Hello everyone. Me the Missus and our 2 young boys (1 & 3) are about to give the lifestyle block thing a go. We've got about 10 acres to play on and about six of that will need cutting (I'm thinking 48" 25Hp tractor).
I guess the first thing for me will be putting some fencing around the house and getting some animals to keep the grass down and save on mowing.
Hope to make good use of the collective knowledge from this forum.
Hi and welcome. Our boys started LSBing when they were R2 and R4 ( thats 1 year old rising 2 yrs, and 3 yrs old rising 4) if you haven't come to grips with the farming lingo yet. Remember that there are a huge amount of hazards for children on an LSB - electric fences, drains, water troughs, motor vehicles .... have killed children. One of ours was helping in the sheep yards one day and walked down the sheep race just as I was letting a ewe out. The 50kg ewe flattened the 30 kg child - no damage done that time.
hi our boys... we came to our lifestyle block when our boy was 1 and the other boy arrived a year later. Now at 18 & 20, and we are still on the same piece of land, the boys look back fondly of their childhood and being able to climb trees, go eeling, play in the hay barn... and of course there are motorbikes and pet "things" along the way. Enjoy
Welcome aboard. With the land area you have I would advise getting a real tractor. You will find it more versatile than a ride-on mower or lawn tractor. You should be able to be pretty much self-sufficient in meat, milk, eggs, and vegetables on ten acres if you try. We near enough to are on three acres effective grazing but we buy in our hay.
Thanks to all for all your kind wishes and advice. The lifestyle block workshop would certainly be of interest to us. I don't think we are quite ready yet and we are in the mddle of packing to move in 2 weeks time.
I'll keep an eye open for a tractor for the winter. Summerwise, I'm sure my 4WD Pajero will allow me to get from A - B. There's a fallen tree at the bottom of the gully and I'll need to trailer the wood (once I've cut it up) out via a less steep route.
It'll take a while to settle in however I'm sure we'll get there. Apart from the mower, which I knew needed to have a sizable motor, we're trying to resist making any rushed decisions.
If you have 10 acres which is not fenced yet, it also probably doesn't have water, yards, or a loading ramp, so it may be a while before you're ready to put animals on it. The grass will be growing like mad for the next couple of months though, so if the land is flat enough to mow, it might be worth getting a hay contractor in to cut it and sell the hay.
"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower." Hans Christian Anderson
