Random questions for country folk
- Thread starter luce.rocks
- Start date
It's wonderful that your big move paid off so well. Sounds absolutely idyllic. It's not exactly the same, but tomorrow hubby and I are going to check out some houses for rent in the Blue Mountains. If he can cope with the commute then we'll move to Leura and I'll study Commercial Cookery at TAFE and we'll enjoy the mountain atmosphere on weekends. Plus, it makes visiting my mum, in Orange, a day trip instead of a weekend trip.
I really hope he can handle the commute - I'm so ready to get out of the city!
Not country IMHO. But it's a start I spose....
How about 50mins to closest Maccas/KFC and a good 4hr commute to Syd CBD, no late night shopping....surprisingly mobiles do in fact work...we even have electricity....LOL!!
The further away from Maccas/KFC the better IMHO.
Good to see the stress levels dissipating Pete.
And good luck Luce. Pity there is a cost to hubby (longer commute) for all this though...
I bet Spain was nice...
Not country IMHO. But it's a start I spose....
How about 50mins to closest Maccas/KFC and a good 4hr commute to Syd CBD, no late night shopping....surprisingly mobiles do in fact work...we even have electricity....LOL!!
The further away from Maccas/KFC the better IMHO.
Good to see the stress levels dissipating Pete.
And good luck Luce. Pity there is a cost to hubby (longer commute) for all this though...
I bet Spain was nice...
Not fair, I said Country not Hillbilly.
Actually I can understand your point. In Syd you are right., 3hrs gets Country, any closer is extended Sydney.
But Western Melb and travel 1 hr by freeway or train you get real Country like us although the developers just tried very hard to push a massive subdivision through because of demand from tree changers. In reply the whole town mobilized and fought back and won.
Towns around us have grown 10k here and 13k there (hence the Maccas) but, ironically, we are deep in forest and hence a massive fire risk. Very land locked by said forest and Council will not allow subdivision and rezoning of rural land.
So it is the fire risk that will protect us in the end so we are now be approved and planned to grow from 3,200 to 4,500 in the next 15 years.
That one thing to consider in moving Bush.
Check your planning controls. Some Councils are pro growth. Ours is not and thankfully, we are very marginal state and federal electorate so any State or Fed Gov going hard for growth will be punished.
Regards
Peter 14.7
We're hobby farming - in a subdivision of 10 acre lots. So not really rural - just pretend rural.
However, are protected from development as lots cannot be smaller than 10 acres until town sewer is connected. We're a long way away from the town sewer connections, so can't see it happening in our time there.
Do have to chuckle at all the 1 acre blocks I drive thru to get there ... 1 acre is useless. To small to "do" anything with asides from sit on your mower all day, but to big to easily maintain.
At least with 10 acres, can fence off the house block at whatever size you want and run stock on the rest.
Hmmmmm - sewer. Irrigation/recycle or transpiration?
However, are protected from development as lots cannot be smaller than 10 acres until town sewer is connected. We're a long way away from the town sewer connections, so can't see it happening in our time there.
Do have to chuckle at all the 1 acre blocks I drive thru to get there ... 1 acre is useless. To small to "do" anything with asides from sit on your mower all day, but to big to easily maintain.
At least with 10 acres, can fence off the house block at whatever size you want and run stock on the rest.
Hmmmmm - sewer. Irrigation/recycle or transpiration?
Wee (sorry) used to have the irrigation stuff. Awesome - though you can't use it on food crop (for obvious reasons)
Great for lawns etc. Never smelled either.
Food is food I guess so orchard same as veges (fruit & veg).
But, hang on....isnt it fertiliser after being "treated in system"...?
For many years we have grown veges downhill from the septic overflow and the best veges ever.
Obviously dont go spraying all over them, but delivered directly to the root systems and a good wash before eating has not harmed any of us ever.
I have seen a person drink the byproduct from a septic system to prove it's ok.
I still would not do that, but indirect fertilising is no diff to fertilising your veges with chook **** (dynamic lifter)...
But, hang on....isnt it fertiliser after being "treated in system"...?
For many years we have grown veges downhill from the septic overflow and the best veges ever.
Obviously dont go spraying all over them, but delivered directly to the root systems and a good wash before eating has not harmed any of us ever.
I have seen a person drink the byproduct from a septic system to prove it's ok.
I still would not do that, but indirect fertilising is no diff to fertilising your veges with chook **** (dynamic lifter)...
I am told, by many three change greenies, one a doctor, fruit trees are OK as they do not take up the chemicals which is the issue with vegs.
But...
You need to define sewer, the old days we only put human waste, fat, food wastes,some paper, and 90% water in the sewer so it not a fair comparison to today's sewer which may have some strong chemicals.
Cut these down and you are ok. That means don't be bleaching the shower and toilet every week but use vinegar. And whilst many laundry powders are ok, Napisan etc.. is harder and full of bleach style substances.
Peter 14.7
I did wonder at that, as I really couldn't understand why not on veges as we stick horse, cow and chook on it ... and in some countries they put the human stuff on too.
My concern is that the treatmenet via the septic is with chlorine, and I know chlorine evaporates when exposed to sunlight, but I'm not real keen on putting chlorine directly into the soil in the vege patch.
I also don't intend to have a lot of lawn in the home paddock - by the time the pool, fire pit area, outdoor entertaining, veges, gardens and tennis wall etc go in ... so it was either orchard or paddock
My concern is that the treatmenet via the septic is with chlorine, and I know chlorine evaporates when exposed to sunlight, but I'm not real keen on putting chlorine directly into the soil in the vege patch.
I also don't intend to have a lot of lawn in the home paddock - by the time the pool, fire pit area, outdoor entertaining, veges, gardens and tennis wall etc go in ... so it was either orchard or paddock
When I was a very young child, we lived in suburban Melbourne, and our neigbour kept chooks. I dont quite know the full story, but legend is that my brothers cut their heads off, let them run around for a while and then hung them on the clothesline. I think a good belting might have ensued...Wow. That just bought a memory back to me. Who has seen headless chooks running around with blood gushing from their necks where their head once was after it's been chopped off? They'ed run around for a good minute sometimes.
.
We moved from Melbourne to suburban Sydney, and kept chooks and various other birds in the backyard. My uncle lived in the country and one year he brought us down a wild boar, so we had a pig for several years in the chook pen, along with the pigeons, budgies, galahs, quails etc.... who needed country living?! We had our own little farm in the city.
I am a little bit like this. I can remember as a child going to my uncle's farm, and being so relieved when we drove around the Blue Mtns and got our first sight of the lights of Sydney. Same when I went to Ayers Rock... flying into Darwin was a huge relief. I just dont cope with the wide open spaces.I have one that even refuses to drive to the country. She says all the open space scares her! Doesn't know what she's missing
But now I want my kids to get a taste of the country. Its a shame that they dont get to ride motorbikes and go shooting, and all of that sort of stuff that their country cousins get to. But I think it will just have to be on visits... the idea of living on a farm is very romantic, and if I'm tired, I start looking on re.com for one....... but given that we dont manage to keep our house and garden tidy here, we are unlikely to manage a farm!!
Ok Im getting mixed info here.
Who treats a septic tank with chemicals...?
Septic tanks are NOT to be treated with anything but the very stuff that they contain as the bacteria takes over and converts anything bad into good.
In the country we are always told that if you use Blue Loo or anything to make the dunny smell nice or look good then you are destroying the bacteria that is actually responsible for making things right.
Even the guy who does the septic pump outs says a correctly working septic system (no outside chems etc), does not need pumping out.
It's when tampons and excess tissue and chems get in there and mess with the eco system then they build up with too much and need pumping.
We have been on a septic system for years and years, decades even, and never needed to get it pumped out because it works properly.
I know there are some different systems that are by requirement when you build on acres etc now but Im not familiar with their workings. Im only talking the original septic system.
Who treats a septic tank with chemicals...?
Septic tanks are NOT to be treated with anything but the very stuff that they contain as the bacteria takes over and converts anything bad into good.
In the country we are always told that if you use Blue Loo or anything to make the dunny smell nice or look good then you are destroying the bacteria that is actually responsible for making things right.
Even the guy who does the septic pump outs says a correctly working septic system (no outside chems etc), does not need pumping out.
It's when tampons and excess tissue and chems get in there and mess with the eco system then they build up with too much and need pumping.
We have been on a septic system for years and years, decades even, and never needed to get it pumped out because it works properly.
I know there are some different systems that are by requirement when you build on acres etc now but Im not familiar with their workings. Im only talking the original septic system.
That's why I'd like for city folk to come out and experience the bush for awhile.
Most bushies I know have experienced the city life and can cope but most end up back bush for some reason. I guess it's that different strokes thing again, but how do you know if you dont go...??
LOL @ TC with the chooks....ha haa. Dad first scared me when aged about 5yrs old....laughed his backside off while I squeeled and ran around just like the headless chook.
I do remember being totally shocked at not much later on when Dad took me to a farmers place to kill a lamb for tucker.
I had no idea what was about to happen...then the lambs throat was cut and blood spurted out like billio and the lamb kicked a couple times then they quickly had it dressed (skinned, gutted and hanging) just like Id seen in the butchers shop.
That's when I twigged....ahh haaa !!....lamb is real animal then is meat.
No worries!!
Ya get over it but I can still clearly remember that day, only with no shock or nightmares at all.
I sometimes find the wide open spaces not quite wide enough to tell the truth. Always want to get higher up to get more view. Loved riding our dirt bikes (With TC a couple times) up to the range tops and just sit there and admire the view and soak it all up.
Cmon guys get out here and have alook around.
We have an "Earthsafe" onsite waste water treatment plant. You are right in that the only stuff that should go in there is stuff that has already been through our bodies or stuff that could go through our bodies.
After the waste and water had been through the processes within our tank at the departure point it goes past chlorine tablets to kill any possible bugs within the exiting water.
This is why the water that gets sprayed out on to the surface of the ground smells similar to town tap water but it is a stronger chlorine smell. It does dissipate quickly as our tank only pumps 30L at a time, so smaller spray volume but more often.
A new question:
Does anyone know the best way to get rid of about 10 acres of blackberry bushes and turn the land into something you could use for hobby farm purposes?
Does anyone know the best way to get rid of about 10 acres of blackberry bushes and turn the land into something you could use for hobby farm purposes?
If it's 10 acres of scattered blackberries, as in just bushes that you can drive between, it wouldn't be all that difficult with a good spray setup to poison the blackberries yourself. After a few months they'd be a dead rotten bush that could be pushed together and burned.
If it's 10 solid acres that couldn't even be driven through, or accessed, it would possibly need to be bulldozed first. This won't kill the blackberries, as they would come back from the roots, but than with access to the land they could be poisoned.
As for the chemical to use, I know of a few different ones to use, but best to get the advice of the rural merchandise company you buy it from.
Good luck trying to get rid of them using a green method, as in no poison.
See ya's.
Blackberries are a perennial menace and I hate them with a passion.
If you cut them back it just seems to make them angry and just grow back stronger. I have had success with a herbicide called “Garlon 600”, you can usually pick it up from farming suppliers, I don’t think you’ll find it in Bunnings. A one litre bottle will cost a bit over 100 bucks I think, however its heavily diluted in water and I still have not finished the 1 litre bottle I bought a number of years ago. I found out about it from a local guys property that our local council used for an “anti rabbitting” workshop where I noticed his property was blackberry free whereas if there were awards for blackberries – my property would have been right up there with the best of them.
You will need to get yourself a spraying rig – you can get an el cheapo back pack kit from Bunnings for around 50 bucks. Recommend to spray on a dry day and it usually takes around 4-8 weeks for the plants to completely die – depending on time of year they are sprayed. The blackberries will shrivel up in a couple of weeks but wait until they are completely gone before you rip out the stalks – which is a bit of work but a lot easier once they are dead.
...and that is my easy way
Wombat
If you cut them back it just seems to make them angry and just grow back stronger. I have had success with a herbicide called “Garlon 600”, you can usually pick it up from farming suppliers, I don’t think you’ll find it in Bunnings. A one litre bottle will cost a bit over 100 bucks I think, however its heavily diluted in water and I still have not finished the 1 litre bottle I bought a number of years ago. I found out about it from a local guys property that our local council used for an “anti rabbitting” workshop where I noticed his property was blackberry free whereas if there were awards for blackberries – my property would have been right up there with the best of them.
You will need to get yourself a spraying rig – you can get an el cheapo back pack kit from Bunnings for around 50 bucks. Recommend to spray on a dry day and it usually takes around 4-8 weeks for the plants to completely die – depending on time of year they are sprayed. The blackberries will shrivel up in a couple of weeks but wait until they are completely gone before you rip out the stalks – which is a bit of work but a lot easier once they are dead.
...and that is my easy way
Wombat
Yeah, the go years ago was to divert the laundry and kitchen water past the septic, and just put the toilet into it. That's still what we do, although I don't think it's legal now.
Of course your not supposed to drink rainwater either eh? I've mentioned this before, but all the acreage blocks on the edge of town with town water, are supposed to drink and shower in town water and put the rainwater down the toilet. Of course everyone switches the pipes 5 minutes after it's inspected. Who in the bush would put rainwater down the loo?
See ya's.
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