G'day from Queensland

[Ann@Monto]

Hi all.

I've just joined and never knew this forum/page existing until I needed help with an incubator I bought second hand.

I have 8.5 acres in Monto, which is 2.5 hrs west north west of Bundaberg. Our climate is dry, except when it's raining, and hot except when it's cold. No seriously, we have dry summers and cold frosty winters. Winter usually starts later (first frost this year was mid June) and summer starts early (mid 30's in September isn't unusual). It's not an easy climate to grow veggies as we usually don't get much "in between" weather.

I have three horses, 4 chickens (just acquired a rooster) and 3 ducks. Oh and 2 dogs and 2 cats. Hoping to get a couple of sheep soon as I love lamb and it's so expensive to buy here.

I am into natural horsemanship (Quantum Savvy) and sticking as close to nature regarding gardening and worming and crop management (not that I have any crops, I just mean grass).

My horses are usually on a Paddock Paradise track which is as close to nature as us humans can provide.

Thanks for reading and have a great day.

Ann

 

[Mark]

Hi Ann,

Thanks for joining us!

8.5 acres sounds like a nice sized property (we have 3 acres) Nina and I always dream about upgrading to a bigger acreage but the truth is we're pretty settled where we are at the moment plus I'd hate to leave just as many of our fruit trees are starting to mature lol...

I often see tomatoes from Bundy at our local shops they must be in season there when ours aren't.

Having horses would be an advantage for gardening (as well as the animal and recreational value of course) but I'm a keen gardener and horse poo is like veggie patch candy to me.

I hope you enjoy it here on SSC feel free to ask any questions etc about using our forums if you're stuck or about anything else.

 

[Ann@Monto]

Thanks so much for the lovely welcome Mark. I have left a post (a question) in the JN8-48 incubator thread. Yes horse poo is a boon for the citrus trees and veggie garden. My daughter sells them at the gate for $3 a bag so we always have a few dollars cash around for school lunches etc. Very handy. A local man with a worm farm grabs 4 bags a week, helps keep my daughter on her toes during the school holidays.

I enjoyed your "My ducks are scared of water" video. We were given three Indian Runners and two escaped and headed straight down to the creek. We managed to catch them over a two day period. Caught one in the long grass, and sprung the other one floating quietly in the water, he was lucky he wasn't a fox dinner as we have them visit most nights.

Thanks again for the welcome.

 

[Ash]

Welcome Ann and great to hear of your accolades. Great having that much land to play with. Hope your chicken coup is far enough away from the home that you don't get woken by that newly acquired rooster of yours.

We've got a similar climate, except we'll be about 5-7 degrees less warm than your springs and summers.
I struggled with horse poo because we got too many weeds growing out of it and it got too hard to allow water to permeate through it. Now I just have to buy mulch...

 

[stevo]

Welcome to the site Ann! Sounds like a nice property.

I haven't been to Monto but I've camped at Wuruma Dam just before Monto, 2010 I think it was when it flooded. I like the country there.

 

[Ann@Monto]

Yes Wuruma is a lovely spot. We were living in Nanango for 4 years when the 2010/11 floods happened. Wuruma was accidentally stocked with Barramundi over a decade ago, much to the delight of the anglers. They all died when the dam dried up around 2008, people were just picking them up by hand as the water was only knee deep.

Yes along with the horse poo there's always a lot of uneaten hay so that gets thrown in the mix as well which helps keep the weeds from poo down. I feed my horses whole race horse oats so yes, they do come up in the mulch if I don't have anything on top of it to stifle them. Sometimes I let the chooks pick at them, but generally I just pull them out. We've had some rain overnight and early this morning, yay a bit of water in the tanks. We have tank town and an unequipped bore as well. I prefer the tank water though.

Our front yard disappears when the creek comes up. Can be entertaining, as it won't get to the house.

 

[Mark]

I struggled with horse poo because we got too many weeds growing out of it and it got too hard to allow water to permeate through it.

Ash, try composting it first in a big pile under a tarp or something equivalent for a few months it will not only mature the poo so it's better for plants but it will help reduce the weeds also.

Horse manure is actually very effective in holding water but it must be dug into the soil and mixed well to take advantage of its excellent water holding qualities.

Give horse poop another chance!

 

[ClissAT]

Hi there Ann from Monto! It always amazes me when people have such success with horse poo. The thing I've learned since coming to this property 9yrs ago is that the poo is a direct reflection of what the horses have been eating. So if the pasture (or the hand feeding) is good, then the poo will be too. Yes Mark is right regarding the need to compost it well & also pays to mix with other composted materials & soil to help break down the natural waxes in it.
I don't use mine much at all. It is definitely a reflection of the quality of the soil at my place!

On the topic of horses I am slowly studying level 5Parelli & also several years ago I passed level 3 ANH, Ken Faulkner's interpretation under the direction of the instructors he had at that time, before I took on another mortgage which limited my horse work (& my main horse also foundered....again a direct reflection of the crap soil their grass grows on!) I did one lesson with Quantum a long time ago but it didn't gel for me. I know they all started in Parelli but they went off on different tangents & it depends what you want or expect. The people who have formed their own brands of NH & now giving lessons, were my clinic buddies when I started in the very early 90's. They all went off & got endorsed as PNH instructors after completing L2 while I was in the army, so I never had the opportunity.

These days I work pretty much exclusively at liberty, so no tack at all for any horse I take on.
I even do NH with my chooks! I could call it...umm... Not sure what I would call it.

 

[Ash]

Thanks Mark! When I get access to more I might just do that! Great advice.