John and Beth’s Farm

NSW, Australia // Latitude 34°S // Elevation 421m // 33 ac.
John and Beth have a vision of developing their land into an ecologically sound sanctuary that affords them an eco-friendly lifestyle while providing much needed habitat for local wildlife. The property will predominantly be for lifestyle use, a place where their children, wider family and friends can gather and enjoy for generations to come. John and Beth are also keen to explore some small-scale food production and have expressed interest in an orchard of stone fruits and the potential for some grapes for personal winemaking down the track. John and Beth would like to speed the regeneration process up by adding more native flora so they can continue to stabilise their soil, store water, increase fire retardancy, and attract wildlife. From a livestock point of view the couple would like to add a small flock of chickens for egg production, forage and waste consumption. Larger livestock can also be considered to maintain and improve pasture health once the system matures.

As described in our design process we first begin by taking inventory of ALL property resources and conducting a SWOT analysis. This helps us define our priorities. As part of resource analysis we also monitor energies moving across the site and conduct a Sector Analysis.

Strengths

• Good topography, slope orientation, aspect and view, proximity to major towns

• Cool/mild temperate climate, growing degree days, exposure to cooler SE summer winds creates nice microclimate

• Property located on Lachlan river providing supply of water for household use

• Soil fertility

Weaknesses 

• Lack of tree cover due to large amounts of clearing and overgrazing  overtime 

• Area susceptible to drought and long periods without rain

• Water security and storage, not enough storage on site to cover proposed land improvements

• Catchments, and runoff are not being utilised

• Evidence of topsoil losses across the property. Likely from overgrazing.

• Lack of edible plants and other useful species 

Opportunities

• The topography provides opportunity for effective water storage, soakage, and distribution across the site

• Main access roads well positioned to distribute water

• Increasing native vegetation for fire retardation, windbreaks, wildlife, and erosion protection 

• Planting of edible forest gardens to increase food security and further improve soil and land health 

Threats

• Drought and fire, climate change making region hotter and drier, more unpredictable and extreme weather systems

• Evaporation through dry, hot summers, seepage and deterioration  of current dams

• Invasive plant species

Priorities

1. Increase water catchment, soakage and storage. This should be designed to secure the property in times of drought and eliminate any mains water use. 

2. Addition of edible forest gardens that are perennial in nature. This will take the form of a food forest and perennial herb garden. 

3. Increase native tree plantings to:

• Act as windbreaks and privacy barriers along key boundaries

• Enhance bushfire protection

• Prevent erosion on steeper slopes

• Increase soil stability and water soakage 

• Attract wildlife 

• Create more pockets of wild to observe, nourish and find peace  

With resource information collected and our diagnosis complete we can begin developing the design. This includes:

1. Water, access and structures (W.A.S.)

2. Zone planning and analysis 

3. Detail of key design elements and plant species