Our Lifestyle Block

Yesterday I described how we went about finding our little piece of New Zealand. Today, I thought I'd let you know a bit more about our block - in anticipation of moving back there over the next few months, at the end of the renovations to our house...

(This account is part of a longer answer to an assignment question on my correspondence course so regular readers can gloss over the bits they already know.)



Our small farm is a lifestyle block on the outskirts of Auckland. It is surrounded by similarly sized properties and benefits from being close to several small communities.

The land is about 6 acres in size and is a mixture of park-like garden, patches of bush and a large paddock. The soil is clay and the land is steep in parts. There is a spring which flows across the paddock although it tends to run dry in summer. The block is bounded by two other lifestyle blocks, which were subdivided from our block, and a bush block.

At the point of purchase, there was a 7 bedroom house, dating back to 1968 with most original features intact. This house is now being extensively renovated. The land also boasts a workshop and an open-ended half-round barn, both serviced by telephone, power and water. There are no stockyards, stables or animal housing and no vegetable garden. There was only one fruit tree – grapefruit – when we purchased the property.

Our small farm was originally part of a larger 6 hectare block which was subdivided into three blocks after purchase by a developer. The farm was divided into paddocks. We have been told that a chicken farm occupied the property before the house was built in the late 1960s. The family who built the house in 1968 and lived in it until 2007 ran a small family business on the land. I presume that they also kept a few sheep on the land and probably chickens too.

When we first viewed the property in early 2009, it had been recently subdivided and the gardens had been landscaped. A large number of pine trees had been felled and some native species, mostly flax and nikau, planted. New post and rail fencing had been installed around the boundaries and between the paddock and the gardens. The paddock was occupied by the owner’s alpaca and some sheep which were being grazed by a local farmer.

After we purchased the land, we acquired some chicks and set up a chicken coop and run, as a base for our free-ranging chickens which we keep for eggs and (occasionally) meat. I would like to acquire some ducks as well but will need to build a duck pond first.

We have continued the grazing arrangement with the local farmer until such time as we are ready to acquire livestock – hopefully sheep, goats and pigs, over time. We have declined to host a horse as we are not sufficiently happy with the water supply to the paddock.

We have planted some fruit trees (one each of apple, peach, plum, lemon and lime) and are in the process of building two large raised beds for vegetables and herbs. We have established three compost heaps and a “weed tea system”. Otherwise, we have dedicated the time we have available to maintaining the garden – cutting the grass and controlling the weeds (mostly broad-leaved weeds and some convolvulus).


Before too long, I'll post a list of projects that we have lined up for the next few years. There's lots of work to do around the farm but lots of fun to be had too.

Finding a Lifestyle Block

The fourth module in my correspondence course on small farming is all about ownership options for small farms.

I thought readers might be interested in how we went about choosing our lifestyle block and all the decisions that we had to make along the way...



When hunting for our lifestyle block, we viewed about fifty different properties. These properties were in a range of locations across the Auckland region, some almost suburban, others much more rural. Some were bush blocks, others enjoyed a pastoral outlook. There were properties with sea views and with city views. The farming options were different on each block, as were the existing facilities.

Viewing such a large number of wide ranging properties helped up to develop our objectives and ambitions and to have a clearer picture of what we wanted to achieve. After each property visit, we would discuss our respective visions of what projects we could undertake on that plot of land. Where one of us became infatuated with a particular property, the other would take a more objective viewpoint and look for possible disadvantages, shortcomings and limitations.

For example, I was particularly attracted to hillside properties in the Waitakere Ranges – these properties offered a pleasant and private bush environment, amazing views and fascinating wildlife. However, in most locations we would have been limited to a small raised bed for a vegetable garden, a handful of fruit trees and some chickens, at the very most. There would have been no grazing land for sheep, goats or pigs and many of the properties were so shaded that growing fruit and vegetables would have been very challenging. The limited amount of open space on such properties would have left no room to expand and to attempt near self-sufficiency. The steep land would also have been challenging when it came to developing a food garden.

This process of viewing and discussing a wide variety of homesteads also helped us to resist those properties with gardens which were already well-established and very attractive but which again offered few opportunities to keep livestock. One of the key questions that we asked ourselves was whether or not we would have to move again in the future in order to fulfil our dreams of a rural lifestyle. If it was likely that we would have to move, the property would be relegated to the bottom of our wishlist.

For example, if a property had no paddock for grazing livestock (and no potential to create a paddock), we knew that we would probably want to move to a different property as our farming activities expanded and so the property was more than likely ruled out. By the end of our property hunt, we were certain that we needed a paddock and were able to narrow down our shortlist accordingly.

The lack of farming infrastructure on any given property (fencing, water supply, barn, workshop etc) was also a deterrent as our limited knowledge of how to develop such facilities and the cost of contracting out such non-essential developments would have slowed down our smallfarming activities considerably. Being aware of our limitations in this way helped us to understand which property features were non-negotiable. We made certain that we looked carefully at what was already available at each site and measured against the criteria that we had developed, assessing the cost and complexity of farming systems that we would have to introduce.

Come back tomorrow to find out more about the block that we eventually chose...

Farming Systems 2

Following on from yesterday's post, here's a closer look at one of the components in our planned farming system - the vegetable garden. The diagram shows how the system will be implemented, what processes are involved and how those processes, or subsystems, can be integrated.

Again, just click on the link below to examine the plan in more detail on Scribd...

2 Systems - Illustration - Vegetable Garden

With the right system in place, could I produce prize-winning vegetables?

Farming Systems 1

Having defined the purpose for our lifestyle block, the next task on my correspondence course in Small Farming was to consider the systems that we might want to put in place on our property.

After completing the reading for the module, I set about sketching out the different system components - or farming activities - that I have planned for our block. The various animals (from sheep and goats to pigs to ducks and chickens) were all included, as were the fruit trees, citrus grove and vegetable garden. I then thought about how the way the different activities might interact - both positively and negatively.

For example, the chickens will fertilise the fruit trees and keep pests down. However, the chickens would destroy the vegetable gardens if I let them free range over the raised beds. But the excess matter from the vegetable gardens will help to feed the chickens.



By considering how the activities complement each other - and how any risks posed by one component to another can be mitigated - set me to look at the principles of permaculture.

To quote the Permaculture in New Zealand website:

"Permaculture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems."

Bill Mollison from Permaculture: A Designers Manual

I have a lot more reading to do before I fully understand this farming system but I'm already intrigued. I hope too that the farming system which I'm developing for our property will help me to meet at least some of the permaculture principles such as:

• Produce no waste
• Integrate rather than segregate
  

Allowing the chickens and ducks to wander around the orchard, fertilising it and munching on insects, will integrate those components well. Segregating the chickens from the vegetable garden is the only sensible option but adding their litter to the compost and using vegetable gluts or bolted plants to supplement the chickens' diet will significantly reduce the waste on our small farm.

The diagram below shows more interrelationships, including how some subsystems such as watering troughs for the animals can be used to service more than one component.

Just click on the heading below and you can examine it in more detail over at Scribd.

2 Systems - Illustration - Components

Beginner Baking 7

I wasn't going to bother blogging about these lemon muffins. Another Alison Holst recipe, they're not really all that exciting though they are nice for a little snack.

But then I was doing too many other things and let them overcook and I couldn't get them out of the tray to cool afterwards. Necessity is the mother of invention and so J invented his Patented Muffin Extractor Tool.

Carefully constructed from an old sour cream tub, the Tool has just the right curve for slipping down the edge of each stuck muffin. And the flexibility to slide underneath said muffin and ease it off the tray. Perfect! The muffins came away more or less intact and my coffee group was fed once more.

Beginner Baking 6

This week's Beginner Baking is a seasonal treat - parkin. This is a heavy, sticky, gingery cake, traditionally eaten by northerners around the time of Hallowe'en and Bonfire Night. Controversially I used a southerner's recipe - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's variation on a Derbyshire cook's recipe - rather than a Lancashire or Yorkshire version, though it's not noticeably different to all the other parkin recipes that I found.

I made it a few days before Hallowe'en in the hope that it would mature. It started off strong and dark though and J thought that his piece would keep him going for a few months. Perfect winter food. Just a shame that summer is fast emerging here!

The true test will come later today when my parents arrive and conduct a taste test to determine how close it is to the original Lancashire cake. Fingers crossed!

Antry Points

I've worked out how some of the ants are getting into the house - through this ventilation brick.



What I don't know is what the little structures are at the entrance to the ventilation block - are they ant nests? Or a cocoon or pupa for some other kind of insect?

Past Plantings

The Complete Vegetable Grower: this book is my latest garage sale purchase for 50 cents. As the title suggests, it's a pretty comprehensive volume. But when I started leafing through it, I found a little something extra inside.

One side is an invitation to the 13th Annual Dinner of the Ten Year Club (surely a contradiction in terms!) at the Tramore Grand Hotel in 1973.

But the other side is a planting schedule - which seeds were going in which row, when, and at what distance. I can just imagine Mr Flynn working his way through the book, determining the requirements for each crop then carefully noting them down on his quick-reference guide.

It's a fascinating glimpse into someone's gardening history. Maybe I should try to replicate his garden... I might skip on the sprouts though.

The Eternal Optimist

I am a dreadful gardener. Far too sentimental. Good gardeners are ruthless. They thin out seedlings and cull plants on death's door. I'm neglectful too, easily distracted by other tasks and projects - not a good combination.

The kindest thing to do would have been to put my houseplants out of their misery by laying them to rest on the compost heap. They'd been savaged by snails on the front doorstep, starved of sun and infrequently watered.

But I couldn't give up on them and so I planted them out in a border, hoping the Auckland spring will perk them up.

(Have you spotted the Christmas poinsettia there? Still limping on...)

And then a few days after my mercy mission, I found cause for optimism. I had picked up this ginkgo tree at the school fair at the end of last season. It lost all its leaves over winter until it was nothing but a stick, stuck in some soil, and I left it at the house, on the building site, forgotten under the scaffolding and shrinkwrap.

But, all of a sudden, glimpses of green had appeared. There was life in the old stick yet! So I popped it in the back of the truck and brought it to our temporary abode for some tender loving care. I've dutifully watered it daily and it's rewarded me with sprouting leaves at intervals along its twiggy trunk. The top leaves have unfurled and seem to be thriving. Now I just have to keep it up!



My adopted vegetable garden seems to be coming along nicely, though there are a few bitemarks from the snails. With a bit of luck, the seedlings will tough it out...



Let's hope the cherry tomato seeds sprout too - under their makeshift greenhouse.