Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:43 pm Post subject: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreage?
Assumed, we had decided living on acreage instead of city living.
We would prefer living close to a small town (bike ride distance maybe), maybe close to a train station, reliable rainfall/river, useful soils - which area of Australia would you recommend?
We're currently in Brisbane and we love the climate and the crops we can grow here.
Which area is affordable for buying some acres, let's say 5-15?
Joined: Nov 20, 2006 Posts: 121 Location: Tasmania
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
Well, I'm going to jump in here and say Tasmania. Cool temperate climate that is absolutely terrific for growing crops, lots of water so long as you buy in the right spot. Lots and lots of farmlets for sale at good prices (200,000 will buy you reasonable house and up to 30 acres). Climate change will be reasonable here, the mid to south is out of any noted fallout zones, we have transport (rail links still working) and literally hundreds of ports, great fishing industries, great agricultural land and, no matter the myths of the mainland, if you don't buy on top of a mountain then it isn't that cold.
I moved here from Victoria 3 years ago and it was the best bloody decision ever. I moved from drought and brutal cold winters to mild winters and RAIN. Suddenly food crops grew without effort, and as of this year I am independent of fruit and vegies (and I swap within the local community for fish and meat). I have a greenhouse and I can grow things like peanuts, melons and capsicums etc without any problems.
Don't buy on the east coast (too dry), don't buy on the west coast (too wet and windy) but the north, the midlands and the south are heaven.
And then you have all the wilderness (which you can look at as either the most stunningly beautiful country on this planet ... or lots and lots and lots of wood full of lots and lots and lots of meat ).
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:06 am Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
Brissie is at the east coast, at the moment not dry at all.
I prefer the warm climate here, but my husband always dreams of Tassie, because it's wild and cold.
NZ is only an option if we don't have Visa problems.,and it depends on prices.
I wonder about the existing railway in Tasmania, here the train network is completely under developed (but that's another thread).
I think I will investigate a bit Tasmania. which crops do you grow there? And how ado you sell your stuff?
How about Northern NSW?
Joined: Nov 02, 2007 Posts: 11 Location: NW Tasmania, Australia
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:19 am Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
I'm another mainlander who is biased after five years of living in Tasmania. Although I'm in the opposite corner to Cornelian (double Hobart's rainfall up here, cooler in summer, warmer in winter too ) And speaking of cold, it's really not that bad. Summer temps still reach the mid 30's on the east coast and there aren't the massive temperature fluctuations from one day to the next, as with my home state of SA (40 one day, 18 the next). We certainly seem to get less frosts here than we did on the mainland. The train system here is pathetic here too though alokin, but it's a small place.
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:21 am Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
Greyharp, how are you making your dollars? Are you full or part time farming or do you have a usual job and live in a pretty suburban house?
I don't fear the cold, but here we grow mangoes and papayas etc. I'm not Australian and I am fascinated about the stuff we can grow here.
There is one part PO+maybe a bit the Olduvai theory (however it seems a bit uncertain to me), but we're a bit fed up with the city as well. Brisbane never ends! And I don't want to add more greenhouse gases driving a lot.
I have to make some sums and a plan. We must make a living and certainly we won't be mortgage free. If we would sell our house now (which is not possible due to the renovations the first home owners grant etc.) we would make a good profit. In one or two years I don't know.
Joined: Nov 20, 2006 Posts: 121 Location: Tasmania
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:43 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
alokin wrote:
Brissie is at the east coast, at the moment not dry at all.
I prefer the warm climate here, but my husband always dreams of Tassie, because it's wild and cold.
.....
I wonder about the existing railway in Tasmania, here the train network is completely under developed (but that's another thread).
I think I will investigate a bit Tasmania. which crops do you grow there? And how ado you sell your stuff?
How about Northern NSW?
Tasmania isn't that cold! LOL As said above, that is largely a myth - In June here last year my sister and I took off about Tasmania and spent much of our days on the east coast in bathers and getting sunburned. LOL If you pick a mountain it is going to be cold, but it is far, far warmer in winter here than, say, Victoria. The sun is different down here - much lower in the sky and much warmer in winter. For me, in winter I get one dull week out of 4, the other 3 are bright. I work happily outside in a tee shirt during winter.
What crops are you interested in? I can grow all vegies etc, most fruits. I don't sell my stuff, I network. So whoever has some atlantic salmon in abundance get some of my vegies. The butcher gives me free stuff from time to time and I give him free stuff. Next week I am off to a meeting of self-sufficiency people and see what other arrangements I can come to. it is stunningly good growing conditions down here - Tasmania is gearing up now to supply much of the mainland fruit now that the drought is biting so badly - we already supply many of your vegies.
The rail here no longer does passengers, but it is extensively used for freight etc - about 12-15 long long freight trains pass me by each day.
Joined: Nov 02, 2007 Posts: 11 Location: NW Tasmania, Australia
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:38 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
alokin wrote:
Greyharp, how are you making your dollars? Are you full or part time farming or do you have a usual job and live in a pretty suburban house?
My wife and I live about half an hour from the nearest town in a small valley with only four houses within a kilometre of us. When my wife's health turned bad and she became disabled, I gave up my career to become her full-time carer. Being both on pensions means money is very tight. I can see the time in the not too distant future that welfare will end and we are trying to prepare ourselves to be self-sufficient as fast as we can.
alokin wrote:
I don't fear the cold, but here we grow mangoes and papayas etc. I'm not Australian and I am fascinated about the stuff we can grow here.
Tasmania has a similar climate to southern England, so pretty much anything they grown in English gardening books will grow here. Tropical fruits, like the ones you mentioned, would not do well here.
alokin wrote:
And I don't want to add more greenhouse gases driving a lot.
In the short term at least, that may impossible to avoid if you move to the country.
alokin wrote:
I have to make some sums and a plan. We must make a living and certainly we won't be mortgage free. If we would sell our house now (which is not possible due to the renovations the first home owners grant etc.) we would make a good profit. In one or two years I don't know.
I think I read on another thread that your husband is a scientist and doesn't drive. Once again down here in Tasmania, there are surprisingly cheap properties of small acreage not that far from Hobart.
Still, from your description of your financial situation, it sounds to me like you're better off making the best of where you are now. A book like Jackie French's Backyard Self-Sufficiency should give you some wonderful inspiration for making your goals a reality, even in the suburbs:
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:00 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
Greyharp, maybe you're right. We live quite comfortable at the moment and maybe the things won't turn that bad. If one reads all the economical news you have to have in mind that's for the US and not for Australia.
However there is still a very strong wish to go to the countryside.
Another option would be looking for some land without house, running it as a weekend farm (maybe trees) but I cannot imagine that we would get reasonable land in a reasonable distance from Brisbane for let's say $50,000 (as we would still have our house). I think the cheap land is mostly cheap because the soil is bad or there's no water or both.
Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 12:40 am Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
.
If you live in Brisbane , could I suggest Gladstone , the climate is a bit on the tropical side , but they have plentiful , cheap power , good economics , very satisfactory communications , fantastic fishing and you can have a mango tree or two in your backyard
Joined: Oct 16, 2004 Posts: 1226 Location: Brisbane, Australia
Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 5:17 am Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
North NSW Coast and New England plateau. Good rain, some basalt-based soils (lots more minerals), close to rail lines: one from Casino to Sydney and one from Armidale to Sydney. Ready-made alternative energy, permaculture and farmers markets culture. The land on the plateau is cheaper than the lower coastal land, but is colder.
That's my preferred place to look. That and inland of Gympie in Queensland - but that's drier and granite-based, ie. much less fertile and would need a lot of extra work to build up the soil. But it's cheap and close to family. _________________ Kind regards, Katkinkate
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops,
but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."
Masanobu Fukuoka
Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 10:12 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
both looks good, northern NSW, lots of like-minded people.
Anyway my husband is not convinced yet. He says the world will not end and if the US is in trouble, we won't be as Asia is the new big power.
Joined: Apr 16, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: New Zealand
Posted: Wed Apr 16, 2008 12:00 pm Post subject: Re: Which area in Australia or NZ is good for post PO acreag
My pick is Golden Bay NZ, sits ajacent a large national park, plenty of coastal bounty, a very high natural barrier in the form of Takaka hill, the purest spring water in the world, already full of hippies, softening property market, 16 MW of local hydro electricity, highest sunshine hours in NZ, frost free sub tropical micro climate. _________________ "I'm here to fight for truth, and justice, and the American way" - Superman
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Cool temperate climate that is absolutely terrific for growing crops, lots of water so long as you buy in the right spot. Lots and lots of farmlets for sale at good prices (200,000 will buy you reasonable house and up to 30 acres). Climate change will be reasonable here, the mid to south is out of any noted fallout zones, we have transport (rail links still working) and literally hundreds of ports, great fishing industries, great agricultural land and, no matter the myths of the mainland, if you don't buy on top of a mountain then it isn't that cold.
) And speaking of cold, it's really not that bad. Summer temps still reach the mid 30's on the east coast and there aren't the massive temperature fluctuations from one day to the next, as with my home state of SA (40 one day, 18 the next). We certainly seem to get less frosts here than we did on the mainland. The train system here is pathetic here too though alokin, but it's a small place.
