What to look for when buying a Lifestyle Block

Five or 6 years ago my husband and I decided it was time to pursue our dream of moving to a rural area and buy some land.  In New Zealand small farms are commonly referred to as Lifestyle Blocks, LSBs, or farmlets, or in some cases hobby farms. 

Goats were on my list of must have livestock. 
 

We had both wanted to get out of the town we were living in and have more space to raise a family and had been working towards when we bought our second home.  After 5 years there we put it on the market and starting looking at what we could afford. 

It wasn't a quick process with our house taking 18 months to sell.  However, along the way we learned a lot about buying LSBs, and our needs started to win out over our wants. While for many it is about having more space, others will strive to live a more self sufficient life, hence the name Lifestyle Block.  Living on and running a small farm isn't as easy as it may appear on television, but there are a few things to look for when buying property that can make your decision easier.

The step from a small town section to acres of rural solitude is a big one, and not only in the financial sense.  Before making any decisions, it is important to answer a few key questions to help you in you search.

• What are you looking for?  

Do you want to have more space for yourself and your family, or do you want to live self sufficiently off your property with your own animals and crops? The answer to this will determine the amount of land you require. To be fully self sufficient in a relatively dry part of the country you are probably going to require 5-6 hectares or more.  We have just under 3 hectares and have 3 steers, 3 goats, 13 sheep, 9 hens and an orchard with 17 fruit and nut trees, and various currants and berries.  There is also a large flower garden so plenty of space for the kids. 
We had to remove some trees to make space for hubby's workshop.  He is an engineer and home mechanic to his Land Rovers so it was important to have a decent work space for him.  They are hard to find so we have built two workshops
now at our last two properties.

• Will you still be working full time, or part time?  

This affects the amount of time you have available for the more labour intensive activities on your block such as drenching, worming, fencing, tree planting, yard and shed building.  If you are not going to have much time consider a smaller block with some garden and some chooks so you have some time free at the weekends. This may also determine the property you buy as some will need some work done to bring them up to scratch again. (See How much are your prepared to spend?)  While there are people you can hire to do jobs around your place these all cost money.  Also do you have someone you can call on to help you out or look after the place if you go away for a weekend etc.

• Are you ready to live in the middle of nowhere?

While the thought of being away from the hustle and bustle can be appealing, be realistic too.  If you have school aged children there is going to a lot of running to and fro to school, sports, and other pursuits.  Also consider if the roads are prone to flooding or snow you could be cut of for a few days.

• How much are you prepared to spend?  

Do you want to buy an existing farmlet, build up an existing house with land, or build a new house on bare land?  Check out local real estate agents and relevant websites for current market trends. This may help you to work out if you are ready to do serious house hunting, or if you need to save a bit more.
If you have little or no farming experience, consider renting a property so you can 'try before you buy'. Also get books from the library and do more research on property types.
Once you decide you want to buy it is time to start looking.  It is really important to look at lots of different properties to get a feel for what you are going to be able to afford.  If you are looking at building, talk to local builders about the cost of building, including resource consents, and supplying services to the section.  Note that not all sections come with water and sewer connected so this will add to the expense.
If you are wanting to purchase an existing property there are two distinct small farm types on the market; the farmlet that has sheds, and has been used as a small farm, and the block that has a house, maybe a garage, and some paddock space.  The latter will require more cost as you add infrastructure to it.
There are several things you need to check when you are interested in a property before making an offer.

• How much water is the property allocated on a daily basis? 

If the property is connected to a council water scheme you will be allocated a set daily amount of water.  Usually this is measured in points, or units. 1 point is equivalent to 400 gallons. Is there storage available via a large tank, or rainwater tanks?  Some properties only have bore, or rainwater so adequate storage will be needed.

• Does the property get sun? 

The paddocks will require reasonable sun to help with grass growth.  Having north facing paddocks (in the southern hemisphere) means the ground will be warmer longer.

• What are the fences and gates like? 

Will they hold stock or are they going to need rewiring, or an electric wire added?  Unless they are brand new you can expect to do some fencing in the near future.

• What are the paddocks like? 

Is it going to need to be re-sowed or is there life left in it?  A soil sample test is a good way to see whether the soil is deficient.  Could you make hay from the paddocks or are they too small?  If you can't make your own supplementary feed then you will need to buy it in.  Are the paddocks flat or hilly, covered in scrub or lush grass?

• How far are you from neighbours? 

When we were looking at places I was quite keen to be more hermit than social butterfly.  Neighbours are still important for advice, help and especially in an emergency if you are a distance from emergency services, so being reasonably close has it's advantages?

• What do you get for your money? 

Does it have a chook house, milking bay/shed, shelter sheds, haybarn, calf shed etc?  Is there farm equipment to be sold with it?  We bought the chooks, tractor, ride on mower and shearing equipment with our place, but there may be electric fence equipment, and other implements available too. 

• Is there shelter around the property? 

A good shelter belt of trees is a godsend on a hot sunny day, a gale force southerly, or when it is raining. Flaxes and Toi Tois make good shelter for goats and sheep when they have young.  Also if you have trees you also have access to firewood if you have a log burner.  We have cut down over 12 trees in the couple of years we have been here so we have plenty of firewood now.  We have also planted trees so we never run short of firewood.

• What is the house like? Could you see yourselves living there? 

There is no point buying a property if the house is going to drive you mad. If you want a house with a good sized kitchen or lounge, then wait until you find the right place. 

• Is there a likelihood of flooding?

I grew up on a farm that used to get affected by flooding so it is something I was careful to take into consideration.  We were fortunate when we were looking at properties there was a flood.  It enabled us to check out the aftermath at a property we were interested in.  It was completely cut off and two thirds of the paddocks under water.  Needless to say we did not buy that property.  Our current place does get a bit of surface water in the paddocks, but there is plenty of higher ground for stock, and the house and sheds stay dry.



Flooding in our first year on the block.  Fortunately we have another 5 acres that were not under water!
 

We did get caught out buying our place.  The rainwater tank on the back of the hayshed was not specifically mentioned on the Sale and Purchase agreement and was taken by the vendors.  I have also heard of people buying a block only to find that the troughs in the paddocks had been removed!

While this is not a complete list it is a good place to start.  If you have checked off all of these things you are well on your way to understanding what is involved in having a lifestyle block. With a bit of research and working out what you are prepared to compromise on and things that you won't buying your new property can be a great experience.



We always wanted a verandah for sitting on and sipping a cold beer after a hard days work.
 

Autumn antics

Another month down and another monthly report for the Garden Share Collective .  Autumn is definitely upon us with the trees turning beautiful oranges, browns and red.  All this mean the rake is about to get a workout as will I.  We have a lot of deciduous trees in our garden but it is all great mulch and adds essential carbon to the compost heap.  My Father-in-law has also been busy raking and we now have a large area of the flower garden heavily mulched with these leaves.

My kale is coming on and I have been picking leaves for my green smoothies.  My sprouting broccoli has been flowering so I think I am going to have to pick it quite small to avoid this.  The brussel sprouts are growing well although they have a way to go before they will be producing anything.

We are getting lots of Cherry tomatoes but I have to say the other tomatoes are doing very little.

The apple tree on the roadside is looking good and the birds are starting to take an interest so it must be time to pick some.

I sowed a couple of rows of Broad Beans the week before Easter.  My Mum always said they have to be in before Anzac Day so I am to achieve that.  I will probably put some more in as Miss 6 likes them and they freeze well too if we end up with too many.

As to my jobs from last month

• Clear more tussock grasses for compost area and berry/currant garden.  All tussocks from this area are gone.

Preserve Blackboy peaches - All done until next year.

Wage war on weeds in the vege beds - A work in progress.

I also want to get some mulch down on the flower beds to reduce weeds in the spring.  Thanks to my F-I-L a good chunk of the garden is mulched.

To do list for May

• Weed and mulch vege beds
• Sow some peas and more broad beans
• Harvest medlar and leave them to blet

Things are cooling down here with night temperatures approaching 0 degrees.  It doesn't encourage me to go and work in the garden when the soil is so cold. It's getting close to hibernation time.

The boys are in town.

It has been two weeks now that we have had a buck hanging out with my 3 does.  If you have never come across a male goat during the breeding season let me warn you that they stink!  If you have a sensitive nature maybe don't read the first paragraph.
They really are quite disgusting and I'm glad I'm not a goat.  Their mating ritual is fascinating but is really pretty gross with frequent urination, sniffing, snorting, pawing at the ground, biting and so on.  Fortunately we have borrowed this buck off a friend so in a month or so he will leave and take his smell with him.  It is so pungent I can smell him as I walk out the path to their paddock, and it lingers on you even if you have done your best not to touch him.  The interesting thing is that for about half the year they are completely different animals, lose the smell and the desire to urinate on anything that walks once the does are in kid!  It will be more that worth it though when we have some kids arrive in September.

"Spot" the boy!  Hoping Shadow gives my girls some spotty babies in spring.

We also had a ram arrive on loan from my sister and brother-in-law on April 17 - my birthday.  Pretty cool present and a sign that my priorities have changed since we have moved to the country.  Birthday presents have included decent gumboots the first year, a solar electric fence unit in the second year, and for the last couple of years we have used the services of one of my sisters old rams before they become dog tucker.  What a great way to go out!!!  This year we are hoping all 13 ewes will lamb, which is 2 more ewes that last year.  Our pet lamb from our first year, as well as 3 other two tooths, are out with the ram this year so it feels like we are making progress when are replacing the old ewes and building up our flock.  To be honest lambing around 12 ewes is probably enough at the moment.

Our three steers are growing and are cleaning up the rough grass the sheep have left behind.  We had a great debate about what to call them when they first arrived.  After much discussion we came up with Schnitzel von Steer (think Hairy Maclairy and Schnitzel von Krumm), Centre Steer (reference to the Land Rover) and Freddy Steer (Fred Astaire).  They are not pets, but with a 6 year old animals tend to get names.  Miss 6 is aware that we will sell two and one will end up in the freezer, and we have been through similar processes with our pigs Teddy and Salami, and an old ewe known as Mutton Ham! 

Freddy and Centre relaxing in the sun.
 

It has been quite an education for her as she learns where food comes from.  That was something we were hoping would come from living on a farmlet and that certainly has been the case.  While we have a long way to go on our journey to great self reliance/ self sufficiency/sustainability whatever term you use, we are increasingly providing more from our own property.

It's raining, it's pouring...

 

Another month has flown by and it is time for an update for the Garden Share Collective.  Well the weather man was right. It is raining and is expected to last over the next few days. It has been a lovely sunny autumnal week and I am not complaining about the rain.  It saves me watering, although I had hoped to pick some Black boy peaches and do some preserving so I guess I will have to brave the weather to collect them.

 

 

 

 

In other happenings my coffee grinds do seem to be keeping slugs and snails at bay so my kale, brussel sprouts and broccoli might stand a chance.  The strange cold/hot/cold/hot weather has caused one of my broccoli plants to go straight to seed with the first shoot it produced.  It is a sprouting variety so hopefully I still get some from it.

The tomatoes are ripening well now on the Sweet 100's, and I have managed to salvage a few Peasgood Nonsuch apples that the birds did not eat!!

There is a good crop again on the Medlar tree and this year I have been more organised and covered the tree to keep the birds away and hopefully increase the amount of fruit I will pick in late May/June.  Medlar is an ancient fruit that has a lovely blossom and unusual looking fruit.  The other odd thing about it is that it needs to "blet", a process that basically sees the fruit start to rot, before you use it.  This year I will be making another bottle or two of Medlar liqueur (medlars steeped in vodka for 6 months), and also some cordial.  You can also make Medlar Jelly, in a similar way to Quince jelly.  I have made the liqueur before and it is delicious, like a fruity cordial but with punch.  It definitely has an apple/pear sort of flavour and is really yummy.  I'm looking forward to indulging in an alcoholic beverage over the summer as I'll probably be finished feeding bubs by the time the liqueur is ready.

My Mum has been keeping us in Courgettes after the slugs ate my plants.  My husband is not a big fan but I have discovered he doesn't mind when it is in a chocolate cake.  We have been eating lots, and I have also used the same recipe to make muffins which I have put in the freezer so the glut is not wasted.

I have been digging the potatoes as I need them.  Last year I cleared an area in the vegetable garden, spaced out some sprouting potatoes and covered them with pea straw.  I left them alone until now and we are enjoying some nice tasty potatoes.  It is the ultimate in lazy gardening but worked well as I was 8 months pregnant when I was planting them so I wasn't looking for anything too labour intensive!

In the next month I plan to continue work on berries and currants area.  I have been clearing tussock grasses in an area of the garden to set up my compost bins and also plant some raspberries and more currant cuttings.  I have been feeding the tussocks to the goats, much to their delight. 

I have a buck turning up on Monday to hang out with my 3 does for a while, so fingers crossed we will have kids in September.  We are borrowing a ram from my sister as well so we will be lambing about the same time as kidding.

My to do list for April

• Clear more tussock grasses for compost area and berry/currant garden.  This is an ongoing project as there are some Silver Birches to be removed before it will be completely finished but at the moment I am getting the compost sorted and taking some cuttings of my existing bushes.
• Preserve Blackboy peaches - fruit in syrup, stewed, jam, fresh in my tummy.....
• Wage war on weeds in the vege beds
• I also want to get some mulch down on the flower beds to reduce weeds in the spring.

How did I do for March?
I started digging the potatoes as we need them.
Hazelnut suckers removed and some hazelnuts appearing on the tree.
Cuttings taken and some more to be taken for berry/currant garden.

All in all not bad considering the month flew by and my bouncing baby boy is now 18 weeks old.