Newsletters & Annual Reports
Things even out in the long run. The drought of the first months of the year came to an end, and June-July rainfall has been heavy. Then, it was too dry for planting. Now, we take the days as they come, and do what we can.
This wouldn’t be our happiest newsletter.
It has been a hard year! Our plantings have suffered badly from the elements. Too wet in parts of the Steelway (swampy in parts). We put in some drainage, but not enough as we found out later last winter. We have lost a number of trees, which we are endeavouring to replace with flaxes as they are more suitable for that area.
Heavy frost and wind on the Oakland and Watkins Road planting put paid to a large number of trees and now a drought has made more curl up their toes and die. The circles still stand out in what was empty paddocks and what trees have survived will be shelter for the replacement trees we plant this year.
May the 8th.
What a great day this was; the day was lovely and sunny and we had done all the preparation ready for this major planting of 575 trees.
Cambridge East Primary School pupils all came to do a planting on the Swale in Watkins Road on Tuesday the 8th of May at 11.00 am. All 350 students plus teachers and parent helpers walked along to the Swale. After a demonstration by a Tree Trust Member, each student planted one or more trees. From the newest five-year-old student to the seniors were all spread out in groups down the length of four paddocks.
Well this newsletter is rather late to be the first one for the year. We have been considering our options and we feel it would be financially better if we are able to E- mail your newsletters out to you. In so saying this we need to collect all those e mail addresses, so please forward to above e-mail address.
We started the year with a big event. Two weeks before Christmas we were asked if we could offer some community work to 150 youths from a Christian camp. With a bit of thought and a deal of negotiating it was planned. But surprise, surprise, we were getting 240 people to work for us.
At Stephanie Blackies funeral last year I said we would change this town this coming year and we have. Her complaint was always: "What are we going to do with all these trees and shrubs in the nursery?"
"Well Stephanie most are in the ground now, all 6 and a half thousand of them planted this year".
Two thousand along the Steele Way and Poets Track, 800 on Pope Terrace, 1500 in and around the Swale (south of Saffron Estate), 10 blocks of 250 plantings each on the Oaklands green belt and 1500 on Cook Street above the Soldiers track.
When you drive into Cambridge from the golf course end of state highway one and see that blush of pink of the cherry blossom it sends a tingle up your spine. Those trees would have been destroyed but for the generosity of a local nursery man. The same has happened many times over the years and again this year, we have been given a large number of trees, which we will grow over the summer and plant out next autumn.
The Cambridge Tree Trust was registered with the Charities Commission as a Charitable Entity under the Charities Act 2005 on 16 August 2007. Registration No: CC10859
