Hello from the Mary Valley, QLD, Australia

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by Shell, Dec 7, 2013.

  1. Shell

    Shell Junior Member

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    Hi there, I'm a keen organic fruit and vegetable hobby grow who only just discovered the world of permaculture. And I'm totally hooked!

    I've been growing my own non-spray, organic vegetables in my Brisbane suburban backyard for about 4 years now. I really enjoy the process for growing and processing my own food. I actually love it so much that I have decided to follow my heart and purchase a rural property in order to create an abundant garden that will feed not just my partner and me but many of our family and friends as well.

    I have scored a 30 acre property in the Mary Valley! I feel overwhelmed with luck and sometimes tear up by the thought of all the possibilities this large property offers.
    I am not a farmer and I don't have a PDC, I just love gardening, harvesting and eating :blush:

    The work on my property will start in January 2014. I currently ready every book I can find on permaculture and have a good idea of what I want from the project but I do feel a bit lost in the sheer size of it. Where to start?

    If anyone local is out there, interested to giving me a hand in the design of my garden/orchard I'd really appreciate it!!
     
  2. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    Hi Shell,

    Firstly, welcome. Usually you won't go so many days without someone saying hello.

    Congratulations on the property, moving from suburbia to 30 acres must be quite the mind-blow. Hopefully, 28 acres of that is well-treed or you must enjoy work and/or ruminants.

    There are a group of people in the Mary Valley trying to kickstart small farms such as yours and you should get in contact with them. Below is a thread about the Mary Valley Small Farm Day recently held, and I do believe that there are more planned for the future. The user that posted that thread is out that way and you could possibly PM him to get a start.

    https://forums.permaculturenews.org...-October-Riversdale-Rd-Kandanga-Qld-Australia

    Best advice I can give you is start building a functioning nursery. You will need it for 30 acres.

    Pictures will help and will usually get some conversation started on design. Just follow that permaculture mantra and start at your back door. The rest will fall into place.
     
  3. Shell

    Shell Junior Member

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    Thanks for this fantastic link S.O.P. I wish I would have been there.
     
  4. Terra

    Terra Moderator

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    Welcome Shell start a thread in the member section it is a good record of your progress and better to discuss your property than here , tell us about your block is it bare ect . After your first garden patch I would suggest you educate yourself about getting control of the water flows across your block .
    Rob
     
  5. void_genesis

    void_genesis Junior Member

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    Congratulations on acquiring the property. You aren't too far away from where I picked up 40 acres 12 months ago. In that time I have learnt to handle cows and geese, electric fences, planted lots of fruit trees in the fertile spots and trial contours of fodder shrubs in a few acres of the less fertile bits. The plan for me is to develop a fodder shrub enhanced managed rotational grazing system with a herd of cows, nubian goats and chickens moving to fresh ground in a small electric pen (
     
  6. Shell

    Shell Junior Member

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    The property is mostly cleared pasture. I have yet to do a soil test but just looking at it I'd say it's pretty good. It is lowland and does get partly flooded (100 year flood zone). My plan for this property is always evolving. For starters I'm only planning to grow enough food for my own family.
    The challenge will be setting up a system that looks after itself. We live and work full time in Brisbane and will only be able to work the property on weekends.

    Where about's are you based void_genesis? Would you show me around your farm sometime? It would be great to see how you got started.
     
  7. S.O.P

    S.O.P Moderator

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    I'm currently attempting to do this and it's hard. I do less than every weekend, and without water, so pick your species carefully.

    I'm currently establishing pioneers over a small to medium-sized area with the idea of borrowing biomass from the entire area for trees of importance. I'd like to think of it as a clear-fell practice and will remove trees to fit more important trees in.

    You will have problems with certain animals in a cleared setting so you may need access to decent tree guards and stakes for some species.
     
  8. void_genesis

    void_genesis Junior Member

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    Hey again

    It seems we are in a similar situation. I would have a lot of trouble keeping my cows if I wasn't lucky enough to have my parents living near by to keep an eye on them. They are easy animals 95% of the time, but you have to be careful to not upset the neighbours with them. I also was lucky enough to get a property with good fences as well.

    Animals seem to be an essential part of managing a larger property but they do need regular attention. If you are away during the week you will have to focus on growing trees for later on and a small selection of veggies that don't need regular harvesting (e.g. things like potato and pumpkin). You will be spending a lot of time keeping the grass and weeds in balance if you don't have animals doing it for you though.

    If you like you can email me at my user name followed by hot mail dot com. Ill be on the farm a lot more over the summer break so a visit might be on the cards. I would be curious to see your place as well to get a sense of how the mary valley is coming back after the dam debacle.
     

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