Hi Guys

New to Farmstyle but have been on our 40 acre property in the Macleay Valley for 30 years. Thought I could offer suggestions and even learn some as well. We have made some successes and a lot of mistakes on the place so far but absolutly love the life style. We grew up in Sydney moved here had family and could NEVER go back - live like battery chooks down there!! (Let out on the weekend to go to the Shopping Mall)

Cleared, built home, extended, then extended again (for more beautiful childeren), sheds, roads, bridge, dam, water supply from both rain and river, tried cattle, goats, geese, fruit trees, watermelons, vegie gardens (4 to date) all with limitd "success". Some of it for fun some for profit and some for self sufficiency sort of like a "wonder if this will work" attitude. Got to know mother nature a little better and how she can be cruel and kind all in a day. Seen floods ,droughts, bushfires, storms, hail, bolts of lightening hitting trees - its mother nature UP CLOSE - and we love it.

Have kangaroos, echidnas, platypus in the river, red bellied black snakes, diamond pythons, green tree snakes, Little eagle nests, King parrots, lorikeets, Boobook, Tawny frogmouth, whip birds, Bower birds the list goes on and on but my favouties are summer cicardas and the king parrots. Pests are neighbous cat and wild dog and the occasional fox but becomming rare. The fun bits are standing on the unseen ants nest and then doing the bull ant two-step, falling trees the wrong way onto the shed, de-bogging the tractor, paper wasp relocation, mud wasp nest in the brushcutter exaust and my wifes favouite - relocating the black snake from the living room. All part of a country life darl!!!(Hmmm)

Not sure if we can call it a "farm" and have some questions about "selfsufficiency" but am serious about collecting the natural forces that rein down on our patch of land. (Solar cells to reduce dependency on the grid - now its being sold off??)

So... here is the question...

Should you have a "Master Plan" for your acres/property/land or should you throw yourself into it and go from there?

(I guess thats meta thinking)