Setting Myself Up For My Future Lifestyle Block

Hi guys, I'm from Banks Peninsula, Canterbury.
I currently works in an orchards and vineyards growing stone fruits and pinot noir. It is here that I started tinkering with growing edible things and amazing wildflowers on the orchard housing.
I am particularly interested in ancient heritage varieties of fruit trees and heirloom seeds.

I have also recently been given permission to expand the area of the property to cover more ground. This means I'll be adding about 600m2 of flat ground in a triangular shape to the property.
After allocating some bits to walnut and pecan trees, and some other nut trees, I have 400m2 left, probably for chicken and ducks.
I would really like to try my hands on dairy goats, british alpines, in the future, I will need more land area for that.

I would love to learn more about animal husbandry, and other bits and bobs of being at least partially self-sustainable on a lifestyle block.

Welcome to the forum, JustinNeMo, sounds like a nice set-up you have there.

For goats, which are my passion, there are lots of great websites around, as well as yahoo groups which are very informative. Coming here and asking specific questions is also a really good idea, especially when you need info quickly, as there are lots of us around with goats. We've had goats for going on about 15 years, and been actively breeding up our Toggenburgs for about 8 years now. I also represent the Canterbury Dairy Goat Breeders Assn, a great group of hobbyist breeders - it's been a really good support network for me getting started with goats in NZ when we first got her 10 years ago. Now I show goats as well as breed and milk them, and have really enjoyed my experiences over the years.

Fiasco farm has a great website for all aspects of goat husbandry, though some of the info is geared to the American situation (most people house their goats, have them on small blocks, buy in all their feed and of course use meds & drenches that we mostly don't have here). Irene Ramsay, my own goat mentor for many years (even before we had even thought of coming to New Zealand), has her articles all over the internet. She's been breeding goats (first in Balcairn, Canterbury, now in Middlemarch, Otago) for over 40 years. She is just an amazing resource and shares her knowledge and experiences openly and willingly.

Sue is the resident chook-spert, and there are lots of us who keep ducks as well.

Good luck to you!