When Tom and I met, it didn't take long for us to strike some common ground. We had both wanted to live on farms since we were little people. The longer we were together, the more we knew that our future together would involve making that goal a reality. So, some 6 years later, we sold up Tom's house (and our home where we had just experienced our second baby's homebirth) and began our farm change adventure.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Settling into the neighbourhood

Another productive weekend just gone.
We attended the district Christmas party (and were told about the Australia Day party to look forward to) and met our neighbours. Not all of them, but a lot of them. Some of them grew up in the area and return at Christmas to visit family and these are the ones who were very enlightening. We learned things about our property that a real estate agent wouldn't know (though we did like our agent!). It's time, in the 19th Century, as the site of a settlement with a train station came to a close when a landslide occurred. Not only did the landslide wind down trade by the creek, when the dam broke it flooded the next town, just a few kilometres downstream, and finished that off as a town, too. Our whole property was ploughed, by hand as well at tractor, later, for snowpeas. Even the steep bits I've only walked a couple of times - that's dedication! The last footage of the steam train that used to travel the railway was taken from the end of our hill that looks towards the Prom. The house that existed many moons ago would have been dismantled by the 50.
Tom had to fix a couple of things with the tank and it is now collecting rain water without leaking. Next time we go to the farm we will be able to plumb straight into the caravan - mod cons!
And the Tibetan Prayer flags are in place. It's feeling a lot more like 'home'.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Love your Catchment Management Authority...

I'm loving ours. The CMA in our area works very closely with Landcare in our area. Actually, they share the same building. That's how close they are!
I just got off the phone to the same guy I spoke to earlier this week and we are both very happy with the win-win situation presenting itself to us. I heard correctly last time when he said our creek falls under a priority area for the CMA and that there was the possibility of assistance with fencing and planting. He elaborated today, after calling me from where he was standing at the bridge over our creek, that our property will be high up on the list of priority properties for assistance in their program. In fact, he is compiling a list of sites to take investors to, and ours will be one of them.
He is impressed with the remnant vegetation at both ends of the creekline on our grazing licence area, there aren't that many willows and the creek isn't in a bad condition. They require an average of 10 metres on either side of the creek, which is half of what DSE required for EcoTender (about which we still haven't heard and now no longer require) for protection of the creek and the best bit is to come: the CMA will pay for fencing, erection of fencing and plants. Landholders pay for the first 10 metres of plants and the CMA pays the rest - sweet!
That leaves us with more money to fund conservation on the hills and fencing that Landcare won't cover on those projects. I am really having fun with this. What we 'lose' in grazing land (and it's debatable just how much was productive grazing land) we will gain in quality of life and boosted health of the remaining grazing paddocks. Instead of having 160 acres of varying quality land, we will end up with at least 30 per cent vegetation coverage, a very healthy waterway attracting aquatic, marsupial and monotreme life, a koala biolink, dreamy bird life, an exploratory wonderland for the kids and friends and family, and our grazing paddocks will thank us for it. In other words, there is no 'lose', only adjustment and gain.
We will meet with this key contact in the early New Year and then with these investors soon after that to make it all happen. The sooner we start the protection and reveg plans, the sooner we get to enjoy a wonderland that makes us money and gives us life.
As we approach our last Christmas in the Dandenongs, and begin to wind up our time here, I've got a skip in my step and a vision in my head to keep me from looking back. Forward motion.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Money and water.

We have a tank installed! Silly me took a photo of the ground being prepared for the smallest tank to go in first, and I didn't take one of the tank installed...ah, well!
With a little help from a brother, Tom worked hard last week (with two trips down straight after work) to prepare trenches and pipes so that the small tank could start collecting water. I will be able to report after this weekend as to the efficacy of works undertaken.
I've also had a chat with our accountant about our tax affairs. It was scary in anticipation of the appointment, but now I have complete confidence in what I have to do...wholly and solely because I've been recommended I leave the hard work up to the sweet, sweet magic of...SOFTWARE! The package she recommends is a PC-only job, and I don't fancy messing around with Parallels to get Windows on my precious Mac. So, I'm going with a package called MoneyWorks Express. I'm mostly through the tutorial and really excited about setting up account codes, recording receipts and generating reports. Sad, I know. Efficient, definitely.
I've been on the blower to the CMA guy who said he was going to do a walk of our creekline to determine if we qualify as priority landowners for assistance in water frontage management. He reckons we do, and he'll go back to do a more thorough inspection. Between children annoying each other (loudly) and dogs barking, I *think* I heard him say we ARE in a priority area and will be eligible for fencing and reveg assistance - brilliant! He also said they have done some work upstream and a bit downstream, so I'll be interested to see those works and plans of action for them.
Oh, and possibly the most important part of proceedings is the news that I have two poles ready to be 'planted' into the ground by the hill track gate, for the purposes of attaching our Tibetan Prayer Flags. It's gotta be a good vibe for us to implement this vital detail for the prosperity of the farm and of the universe we serve!