Newbies on 20 Acres in the Canterbury Foothills

Hi Everyone.

My wife and I have always wanted to get away from the city and have a bit of land out country. In fact, we both thought about it even before we met. To cut a very long story short, we got red-zoned in Christchurch after the quakes and a very painful and disappointing couple of years we eventually managed to pull a real little beauty out of the ashes. 20 Acres, north facing slope on the side of a valley. 5 or so acres in almost mature pines, another 5 in gorse Only a couple of neighbours for miles around, and a beautiful weatherboard ranch-style home in need of a bit of TLC.

We've only just moved in, but we've got big plans, and we've already inherited a good 15 or so chickens and look like we might be inheriting a few Pitt Island sheep too

Anyway, I very much look forward to picking all your brains and hopefully being able to help out with a few ideas of my own too!

Cheers

Congratulations. It is great to hear some positive stories coming out after the dust and silt has settled.

Sounds like a great spot Dan,welcome to the forum:)

Welcome to the Forum, there's a lot of interesting and useful info here. Sounds like you have your work cut out with that block so good luck. It will get tough bit keep going and it'll be worth it.

What are your plans for the block? Have you considered alpaca? I admit I'm biased, as a breeder in South Canterbury, but they are one of the easiest animals to keep so for newbies they are a good starter ( and I'm speaking from experience because I only bought my block 4 years ago on arriving from the UK).

All the best.

Hi and welcome - and congrats on pulling through the difficult times and looking on the future with such a positive attitude. Best wishes on the block! What a wonderful new beginning. [^][^][^]