|
\
| |
|
The Miner Front pages and stories
2011
Make sure you pick up your free copy this week!
Contact the The Miner for any news 03 5342 4796
  
  
 
Members
of the public that wish to contribute any news may do so by
simply ringing or by sending an e-Mail YOUR NEWS IS OUR NEWS
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Be sure to pick up your
weekly free newspaper
and read our resident
columnist Roland Rocchiccioli on
any and many topics (as
readers say) It's a good read!
You can write to
Roland rolandroc@bigpond.com From the desk of
ROLAND ROCCHICCIOLI
It has been suggested the impending world food shortage will require us to grow more of our own food; become a nation of back-yard gardeners. An excellent idea.
In the days of the quarter-acre block every household had a lemon tree, a couple of fruit trees, and a small vegetable plot tucked-away in the in the bottom-half of the backyard. It was fenced-off and down behind the Hill’s hoist which sat in the middle of the lawn.
In Gwalia - mostly Italians and other Europeans – everyone had a vegetable garden, grapevines, rock and water melons and figs trees. Joe Scolari, who lived in the main street, had the best grapevines in the town. He was something of an expert and every winter, like some religious celebration, he went from house-to-house pruning the vines, guaranteeing a bumper summer crop. The Scolaris had a small orchard on the side of their house. The apples, plums, apricots, mandarins and oranges grew in such profusion they shared the abundance with friends and neighbours. The peaches were so juicy kids had to eat them in the bath. The only fertiliser was chook manure. Twice a week Beria would clean-out the chook house and cart the manure to the garden. The rich goldfields soil sheltered fat earthworms up to 6-inches long. It was organic by modern standards. There were peas which we picked and ate raw - shells and all, runner beans, radishes, sweet carrots, silver beet, Iceberg lettuce, chicory, 6-feet tall Slav cabbage, huge striped watermelons, and grape and passion fruit vines. The tomato flesh was solid, a taste explosion in your mouth which could be eaten like an apple. In Kalgoorlie the huge apricot tree produced so much fruit Beria would leave filled boxes at the front gate for people to collect. In the season, the local greengrocer came every second or third day and took away sugar bags filled with enormous pink grapefruit and Valencia and navel oranges. They were a best seller. The half dozen citrus trees produced so much fruit Beria could not give it away.
In Gwalia, Quarti’s had a mulberry tree. We waited expectantly, and in the summer my friend Jan and I would sit on the edge of the roof, legs dangling, gorging on the juicy black berries.
When my sister lived in Port Augusta, she converted part of their two-acre property to a small stone fruit orchard. The white peaches and nectarines were unsurpassed.
My father was born in Magliano, a Tuscan village in the Alpi Apuane and descended from generations of subsistence market gardeners in a region which is still farmed as a local food bowl.
If all that sounds like some rustic paradise, do not be misled. Beria spent part of every day in the garden and that did not include the morning and evening watering sessions using a hand-held hose fitted with a brass rose. The garden required hours of work – weeding and turning the soil. White cabbage butterflies arrived in platoons. When the eggs hatched, we spent hours picking-off and squashing rapacious baby caterpillars – ‘cabbage grubs’ – which can devour an entire crop. Beria grew everything from seeds which had to be transplanted from seedling boxes into the garden. It was endlessly time consuming.
Modern households are time poor; our needs have changed. We demand tasteless, seedless grapes and watery tomatoes all year round. Supermarkets are convenient. Freshness and quality have been sacrificed and seasonal vegetables are a thing of the past. The balance of the household has altered, dramatically. Both Mum and Dad are working. While homes are fitted with labour saving devices, the preparation and maintenance of a vegetable garden is labour intensive. House are not fitted with grey water storage. The cost of water has increased dramatically and a vegetable garden is no longer a viable financial proposition.
Growing your own fruit and vegetables is a wonderful idea but highly improbable.
|
|
Geelong to Ballarat Steam train celebrations in
2012 |
Hot Mail Bites
|
The Rokewood Dahlia Show
|
Read more in the
Miner.
Golden Plains is one of the fastest growing Shires
in country Victoria
Golden Plains Shire is located in south-western
Victoria, about 100 kilometres from the Melbourne GPO. The Shire is
bounded by the City of Ballarat and Moorabool Shire in the north,
the City of Greater Geelong in the east, Surf Coast Shire and Colac-Otway
Shire in the south and Corangamite Shire and Pyrenees Shire in the
west.
Golden Plains Shire includes the towns and
localities of Anakie (part), Bamganie, Bannockburn, Barunah Park,
Batesford (part), Berringa, Berrybank (part), Cambrian Hill, Cape
Clear, Corindhap, Cressy (part), Dereel, Durdidwarrah, Durham Lead,
Enfield, Garibaldi, Gheringhap, Grenville, Haddon, Happy Valley,
Hesse, Illabarook, Inverleigh, Lethbridge, Linton, Mannibadar,
Maude, Meredith, Morrisons, Mount Bute (part), Mount Mercer,
Murgheboluc, Napoleons, Newtown, Nintingbool, Piggoreet, Pitfield,
Pittong, Rokewood, Rokewood Junction, Ross Creek, Russells Bridge,
Scarsdale, She Oaks, Shelford, Smythes Creek, Smythesdale,
Springdallah, Staffordshire Reef, Steiglitz, Stonehaven, Sutherlands
Creek, Teesdale, Wallinduc, Werneth, Willowvale and Wingeel.
Golden Plains is named for the rich gold
mining history of the area.
Golden Plains Shire is a predominantly rural
area with several small townships. The Shire encompasses a total
land area of 2,705 square kilometres. The largest town is
Bannockburn, followed by Inverleigh, Meredith and Smythesdale.
Rural land is used mainly for grazing and cropping, gold mining
and viticulture.
European settlement of the Shire dates from
the 1830s. Land was used mainly for grazing, farming and
timber-cutting, especially near the rivers. Growth took place in
the 1850s and 1860s, particularly in the townships of
Bannockburn, Linton, Scarsdale, Smythesdale and Steiglitz,
spurred by gold discoveries. Growth continued through to the
late 1800s, aided by the construction of the railway line in the
1860s. Significant development occurred during the post-war
years. The population has increased during the 1990s, rising
from 12,000 in 1991 to over 14,000 in 2001. The majority of the
population growth has been in the south-west and north-east of
the Shire, in the areas closest to Geelong and Ballarat.
Major features of the Shire include Brisbane
Ranges National Park, Enfield State Park, Steiglitz Historic
Park, Bamganie State Forest, Linton State Forest, Meredith State
Forest, the Moorabool River, the Ballarat to Skipton Rail Trail,
Jubilee Mine Historic area and various wineries. The Shire is
served by the Glenelg Highway, the Hamilton Highway and the
Midland Highway.
|
|
ARD
|
Miner advertising details for you to
follow
Mechanical Details
|
Page
Size:
|
37
cm
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Column Width
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
7
|
8
|
|
EGN
6 Col:
|
40.2
|
84.6
|
129.1
|
173.5
|
218
|
262.4
|
|
|
|
Classified
6 Col:
|
40.2
|
84.6
|
129.1
|
173.5
|
218
|
262.4
|
|
|
Minimum EGN Size
1cm x 1 column Minimum Classified Size
1col x 1cms
Deadlines
Bookings
EGN:
5pm Friday
Classified: 5pm Friday
Material
EGN: Noon
Monday
Classified: Noon Monday
CIRCULATION 3600 per week
POPULATION IN PRIME CIRCULATION AREA 17,000
PUBLISHED
Thursday (Free) TO THE FOLLOWING TOWNS AND CITIES.......
BALLARAT, HADDON, SMYTHESDALE, SCARSDALE, SHEOAKS,
BATESFORD, LINTON, SKIPTON, CAPE CLEAR, ROKEWOOD,
TEESDALE, INVERLEIGH, BANNOCKBURN, LETHBRIDGE,
BATESFORD, FYANSFORD, ANAKIE, MEREDITH, ELAINE, NAPOLEONS, DEREEL
BERRINGA, SEBASTOPOL, SUTHERLAND CREEK,
MAUDE, STEIGLITZ, MT MERCER, GRENVILLE,
REDAN BUNINYONG, WINCHELSEA, ROSS CREEK, GEELONG,
  This
is what you may have in a 10cmX2col ad. |
