The day finally dawned. Many years of wishing to 'live somewhere beautiful' has happened. Five years ago we emigrated from Yorkshire to Marlborough on New Zealand's South Island. We settled in the small town of Renwick, just a few kms from Blenheim. We had chosen our community well, and were keen to remain connected to Renwick. The garden was big - much bigger than we were used to - but it wasn't 'land'. The wish to live rurally became stronger, and after months of unsuccessfully trying to sell the house, we were unbelievably lucky to be offered a house swap (via TradeMe).
We are now the proud owners of 8 acres in the scenic Onamalutu Valley. Wildlife so far has included wild goats, rabbits, kingfishers, tuis, harriers, spur-winged plovers and shell ducks. The Onamalutu river is renowned for trout and eels.
With some trepidation, the next part of the journey begins. What the hell do you do with 8 acres? My farming credentials to date include the care of one dog and a few chooks. Not sure if the kids (3 boys) count, or the tropical fish. We have acquired 3 steers and they are still alive after 6 days and we've managed to move them to a different paddock, so hopefully we've learned something. And I do have a long-standing passion for small-scale vegetable and fruit growing. And lots of ideas for self-sufficiency. Most of these ideas require funds of some kind (solar hot water, wood stove, wind-power) or are potentially hazardous (scything, grain thrashing, donkey as quad bike alternative) or unrealistically time-consuming (milking a cow, turning milk into butter then clarifying into ghee as fuel for vehicles - absolutely no idea how to do any part of this).
I'm beginning with what I know. There is an area perfect for an orchard, with a few fruit trees already. I'll be adding another 6 trees and sowing a 'herbal orchard ley' using seeds from Koanga. It'll be just the usual - a few apples, pear, plum and peach, plus a mulberry tree which I bought because of the old nursery rhyme (and because birds love the fruit). A few raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries and currants can go in too.
And some of the veg patch has already been rotovated and a double compost heap built (thanks Peter). There's plenty of manure around the property, including horse poo from the 2 horses awaiting their new premises. Come to think of it, we haven't managed to kill them off either. I'm paying the kids hard cash to do some serious poo-picking for composting purposes. We're currently in negotiation for the value of a barrow load of manure. There are potatoes chitting and seeds sown under cover.
Livestock-wise, we're thinking pigs and turkeys, but only when we find out what we have to do for them. The steers will be beef in about 6 months, and we'll probably get more next year, and a few more chooks. I'm also thinking about grains and beans as possible cash crops, but managing that will probably require me to give up work. Hmmm, perhaps a retirement project then.
In the meantime, just waking up to the sounds of birdsong and watching the movement of sunlight from dawn 'til dusk across the paddocks and through the trees is enchanting. It's a magical priviledge to live somewhere truly beautiful. Bummer about the unpacking....
This blog will diary the process of turning us townies into rural folk - the good, the bad, the ugly and the smelly. Or will we pack our bags and head back to the nearest city?
