The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: hodgepodge on May 05, 2011, 11:25:17 pm
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Hi,
Today is the coldest May the 6th in Canberra's history. It reached minus 4 celcius. I'm thinking on this forum that doesn't give me much bragging rights !
I live on 30 acres in the Tinderry Mountains (1100m elevation), part of the Great Dividing Range on the east coast of Australia. Our town (recently called a "village" in the local rag) has two churches, a school (for 12 children) and a working (!) telephone box. We live on what locals describe as a paddock, with a poddy lamb (soon to be in the freezer), a 40kg Maremma X Pyranean Mountain Dog (which needs a coat 'cause we had her shaved 'cause grass seeds are bad during summer and now come winter her coat hasn't grown back!), a cat and an 18 month old daughter.
In Australia our climate is described as cool mountainous, we'd have probably 2-3 days of snow a year (first time I ever saw snow - and once it fell in January!!!), other than that we have heavy frosts, and they can come at any time (see comment regarding snow!).The district is a sheep (merino and poll dorset) and cattle (angus & hereford) area.
We've recently put in 6 garden beds 3m x 1.5m (a la Peter Cundall for all those Australian's out there) and put in drip irrigation. I am planning to restock with bantam chickens, and use them to scratch up the garden beds on a rotational basis. I have fruit trees which are watered via the septic system (Biolytix - big fan!)
I am interested in planning/fencing enough land for a rotational system for fattening weaner pigs and 2-3 small cows.
I hope I can provide you with some experiences and read all about your own.
HP
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Hello and welcome from Scotland on the opposite side of the world :wave:
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Hi and welcome from Suffolk.
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Welcome from France. Be warned pigs are very addictive.
I hadn't realised it ever got that cold in Australia. My sister is planning to throw away all her cold weather gear before she emigrates this year. ;D
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Hello and welcome from Aberdeenshire Scotland :wave:
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Hello and welcome from a wet Carnoustie :wave:
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Hi from me,
I just love Australia, but have never got to Canberra. My sister is in Perth so we visit regularly. We spent a lovely week on a farm in Bridgetown a few years ago. From memory this was southeast of Perth. It was wonderful, but it sounds like you're part of Australia is very different in climate and topography from everywhere we've been.
Great to have you on here.
Fi
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Hello from a very warm Kent :wave:
When we were in Balarat in Victoria 8 years ago we had snow in July
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Hello, from a warm (and hopefully soon to be wet) Northumberland, love Australia, esp Sydney and Perth, but only get to see it in passing on the way to paradise (NZ)
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:wave:
Hello back! It's great to see so many of you have travelled to our part of the world. I'm sorry I can't reciprocate! Still, the husband is Scottish (his dad is from Edinburgh) and our daughter has become fascinated with the bagpipes so I'm thinking we have at least two good reasons to go north!
Surely if this smallholding thing works out I could claim it as a tax deduction!? :D
Hope to read more about all your exploits on the forum.
HP
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Hi and welcome from North Yorkshire. :wave: Have been to Oz several times, I have a sister who lives in Adelaide. Only been to Canberra once when I travelled the country about 17 years ago. :)
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Hi from Clackmannan, central Scotland, my eldest daughter, husband and my two grandaughters are in the Blue Mountains, my next eldest and her 4 children and partner are applying to emigrate to Austrailia but I still have one daughter with her feet in the UK, lovely to have the internet to connect us all up, welcome!! :wave: Whops and its cold here today too!
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:wave:
Hello back! It's great to see so many of you have travelled to our part of the world. I'm sorry I can't reciprocate! Still, the husband is Scottish (his dad is from Edinburgh) and our daughter has become fascinated with the bagpipes so I'm thinking we have at least two good reasons to go north!
Surely if this smallholding thing works out I could claim it as a tax deduction!? :D
Hope to read more about all your exploits on the forum.
HP
Hi there and welcome! I am living in North East Australia, place of lots of sun and heat(but has it cold moments, but not as low as -4!!)
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Hello from an unseasonably cold North Cumbria, nearly as far north in England as you can get.
I have distantly-related relatives in the Brisbane area and my uncle has very recently emigrated (with his aussie wife) to the east side (exact location - still shopping.) One day maybe I will visit...
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Hi from wet & windy Wales. Have relatives in Sydney but that is a lot warmer there. 8)
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Hi there and welcome :wave: from Sue in Worcestershire England
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Hello from an unseasonably cold North Cumbria, nearly as far north in England as you can get.
I have distantly-related relatives in the Brisbane area and my uncle has very recently emigrated (with his aussie wife) to the east side (exact location - still shopping.) One day maybe I will visit...
Its well worth the trip, but just remember the seasons are opposite, and as the Far North is tropical it rains a hell of alot in Summer and is beatiful and dry in Winter(which it is now). We were in Brisbane last week(that was sunny, but cold and then rainy) and we loved it and also travelled up to the suneshine coast and plan to move down to Brisbane, so you never know we may see you there!!!! :wave: :wave:
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hi nad welcome from central scotland :wave: :wave: