Suggestions, Please

4 posts
Sat, 12/27/2014 - 21:01 #1

Member for

9 years 10 months
Crunchy
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 12/27/2014 - 20:31

Suggestions, Please

G'day!

We live just outside of Cavendish, Victoria, Australia.  We have 45 acres.  We bought it as the insurance result of a 4WD hitting my husband when he was on his motorbike. This happened in a 90km/hr. zone. My husband was not at fault but nearly died.  He is now 58, the accident having happened in 2006.

We bought the place because it is relatively isolated and he suffers from PTSD.  He has a bit of a farming history, having been brought up on a milking farm, although he has worked in differing occupations.

He can no longer work, due to his pain levels and an acquired brain injury.

I am 56 and have sciatica and am bi-polar with a resulting memory problem (I have actually forgotten my Christian name for fifteen minutes in my late forties).

When we bought the farm, five years ago, it was a working alpacca farm.  At the first shearing, I saw the alpaccas kick out (understandably.  They don't know what's going on) and realised that one kick to the small of my husband's back would put him back in a wheelchair and increase his pain level.

My husband is on unemployment benefits, I am on a Disability Pension - so we're not overwhelmed with cash.

Our soil is buckshot, underlaid with clay.  We have only rainwater, and a few small dams.  The bore, apparently, is unreliable, according to the previous owners.

We have agisted half of our property, which pays for the rates and taxes, but not much else.

Due to our growing infirmities, we have almost no poultry left, having sold or given away everything except nine geese, which I am trying to offload.  We have eight dorper sheep, which free range on what is the unleased land.

Hunting is not an option, as there are no copses of trees in which anything can hide.  Hunting native animals, such as kangaroo, is illegal.  Foxes are minimal.  Our dams do not hold anything larger than yabbies, and I researched the possibility of selling them (as I did with eggs from our chooks), only to find that there was an amazing amount of bureaucracy and hygiene that must needs be attended to.

We tried getting volunteers from the nearest major town to help out so that we could grow things to feed those in need, giving them to local churches for free.  Only one person contacted us, and she didn't ever garden here.  She's still a friend, though.

We have tried growing a variety of things for our local monthly market.  I have even put together succulents in display, not much in the sales area there, either.  Even tried foot massages!  Nada.

We don't have the facilities to have people staying here, be they WWOOFers, home stay or for any sports.

The bee-keeping area is taken care of by our next neighbour.

So - small amount of land, bodies not functioning well, neither are our brains, limited water, bad soil, not much money, limited marketing and masses of unfriendly bureaucracy.

Any ideas?  Please?

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Mon, 02/02/2015 - 23:14 #2
barb
Last seen: 09/17/2019 - 18:07
Joined: 11/23/2011 - 09:38

Hi there,

I don't know if I can help with any great ideas. I have checked back several times to see if any one has tried to answer your fairly complex question.

First of all, I have a question of my own. What is it you want to do? Do you want to make some money to supplement your income (which may effect your pensions from Centre Link or VET Affairs if you earn very much) ? Or, do you just want to have a hobby that will give you some nice fresh produce and a lot of satisfaction at the same time?

One suggestion that I have, is to set up some raised garden beds, Old bath tubs set up on old bricks or old railway sleepers to get them off the ground and stabilise them, are good for this and have a built in, drainage hole in the bottom already- you need to put a small piece of shadecloth over the drain hole to stop the soil from coming out. Because you guys have limited mobility and your husband has a bad back, this could work well for you.  If you were to plant some tomatoes and capsicum and perhaps some extra lettuces or radishes, you might be able to sell the surplus at the markets. I love the atmosphere of the markets, where you get to meet and talk to a lot of different and interesting people and make a little money at the same time.

I know what it is like to have physical limitations, as I have RA, which when it is active, as it is now, means that I can't do much at all. However, in my case, I know that it is use it or lose it, so that I must keep moving.

hope this small suggestion, though it isn't much, is useful to you.

Best wishes,

Barb

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Thu, 02/05/2015 - 08:50 #3
Crunchy
Last seen: 03/08/2018 - 21:05
Joined: 12/27/2014 - 20:31

Hi Barb,

Thankyou for that.  We only have one local market and the fresh veggies aspect is catered to by many and varied, worse luck.

I want to thank you for the time and trouble you have taken to give a thoughtful answer to our dilemma.  

We are definitely looking at wicking beds.  We have bathtubs and those black, heavy duty plastic water troughs that we can use.  Strangely enough, I talked with my dh about using them just last night.

We had someone come through out property on Friday, we think, and let the agisted cows go from their paddocks to ours.  Thankfully, no great damage done, but it's a concern.  Next door found some shotgun wads near their dam.  That's more of a concern.

We've notified our local 'Chris the Cop from Cavendish', a wonderful man.

Just makes us think twice about having cattle on the property, as I really don't wish to be gored by a panicky bull/cow whilst trying to get him/her back into the right paddock, nor do I want them escaping on to the Highway to cause accidents.

It's probably leftover city paranoia.

Thankyou, again, and please, if you have any further ideas, we're very interested!

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Thu, 02/05/2015 - 08:52 #4
admin
Last seen: 11/13/2024 - 10:09
Joined: 02/28/2011 - 14:19

Hi Crunchy,

Yes, it's a concern when you find used shells or bullet casings on your property when you haven't been shooting. Sounds like they may have sneaked in to shoot ducks on your dam- bit of a worry that.

Regarding people leaving your paddock gate open, I suggest putting  a sign on the gate to the stock paddock saying,

"Stock in paddock. Please shut the gate. "

Or, you could do what some people around here do, and put a padlock on the gate and give one key to the owners of the stock and keep the other one yourself, so that only yourselves and the owners of the stock, can open that gate.

If I think of any more ideas, I'll let you know.

Good luck and all the best,

Barb

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