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The GREEN HORSE - sustainable horsekeeping

APRIL MAY 2011
Vol 32 No 6

Information Exchange
Reader’s Tips, Views and Questions 
Growing Equine Herbs - Rosehips by Jackie Rive
Weed Watch - Preventing Weed Introduction by Nicola Field
Permaculture Pt 3 - Fertilising with
Compost Tea by Mariette Van den Berg and Nick Huggins
Heavenly Hectares: Do It Once and Do It Right by Chris Ferreira
Property Safety - Roll-Over Protective
Structures by Farm Safe Alliance WA
Green Bedding  

Heavenly Hectares: Do It Once and Do It Well
Matching the dream with the reality by Chris Ferreira

Whatever your reasons for ‘going bush’, it pays to clearly think them through and articulate them to help ‘hone your hunt’.

It makes sense to spend sometime before beginning the grea tproperty hunt and actually try and pin down your expectations from a property. Is it a lifestyle choice? A desperate need to get away from the suburban neighbours who like playing heavy metal till 3am? A want for Portia to have a great place to raise ‘Muffy’ the horse? Or just a desire to get up close and personal with Echidnas?

Write down the top five reasons for ‘going bush’ or purchasing a property and use the list as the basis for your property hunt. Once you have defined what you want in a property the list will not only show you what to look for but –more importantly – what to avoid! Note: to prevent an ugly and messy divorce it pays to always ensure everyone who will be involved in the property has a say in these important decisions. Failure to get everyone’s opinions and points of view will only give you a bad case of Hobby Farmer Heartache and a whole lot of acrimony along the way. Just using something as basic as this simple list will help ensure that your choices are based on at least some fundamental alignment between what you want and what is on offer.

The next step is to match your needs with what you find on the properties you inspect. I scratch my head sometimes when I compare what people have purchased with what they said they want the property for – sodden clay fields for commercial production, deep sand paddocks for a horse farm –the list is endless. So often people get swept away with the look or romance of a property without realising that they are about to make one of the most important financial decisions with a high capital outlay with little more than a snapshot feel for the property.

Try and visit the site at a few different times of the year, or at the least attempt to find out through local knowledge what the place is like over a typical twelvemonth period. A paddock in the middle of spring, brimming with greenery, is a world away from what it may look like a few months later in the hot grip of summer. Try and take samples of the plants growing. If you can’t identify them contact the local landcare centre or Department of Agriculture who should be able to help. Check the property’s history. Ex-farm properties may have a nasty past, like toxic chemical residues hiding in the soil.

Write down the five keycharacteristics you will need onthe property you wish to purchase and use the list to guide yourdecisions on what – or whether– to buy. Consider issues such assoil, vegetation cover and watersupplies, plus things like distancefrom work and surroundingland uses, now and in the future.(Remember no one wants to buynext to a proposed light industrialarea!)

If you are getting serious about aparticular block of land and you are considering buying it, write downsome key information about thesite and its surrounding land uses.Don’t forget to do a bit of crystalball gazing too: what is plannedfor the local area in the next 5-10 years? The local council will havea Rural Strategy that will give youthis information. All this will helpto paint a picture and tell you whatyou will get and also what you aregetting yourself into.

This is an excerpt from Chris’ up and coming book ‘Heavenly Hectares –your guide to creating and managing a beautiful, productive and sustainable landscape’.For more details contact Chris at chris@landcaresolutions.net.au or visit www.landcaresolutions.net.au.