Our hillsides are soggy from the overflowing springs that stream into the creek below, and the rains have kept coming...all the while, we still don't have our tanks connected...doh! Not to worry, if it's going to rain again anywhere, it will be in our neck of the woods.
This weekend just gone saw the conclusion of the workshop I had participated in, called Horse Property Management, that I have referred to previously. It was just brilliant for a newby like me! And not just for the horse knowledge. Not at all; it was a great overview of farm management with a view to sustainability of the environment that will provide a lifestyle and income. Of course, I learned some highly relevant and key things about horse management on any property, and that we are at an advantage for having purchased a 'blank canvas' of sorts, because we can design things much more cheaply than if we were redesigning an existing set up.
Many things I learned are held in common with broader Landcare principles, so we are still going to fence off the waterways, refence along contour lines, fence off erosion areas and revegetate, remove problem weeds and minimise hoof impact on the soil and grasses. Jane Myer, of Equiculture renown, educated us about horse herding and grazing behaviours, and opened our eyes to a lot of truths that have been obscured by 'common practice'; practices that worked for humans when we were managing a very different beast - the one that worked all day long, every single day. For example, stable design has, for the most part, not changed in 200 years, yet the use of the horse is almost unrecognisable from earlier times. Same for horse nutrition. People believe they are loving their horses more by filling them with the same grasses that cattle farmers use, yet all horses need is 'poorer' pasture and good rotation, based on various physiological and herd behaviour factors. We were most surprised to learn that best practice nowadays is to keep stallions with a herd of geldings or select mares - 'best' practice is most certainly far from 'common' practice. Most stallion owners still firmly believe in separating their entire beasts, believing this will protect both him and other horses. This is only true because the stallion has been kept separate all its life and has NO social skills, so feels threatened by other horses and becomes dangerous - it's not an inherent trait. After all, geldings are stallions who don't realise they've got no testicles, and don't miss what they never had...the urge to mount a mare. It all made sense when explained to us, and one participant reported at the second workshop that a friend had acted on this advice and now has a very happy stallion in with mates!
Anyhoo, I procured an aerial photograph of our farm, for the purposes of the workshop, where we learned about Whole Farm Planning, though we were specifically looking at accommodating horses on farms. Most participants had between 2 and 20 acre properties, with only a couple of us having more. No-one else quite had 160 odd acres, but then I was quick to point out that I don't have that whole 160 odd acres for my horse interests, either! The farm planning tools I have now I am sharing with Tom and have injected me with a new vigour, and also a fresh eye for observation of what's happening on our farm.
I'm noticing soil structure, type and land classes. I'm noticing grass types and growth patterns, steer behaviours, and natural features of our property. Most of all, I can't wait to fence off the creek and start tackling the pest weeds - the willow being the biggest offender. I have been learning about willow management and I'm keen to start rehabilitating the creek, with the front section of our creek line being what I want the rest of the creek line to look like in about 10 years. I'm in contact with the CMA (Catchment Management Authority) and the DPI (Department of Primary Industries) to see how we can get some bucks and expertise for this purpose, with the trade-off being that our Crown licence will be reviewed and adjusted, according to how much less land we'll be left with for actual grazing, once land is fenced off. Win-win. If we can come to this arrangement, then I will surely be the Landcare Queen! But before I get carried away, we have yet to do the more formalised Landcare iFarm 21 planning course, where we learn to do farm planning with provided software...and then I shall prepare for regal duties...
The grass is growing at an astounding rate, the temperature is rising through this season and snakes are becoming active. I saw my first one yesterday, in the creek, and it was black as black and FAT. So, we'll have to start slashing the roadsides and the areas surrounding the caravan, in order to be able to see any of them coming our way. And I'll have to keep the gate shut to the caravan yard unless I am walking down our road with the kids. They are not snake savvy at the moment, and it's only a teeny comfort that there's a hospital about 5 minutes away...
We're a lot more decided on house site location, and were only talking tonight about how to set up the dam there for swimming in. It's years off materialising, and so much fun to plan!
We have a gutter up on the shed and plan to do more to set up the tanks this weekend. This needs to be done, ideally, for us to make our farm move. I'm really, really ready to make the change and start living on our patch of paradise.
ETA: I forgot to write about the wet wombat! A flooded creek meant an evicted wombat had to wait for its home to dry out - but not before availing of the grasses along the creek. Here he is (or she, it didn't declare itself...):
