Along the Millewa and Marrambidya
Over recent past days I travelled across the south-west slopes of the Marrambidya floodplain (Murrumbidgee) and along the Millewa (Murray River), spending time on farming properties where care for land, soil, waterways, and native habitat are deeply considered.
This was the second property I stayed on during my journey along river floodplains. Here, it is cold and misty foggy mornings on the Mitta River part of the Millewa, just over the border into Victoria..
What struck me most was the spectacular scenery, the magnificent River Red Gums, and the gentle curiosity of Ian’s Red Poll cows and calves, who often gathered nearby while I painted beside the lagoon. They watched quietly with such curious attentiveness it felt as though they, too, were observing the process.
There was such generosity to the place that extended beyond hospitality.
Ian and Jill have spent years supporting the health of the land through tree planting, habitat care, and thoughtful farming management. Each year they plant hundreds of trees, and are now working alongside Landcare on understory planting projects designed to support birdlife, particularly smaller and more vulnerable species that rely on dense undergrowth for protection from predators.
Painting beneath the Yarra (River Red Gums)
Walking through the paddocks and river country, I became increasingly aware of the layers of interconnection between grasses, trees, waterways, cattle, insects, birds, soil, and human care.
Along the nearby Mitta River, I spent time painting beneath magnificent River Red Gums shaped by flood, water, and deep time. In the paddocks I sat quietly drawing amongst white clover, chicory, and rye grass, slowly observing the textures and relationships held within these systems.
Soils and Grasslands
A recent soil workshop offered another way of seeing the landscape.
It was fascinating to observe discussions around soil health, profitability, ecology, and long-term sustainability being considered together rather than as opposing forces. There was a strong awareness that extractive approaches and overstocking ultimately damage not only the land, but also the long-term livelihoods of farming communities themselves.
Landcare facilitated soil demonstrations across two different properties. On one site, rye grass and white clover showed healthy root structures reaching through the upper soil layers, with worms actively creating tunnels and movement through the earth. On Ian’s property, chicory revealed particularly deep tap roots extending further into the soil profile, helping open pathways for water and air while improving soil structure at greater depth. Worm activity was abundant throughout both sites.
It was also interesting to learn more about changing approaches to fertilisers and soil support, including the use of worm castings, legumes such as clovers that naturally contribute nitrogen through root nodules, and the role of microbes in breaking down organic matter and cycling nutrients back into the soil.
Tracing the Living Floodplains
These approaches recognise the interconnected relationship between soil health, waterways, cattle, native species, and long-term land care. It is not a matter of “them and us,” but of understanding how these systems support one another.
Even cattle grazing timing becomes part of this larger rhythm — shaped around the wellbeing of cows, calves, grasses, seasonal conditions, and the carrying capacity of the land itself.
The Red Polls are clearly loved.
~
These Field Notes form part of my ongoing project Tracing the Living Floodplain — a place-based exploration of how rivers, floodplains, grasses, trees, soil systems, and human relationships intersecting across altered landscapes.
I’ve now moved further along the river system again and will continue sharing more from the floodplain soon.
→ Read more Field Notes
https://rochellesummerfield.com/field-notes
Acknowledgements
I respectfully acknowledge the Wiradjuri people, on whose Country many of these travels and observations are taking place, and pay respect to Elders past and present and emerging.
Tracing the Living Floodplain is supported by Create NSW through the Next Steps grant.
@creatensw
Supported by Grafton Regional Gallery as part of the Creative Clarence program.
@graftonregionalgallery
With thanks to Landcare groups, and farming communities and Earth Canvas, who generously are sharing their knowledge, time, and places throughout this journey.
