During July and August we undertook our collection of Allocasuarina diminuta seed. The aim for this project is to grow out 1000 trees to plant on 6 local properties. Seed collection is always lots of fun and it is interesting to note that the Glossies prefer seed from certain trees. The aim was to collect from those trees the Glossies have already eaten from. Always, when seed collecting, you collect no more than 10% of the seed from a plant. There are also plenty of other rules around seed collecting especially if you are collecting within an endangered ecological community. If in doubt it is always best to check with relevant authorities. There is a short guide to seed collection here. When you are in search of the trees the Glossies have selected it’s a pretty easy task as they leave plenty of mess 🙂 Pictures below.

On our 1st trip we were extremely lucky to see 2 birds feeding quietly it was like this project was meant to happen and they were waiting to thank us for helping them. The recent drought has wiped out many of the trees they usually feed from unfortunately. Thanks to Jayden for volunteering to help with the seed collection and getting a couple of awesome photos of the Glossies.

The next step was to pop the pods into a paper bag and wait for them to open so we could then deliver the seed to the fantastic Weddin Community Native Nursery which we did on Friday 14th August. It was great to see the enthusiastic volunteers in action at the nursery and purchase a few lovely local plants for the garden while I was there. They do wonderful work at the nursery growing and preserving local species for the rest of us to enjoy. The Allocasuarina diminuta seeds have now been planted and the nursery has promised me they will call as soon as the seeds germinate. Can’t wait!!!