newby, just bought some land, what now?

Discussion in 'Designing, building, making and powering your life' started by stevieray, Dec 17, 2005.

  1. stevieray

    stevieray Junior Member

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    Hello all!

    My wife and I just bought 5 acres in the Mid North of South Australia, with the idea of moving out there from Adelaide in the next 5 years or so.

    Our block is just outside a smallish town, and has mains water but the only development so far is a windbreak of some 40 or 50 olive trees planted around 3 sides. The remainder is a cleared bare slate waiting to be planted out.

    So what next? I plan to build a barn in the near future, but after that I want to plant out an orchard.

    Look forward to reading and contributing to this forum.


    Vaughano
     
  2. permaculture.biz

    permaculture.biz Junior Member

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    G'day,

    Again I would recommend doing a Permaculture Design Course: the best people and venue in South Australia (and one of the best in the world for that matter!) is at the Food Forest in Gawler with Graham and Anne-Marie Brookman. David Holmgren typically guest lectures on their PDC rounding the value of experience right off.

    Ciao,

    Darren Doherty
     
  3. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    g'day vaughano, mrs vaughano

    5-acres, hey? well, depending on what level of self-sufficiency (if any) you wish to atttain between now and when you move onto the block, this will probably determine just what action you take from here.

    do you wish to live off the land? if so, you should probably take into consideration all the factors that may allow you to do this. these may include, but are not limited to:

    site works - landscaping for the barn and eventual home? no use planting an orchard only to find out 5-years down the track that it would have made a good homesite (or vice-versa).

    water catchment and storage - yes, I know you have mains at present, but for how long, and do you always wish to be beholden to the local water authorities? what about run-off diversion, swales and keyline cultivation? I'd imagine that "...cleared bare slate" could do with a drink?

    olives on three sides - do they actually serve the purpose for windbreaks, and can they be put into service to obtain a further yeild?

    do you wish to encourage any native wildlife to visit the area? if so, bare slate and olives may not appeal to the wider indigenous community of critters. maybe some reveg works?

    of course there are the basics concerning aspect, slope, access, risk (fire or otherwise), etc. all of these things need to be taken into consideration before any work commences.

    geotechnical analysis, contour survey, botanical survey, hazard assesment - have anyof these been/need to be completed?

    what is your level of knowledge and understanding pertaining to land planning?

    all of the above are just some of the things that one might consider when asking the question, "what next?"

    there are heaps of resources available, if you havn't tapped into these already. local library, council, neighbours, to name just a few. and of course there are always excellent sites - just like this one - where you can gain great inspiration and support in your endeavours - not too mention a few great links to other fantastic sites, too! keep the faith, don't lose sight of your end goal, maintain the passion, seek out others who are undertaking a similar venture, and above all, enjoy the journey.

    i wish you both the very best. may your 5-acres become abundant with all that you require, and may your journey bring you great peace and happiness.

    cheerio,

    mark.
     
  4. ecodharmamark

    ecodharmamark Junior Member

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    g'day again, vaughano, mrs vaughano,

    daz snuck in between my actual reading of your post, and my responding to it. i would like to further encourage you to look at participating in a PDC. i've only just completed one myself and i can only wholeheartedly concur with darren's advice. many of the questions i asked you in response to your initial question may very well be answered at a PDC.

    good luck with the journey, and don't ever be afriad to ask the questions.

    cheerio,

    mark.
     
  5. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Mid North??

    We all have these crazy coastal capital city based views of our state which are confusing unless you are in the state.

    Hail hearty to you and your efforts.


    Are you on the Goyder Line?

    cheers

    Mike
     
  6. teela

    teela Junior Member

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    welcome

    Welcome Vaughano. Good to see another South Aussie!
    Do you know what sort of Olive trees you have? The Mid North is a great part of the state, some really pretty towns, you are lucky to have some land there.
    Cheers!
    Teela
     
  7. heuristics

    heuristics Junior Member

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    newbie just bought some land

    Hiya,
    Yep, Darren's advice of a Permaculture Design Course is really the very best advice in answer to your question of “where to start”.
    After you've done a PDC?? Well start doing stuff and then a bit later... maybe do another PDC. (I want to do a 2nd one in 2006)
    I am in that space right at the moment..... I had the land... didn't know what to do with it... did a TAFE Small Farms Course, and while it improved my social life it did very little by way of helping me answer the “what can/should I do?”
    Then the magical Melb 05 PDC course and now a lot of fart-arsing around, experimenting and trying to put the theory into practice, and then finding not just what works, but what works “best”..
    Every day I look at my property and dream... and have a voice in my head (Bill M's) saying that permaculture starts immediately at the back door...
    something along the lines that “if you're not doing permaculture at the backdoor,,, then you're not doing permaculture"..... so I look around and keep thinking.... lots of things are happening, I've got lots of ideas.... but nothing is in place at the backdoor.... so I am not yet doing permaculture...
    but over this weekend I found a way to start a potato bed at the backdoor.... so I felt ecstatic that I am about to take my first “real” step on my permaculture journey...

    good luck with yours (journey) and there is heaps of great advice to be gleaned here......
     
  8. stevieray

    stevieray Junior Member

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    Thanks for all the replies. I'll see if I can answer a few Qs.

    Firstly I do intend to be as self-sufficient as possible when I finally move onto the land, but for one reason or another that is likely to be 5-10 years away.

    I should also add that I currently live on the other side of Adelaide in the Southern suburbs (approx. 2 hours drive away) so I can't have any livestock, or anything else that requires frequent attention. My intention is to do some initial earthworks and build a barn before the first rains in Autumn. Then I intend to plant some trees, which is an area I could use some help, particularly in selection of varieties.

    Fair call, that term is a bit wishy-washy even here in SA!

    I'm actually in the Gilbert Valley, SE of the Clare Valley, well south of the Goyder line. I've been told we have approx 500mm annual rainfall, probably similar to that experienced at Gawler where the Food Forest is located.

    I'll certainly book in for a course when I can. I have read the Mollison book (the big one) some time ago, indeed that was what prompted me to look for info on the net. I currently do what I can on my town block, with my own veggie garden and chook run under my fruit trees. I've also grown trees with Trees-for-life, and have 50 or so seedlings of locally collected (Gilbert Valley) red-gums growing now.

    I guess I'm looking to scale up to the next level...
     
  9. ho-hum

    ho-hum New Member

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    Vaughano,

    Welcome to the forum.

    The Mid-North thing is just one of my pet ''irrats'' so dont mind me.

    If you are not going into commercial production there should be some nice heirloom fruit types that you can play round with. I would recommend if you are between work & where-you-want-to-be that you play round and learn to graft/grow your own trees at home. Do you have water on the block? Will kangaroos or hares pose a threat to young trees if you are not there?

    Getting in touch with your local [adelaide] permie group will give you lots of ideas. You may find they will help you plan and even plant your place.

    Cheers

    Mike
     
  10. heuristics

    heuristics Junior Member

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    newby

    Also, if it is going to be some time before you can get on your land – how about investigating and investing in some terra-forma (swales and such).
    I am getting swales in 2006 ! yippeeeeeee!.
    With the swales in you're water issues can be being fixed “while you wait” to get onto your land properly. This will also help with any tree planting that you do... You could find the trees growing and maturing with you (seemingly) not doing too much...
    Make sure you get a absolute permie expert to supervise/ install your swales – near enough is not remotely good enough !
     

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