Avondale Farm Essay
Avondale Farm, located around Beverly, is surrounded by many cultural and physical elements. Established in 1978, the farm used to be a research centre where new farmers came to learn how to farm efficiently and successfully. It is now a farm where visitors may come and discover its history and learn more about new methods of farming or just farming in general. When walking around the farm, many cultural and physical aspects can be noticed. For example, the land use and the natural environment, contour banks and the slope of the land and also the land use and the A grade reserve.
First, there are many cultural and physical aspects between the natural environment and land use at Avondale Discovery Farm. Looking around the farm, the most obvious aspect is that the soil is thicker on the bottom of the valleys/hill and a lot thinner on the top. This is because the rain washes the top layer of soil down the hill to the bottom. The bottom of the valley where the good, fertile soil remains is used for crops. Farmers want more than one type of agricultural activity and thus use the top of the top of the hill where there’s less fertile soil (the rain water has washed the top layer off) for alley farming or grazing sheep. The manure from these sheep is then used as fertiliser for the crops. After the crop has been harvested, the sheep are then allowed to graze the stubble that has been left over and fertilise the field at the same time with their manure. This method is efficient and saves money. Alley farming is the practice of growing crops or pasture between rows of trees. This practice reduces wind and soil erosion, and attracts the birds. Planting these trees also combats salinity. Salinity happens when too many trees or shrubs are cleared. There are no roots to suck up the water so the water table rises, bringing the salt up with it. Crops can’t feed on the polluted water, for if they did they would die. The farmers keep these trees and shrubs to maintain the water table. In the end, their precaution against salinity will pay back and they will still be able to farm crops.
However, crops aren’t the only things around the farm. In 1978, after 140 years of grazing, a certain area of the farm was fenced off (keeps foxes out and native animals like kangaroos in) to preserve the native flora and fauna. The land was not clea...
