her creative talent and built a wooden fence around a lawn area and predominantly agapathus have been planted. Thank you Carol for volunteering your garden.
I’m sure everyone appreciated the time and effort Marilyn, Carol and Wendy put in to make the morning an enjoyable one! Overnight Trip to Cowra, Canowindra and Manildra
Marrar Ag n Chat Overnight Trip to Cowra/Canowindra Sept14th/15th 2011
The 10 of us – Donna, Kim, Anne, Lyndal, Lisa, Deb, Jan, Carol, Vicki and Wendy set off from Marrar at 8.00am in two cars driven by Carol and Wendy.
First stop was Young for a coffee break at Country Providore Cafe. With lots of chat and enjoyment at seeing the countryside looking so magnificent with flowering yellow canola crops and cereal crops, we ventured on to Cowra. A quick stop at the Cowra Information Centre to see the POW theatre. This is the story of the 1944 Cowra Breakout. More than 1000 Japanese prisoners tried to escape and 370 did manage to escape, all were captured in the following days. 230 prisoners died and four Australian soldiers were killed. Italians were also held prisoners in the POW camp in a separate area to the Japanese.
Then we headed to the Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre. Walking around the garden was a pure delight! It is beautifully maintained and we enjoyed looking up plant names to identify over 124 species. Lunch was at the cafe in the gardens, very relaxing and good food!
From there we had a wonder around Manildra and had lunch and then headed to the MSM Milling Canola Crushing Mill. This is a private venture between brothers Bob and Peter MacSmith and Dick Honan (Manildra Mill). Greg Lynch, a chemical engineer, took us for an informative tour. Firstly he explained on the computer the processes of the crushing of the canola seed to the end product, oil and meal and there is no waste at all, it is a very high tech plant. All the oil produced is used for blending eg. margarine products. The meal is sold to feedlots. Then we actually went through the mill to see how it all happens. Very high temperatures are used to extract the oil from the seed and at one stage the temperature is 240oC. We then had a look at the Manildra Packaging Shed next door which is a joint venture with MSM Milling and a Vietnamese fellow. The plant makes their own 20 litre drums and then the oil is packaged into them. Some oil is packaged this way and some is transported in tankers.
From there we headed back to Canowindra, a bit more shopping and a coffee. Anne asked about the “sister” group and we all decided for her to go ahead to give them our group details and keep the communication lines open between the two groups. The next meeting is on the 20th October and is “gardens”! Marilyn’s (thanks Marilyn) is the first and then Wendy’s and morning tea there and then onto Carol’s. It was decided to bring the planning meeting forward to Thursday 3rd November, hope that suits everyone and start thinking of ideas! We had a wonderful trip and thank you for your company.
The 10 of us – Donna, Kim, Anne, Lyndal, Lisa, Deb, Jan, Carol, Vicki and Wendy set off from Marrar at 8.00am in two cars driven by Carol and Wendy.
First stop was Young for a coffee break at Country Providore Cafe. With lots of chat and enjoyment at seeing the countryside looking so magnificent with flowering yellow canola crops and cereal crops, we ventured on to Cowra. A quick stop at the Cowra Information Centre to see the POW theatre. This is the story of the 1944 Cowra Breakout. More than 1000 Japanese prisoners tried to escape and 370 did manage to escape, all were captured in the following days. 230 prisoners died and four Australian soldiers were killed. Italians were also held prisoners in the POW camp in a separate area to the Japanese.
Then we headed to the Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre. Walking around the garden was a pure delight! It is beautifully maintained and we enjoyed looking up plant names to identify over 124 species. Lunch was at the cafe in the gardens, very relaxing and good food!
Next stop was Canowindra to the Age of Fishes Museum. 360 million years ago was the Devonian Period or the “Age of Fishes” where all animals lived in the water and not on land. A chance find in 1956 near Canowindra where road works unearthed these millions of years old fossils. A major excavation went ahead in 1993 to uncover these fossils and a museum was built to house the fossils. 
Then we headed to the shops – The Trading Post and Saffi. Another coffee and off to book into the Guest House and B & B, the Old Vic Inn. Great accommodation and we were lucky to have five members of the NSW Women in Agriculture group join us for dinner in the restaurant.
Next morning we headed to Manildra. We were booked in for a tour at the Manildra Flour Mill. The mill is the largest flour mill in Australia and the tenth largest in the world. It is privately owned and there are 3 mills operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week with 12 hour shifts. It employs 180 people and is completely computerised. A lot of their milling wheat is sourced from northern and central NSW. We were taken through all the stages of the milling process including the lab testing where falling numbers and protein and bran testing are done. Then we saw the end product and whether it is White Wings flour, Coles or Woollies flour, it is all the same flour except just the packaging is different. We also saw the packaging shed.
From there we had a wonder around Manildra and had lunch and then headed to the MSM Milling Canola Crushing Mill. This is a private venture between brothers Bob and Peter MacSmith and Dick Honan (Manildra Mill). Greg Lynch, a chemical engineer, took us for an informative tour. Firstly he explained on the computer the processes of the crushing of the canola seed to the end product, oil and meal and there is no waste at all, it is a very high tech plant. All the oil produced is used for blending eg. margarine products. The meal is sold to feedlots. Then we actually went through the mill to see how it all happens. Very high temperatures are used to extract the oil from the seed and at one stage the temperature is 240oC. We then had a look at the Manildra Packaging Shed next door which is a joint venture with MSM Milling and a Vietnamese fellow. The plant makes their own 20 litre drums and then the oil is packaged into them. Some oil is packaged this way and some is transported in tankers.
From there we headed back to Canowindra, a bit more shopping and a coffee. Anne asked about the “sister” group and we all decided for her to go ahead to give them our group details and keep the communication lines open between the two groups. The next meeting is on the 20th October and is “gardens”! Marilyn’s (thanks Marilyn) is the first and then Wendy’s and morning tea there and then onto Carol’s. It was decided to bring the planning meeting forward to Thursday 3rd November, hope that suits everyone and start thinking of ideas! We had a wonderful trip and thank you for your company.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Metalwork Flowers
Yesterday we kicked off our Metalwork day at 8.30am after picking up the sheet steel from RAW Design & Fabrication. We started our day of “flower making” with a few people coming a little bit earlier in the hope that we could all eventually finish a project this year. It was quite obvious that the plasma cutter was a hit with the ladies and everyone managed to make a flower of some description, with all of them looking a little different in one way or another, which was lovely and very inspiring for everyone.
The coffee and cake got forgotten for a while and I think that we definitely did more of the “Ag” than the “Chat” this time around. Everybody made a flower of some description which made the day easier on me, as it was really helpful that everyone was happy to help guide each other in one way or another and they managed to keep what I had told them in their memory banks to pass it all on to the next person.
Many thanks to Buster who also helped out on the day (I think he was in more of a panic than I was because I hadn’t cleaned up the workshop enough….wow you should have seen it a few months ago when the mice were around!) and also with his welding and general handiness in the shed.
Thanks also to Kim for the food and thinking of taking something down to the shed, and for the ladies who had to venture up to the house and prepare your own coffee and tea. I am so glad that everyone enjoyed themselves and had a lovely time just being able to “make" something!
Liz and Felicity using the plasma cutter to cut out flower shapes.
Kim on the bench grinder cleaning up rough edges on the flowers with Felicity and Carol waiting.
Kim thought her flowers would make a lovely bikini!!
Jo and Anne drilling holes for the stem.
Jo helping Lisa weld the petals to the stem.
Anne with her flower.
Our finished products!
The coffee and cake got forgotten for a while and I think that we definitely did more of the “Ag” than the “Chat” this time around. Everybody made a flower of some description which made the day easier on me, as it was really helpful that everyone was happy to help guide each other in one way or another and they managed to keep what I had told them in their memory banks to pass it all on to the next person.
Many thanks to Buster who also helped out on the day (I think he was in more of a panic than I was because I hadn’t cleaned up the workshop enough….wow you should have seen it a few months ago when the mice were around!) and also with his welding and general handiness in the shed.
Thanks also to Kim for the food and thinking of taking something down to the shed, and for the ladies who had to venture up to the house and prepare your own coffee and tea. I am so glad that everyone enjoyed themselves and had a lovely time just being able to “make" something!
Liz and Felicity using the plasma cutter to cut out flower shapes.
Kim on the bench grinder cleaning up rough edges on the flowers with Felicity and Carol waiting.
Kim thought her flowers would make a lovely bikini!!
Jo and Anne drilling holes for the stem. 
Jo helping Lisa weld the petals to the stem.
Anne with her flower.
Lisa with her flower.
Our finished products!Merrill, Felicity, Vicki, Michelle, Heather and Kim
Positive Update on our Microfinance Loan
We received an email update this week from Kiva about our microfinance loan we made to Rosine from Rwanda for her fruit and vegetable business. She has made her first loan repayment to us on time! She has 3 monthly repayments to go until she has repaid the entire amount. So by December Rosine will be debt free. She must be a very good businesswoman to have made her repayments on time. As soon as we have received all our loan amount back we will search for another worthy lady to help.
Update - Rosine repaid her loan to our group on time, so now we can re-loan that money to another worthy lady involved in agriculture!
Cheesemaking at CSU
On June 9th Ag n Chat visited the Charles Sturt University Cheese Factory for a lesson in making cheese.
Barry Lillywhite is the local cheesemaker and taught us how to take milk from it's "raw" state , to curd, then removing the whey to form table cheese.
Felicity, Heather and Lisa heating the milk.
Maureen and Jo during the curd formation process.
The curd is cut to remove the whey.
Forming the cheese into wicker baskets.
The final product which is now maturing for a tasting session in a couple of months.
Barry Lillywhite is the local cheesemaker and taught us how to take milk from it's "raw" state , to curd, then removing the whey to form table cheese.
Felicity, Heather and Lisa heating the milk.
Maureen and Jo during the curd formation process.
The curd is cut to remove the whey.
Forming the cheese into wicker baskets.
The final product which is now maturing for a tasting session in a couple of months.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Christmas in July
Last night Ag n Chat held our Christmas in July celebration. This year we decided to hold it at the historic Coolamon Up-To-Date Store while the annual Coolamon Art Show was on display. It was a great night with a lovely atmosphere and superb meal provided by the Coolamon Anglican Church ladies. There were 13 members with their husbands in tow for the night which was organised by Marilyn. Jo organised a few Minute to Win It type games for us to enjoy as well as admiring all the artworks on display.
Jan and Phil playing a Minute To Win It game
Vicki and Carol trying to transfer little Christmas trees with straws to a cupThe Coolamon Up-To-Date Store opened in 1909 and became both a retail and social focus for the people of Coolamon and the surrounding area. Everything from building materials to horse harnesses, castor oil to the finest silk stockings, “from a needle to a haystack” was sold over the counters of the Up-To-Date Store. It offered the best of quality at the lowest of prices and
presented its customers with a range of goods not often seen outside the `big stores' of the metropolitan area.
presented its customers with a range of goods not often seen outside the `big stores' of the metropolitan area.
Coolamon Up-To-Date StoreThe store features the only working Lamson Cash Conveyance System in the world. It was designed to solve the "problem of women being less numerate than men"!! Not only did the system provide the store personnel with the very latest advances in retail technology, but also provided the assurance of customer care to the Coolamon community, with this quick and efficient method of cash handling. Undoubtedly, the Store’s piece de resistance, this earlier form of cash carrier is gravity operated. Timber balls with money and docket safely tucked inside roll from counters to cashier’s office along little ‘railway’ tracks.
Lamson Cash Conveyance System Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Kiva Microfinance Loan # 1 - Rosine
Towards the end of 2010 Marrar Ag n Chat decided that we wanted to become involved in microfinance loans for women in poverty stricken countries to help them either start or continue their own business to support their family. Today we finally made a decision on who to help and through which agency. We chose to donate through Kiva which is a well-established organisation based in the USA.
The photo above is of Rosine from Rwanda who we chose as our recipient. She is a 35-year-old entrepreneur that is married with two children, ages 3 and 6. Her husband is a technician and both of their children are in school. For three years, she has been running a business buying and selling fruit. She plans to use this loan to purchase oranges, tree tomatoes, citrus fruits, and mangoes that she will sell to meet the growing demand of her business.
Once Rosine has repaid her loan to us we will then choose another recipient to help - and the cycle will continue!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Mosaic Workshop
Mosaic Workshop May 19th 2011 at Marilyn's
Guess who believed that they were the least creative? No prizes for the correct answer.
Carol, Anne, Wendy, Michelle, Kim and Elizabeth came with an interesting array of ideas and embellishments for their mosaic masterpieces.
Anne smashed old plates in shades of blue to decorate a hubcap.
Kim finished her first one before most had started, creating a border for her mirror from colourful stones, and then designed a wall plaque of a cup, saucer and spoon.
Guess who believed that they were the least creative? No prizes for the correct answer.
Carol, Anne, Wendy, Michelle, Kim and Elizabeth came with an interesting array of ideas and embellishments for their mosaic masterpieces.
Anne smashed old plates in shades of blue to decorate a hubcap.
Carol picked her piece of marine ply up from the side of the road and mosaiced a sun (seen here as a work in progress).
Wendy’s paver also had a celestial theme of a star.
Kim finished her first one before most had started, creating a border for her mirror from colourful stones, and then designed a wall plaque of a cup, saucer and spoon.
Liz used black, white and mirror tiles to revamp an old table top.
Michelle centred a tile (a gift from Wendy’s NZ trip) and designed a pattern on a lazy susan, and also decorated a mirror frame with shells.
Another great Ag’n’Chat Day.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Narrandera Fisheries
17th February 2011
Today we visited the Narrandera Fisheries. Our guide Dexter gave us a very informative talk about the native freshwater fish species in Australia and also the fish pests such as Carp and Redfin.
The centre was opened in 1962 as a research centre to study the biology and ecology of inland aquatic systems. It is also now a productive hatchery which releases millions of fingerlings of Murray Cod, Golden Perch, Silver Perch and Trout Cod into waterways in our area. The centre is also an educational centre for children to learn about fishing and preserving the fish environment.
This is "Agro", a 20 year old Murray Cod who has a very easy life floating around all day getting fed twice a week. He is also one of the "stud" males used for reproduction.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)