<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>325962</docID> <postdate>2024-08-10 09:14:43</postdate> <headline>All prams blazing: farmer mums find new joy in landcare</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-325969" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240808183874569129-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="601" /></p> <caption>Christie de Mestre (left) and Landcare coordinator Julie Roberts have been planting new trees. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Liv Casben</strong></span></p> <p><strong>As a mother, farmer and small business owner Christie de Mestre is used to juggling, but taking a toddler to farming events to re-skill sometimes felt like an intrusion.</strong></p> <p>So when the opportunity came to join a female-led "ladies on the land" group she signed up with all prams blazing.</p> <p>"It was great I could take my baby somewhere where it wasn't going to be an inconvenience," the mother of two said.</p> <p>"When you have a child you take the time off, and I swear to God, your brain shrinks and... it's good to just keep your toe in," Ms de Mestre told AAP.</p> <p>The family-friendly environment of the women-only Landcare group meant that while she got on with it, her youngster was often cared for by other attendees.</p> <p>"Some of the stuff I already knew, but it's just a refresher, so it's just motivating and it re-enthuses you."</p> <p>The group was started by long-term Landcare volunteer Louise Hufton who noticed women weren't turning up to events run by the local Harden Murrumburrah group, in the Hilltops Region in the NSW South West Slopes.</p> <p>"They weren't coming, and the feedback started to be they were feeling a little intimidated if they asked questions," she said.</p> <p>"It was about providing a safe space for women to exchange ideas, and if you need childcare you just bring your children.</p> <p>"If you can only come for half an hour, it doesn't matter."</p> <p>As well as teaching farm management techniques, the group was also educated about new land regeneration methods.</p> <p>And just like the seedlings they have planted, the ladies group has grown since it started in 2017.</p> <p>"We've had babies in prams and grandmothers and aunties come along and feel comfortable to have their littlies there," Julie Roberts, who now runs the program, said.</p> <p>Last week Ms de Mestre and Ms Roberts began planting thousands of trees across their two properties to increase biodiversity and regenerate land.</p> <p>More than 10,000 trees will be planted across 10 properties, as part of a local mine's efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. Many of the landholders taking part are from the ladies on the land group.</p> <p>While the seedlings were donated everything else, from planting to fencing, is organised by the landowner.</p> <p>"We have been planting over the years on other blocks that we own, and the benefits are just enormous when you see the biodiversity happening," Ms Hufton said.</p> <p>"We did it on our farm to try and get vegetation back, because we've got next to none on the blocks that we are planting."</p> <p>It's been 30 years since the last mass planting on Ms de Mestre's family's property.</p> <p>Two thousand trees will be planted on land deemed unsuitable for cropping.</p> <p>"We can't do anything with it, so you might as well put trees there and make it a beautiful, biodiverse area," Ms de Mestre told AAP.</p> <p>"I only wish Landcare had more trees to offer.</p> <p>"It's certainly time-consuming... but if you had to buy those trees it would be very expensive."</p> <p>The group's success has been recognised by men in the community as well.</p> <p>"Sometimes the men sabotage us," Ms Roberts joked. "We organise something and think it's a great topic we're all keen to learn about... and then the men say 'don't leave us out, we want to do that, too'."</p> <p>"Now that we've been doing the group for several years, the ladies are now much more engaged in all the activities that we offer," she said.</p> <p>With numbers increasing the ladies hope they've planted the seed for other female groups to sprout up elsewhere.</p> </body>