Well, ratites can be very finicky. Looks like your in need of some more ideas that wont work without constant supervision.....how about mushrooms? Shitake/oyster? Ginseng? Establish a tiny campground for the occasional backpacker, who will trash your place and leave without paying? Rent it out weekdays to desperate fugitives?
Seriously though, its next to impossible to make money, even cash flow off tiny acreage. Especially if weekends are basically it, i would look at a natural permaculture approach to begin with. Look at the block, drainage, soils, figure out where you might be happy not walking over, and look for species that might be able to make it in those spots by themselves, no irrigation even. Russian tarragon, kale varieties, rosemary are tough as nails, cucurbits are good in areas where they might get good moisture, the root systems are aggressive enough to compete with or even kill many weeds/competitors. Leeks and cress are pretty tough, (so i gather) , ive seen asparagus growing in a shady spot near a tank overflow, self sown. Gotta be quick to harvest though, i was amazed to find they didnt grow in a can. Tomatoes, snow peas, capsicum by the fence........... Forest, you say? Deciduous trees, throw mushrooms and horse poop all over the place, you never know, mushrooms are wierd like that. Point being, with a bit of effort, mostly in research, you might find you can grow all sorts of stuff you wouldnt expect. You just need a good supplier of animal poop and straw, and away you go. And for organic weed control, vinegar is supposed to be good, but for knocking over large areas of weeds, try a steam gurney. Boo-yah!
You may have noticed over time, I am appreciative of good footwear. And, not prepared to pay shitloads for it......... Just got some garmont syncro gtx plus , perfectomondo, hey, gotta love ebay!!! A thing of beauty, these puppies are incredible. Made in china, yada yada, but what isnt, these days, they have made great strides toward quality control. Oh wait, that doesnt sound like a ringing endorsement.....nevermind, im pretty stoked. In case your wondering, given the ridiculous efforts i have put in to get sizing feedback on these things on the net, this model of garmont product run about a size small, go a half size up from your usual at least, its a standard narrowish last. So if you have wide-ish feet for size, like myself, go a full size up- or buy Raichles, they arent joking, great for the wider foot as standard. Now, for some gratuitous hiking boot porn; A company, so exclusive, they dont advertise-anywhere, at all. So exclusive, they never have sales, though I established via email, if you loiter around the factory in melbourne, you might get seconds, occasionally. If your lucky. So exclusive, you practically have to beg them to sell you a pair. So exclusive, they just cant be BOTHERED selling anyone a pair, so exclusive..........they appear to proactively not sell their product, rather like monaco in that respect, but more footwear orientated. Bloody elitist tossers. The only company on the planet, best is my guess, that line their full one peice hiking boots, with - more leather, kangaroo leather in fact. I read somewhere, the innersole was a leather/nylon blend, you just cant get more leather than that!!!!!!!!!! Omfg, no wonder they are so expensive, you would be wearing at least an entire cow/kangaroo on each foot. Quite frankly, your dogs eat more than that per day, so do you, so i would be proud to wear these particular dead animals on my humble hoof, as such. http://www.bunyipboot.com.au/ The sickest, most full on , traditional boots (and shoes) left on the planet, people.........you want that to dissapear, so you can buy the latest model hiking shoes you probably wont wear, with gore-tex bollocks that might last a season? Screw that, wear an entire animal on your foot, the way its meant to be, blake stitched, real deal ! Just remember, bunyip boots (harold boot company) is'nt a normal operation, they are clearly retarded, i dont really understand how they are still in business at all, but do remember, boots like this, simply will not be around in 10 or so years time. http://www.bunyipboot.com.au/ Ten years time, a boot lined with kangaro leather, will cost -by my estimate, you could not get one, for any price. Time's are a changin, people. That WAS, the TFTD, buy up big, while you can.
Hot damn Ac you are right! I just checked out that site and I don't know which one to buy there are so many AMAZING styles. I come from 10 years retail and worked with Andy Warhol to some degree and have a healthy regard for the shape of a shoe or boot without taking it to that " dark " place. Wow. I love these! These types of boots are always soooo uncomfortable; I cram my foot into this eastern mountain sports one or Nike monstrosity, in the old days it was was Caldor's- a dept store long gone-- they sold a CAT boot type workboot that was my outfit for years....as to what I need right now 100% waterproof boots so I can wade into our ice cold brooks.... we have one running dangerously close to the house... the leaves need to be flushed down the stream and my dear wife did three hrs worth while I smoked pot quietly inside last week so I have to step up... My argument was that I didn't have waterprooff boots. Well you solved that Ac! but which pair?? What the heck is the difference between a " trek " and a " hike " anyway.... these outdoors types are so funny. I'm so glad I don't live in Denver or Portland... What's with the sizing? A US 11 would be how many kangaroo pouches???? Sizes 36 to 45?????? what's that? Ok I'm embarrassed to say I think the winner is Giant Bunny Ip I know that sounds really fey' and all you hardened Australian types are probably laughing at me but it's that one or the classic Ellery which is closest to what I squeeze into now or that sporty Uluru which is the only one that is light enough to scramble away from a Grizzly, which I may have to do. Last time I drove up I realized we passed a sign tacked threateningly to a tree proclaiming " GRIZZLY PATH " or something-- we speed by so fast-- but it's Grizzlysomething for sure!.... so far the woods have been quiet... too quiet like everything is dead. Leaves carpet the ground. Jesus no one is going to sweep the mountain side, that's a fire trap when they dry....We are in a bowl so the hills rise steep and the trees over time naturally fall over, so it's a crazy landscape of verticals and horizontals going up around us I may start taking " arty " black and white pictures.... and I have only seen three deer so far and two damn dear ticks. Clyde by the way is on mend, I hope, with the meds, the fever has come down> we were at 104.8 folks! up there in dog brain fry mode... I'm waiting on lab results..... Has anyone noticed the spell check doesnt work anymore here? What a pain.~ stoney PS Thanks Nutmeg for the ostrich info I got outbid and it turned out they weren't real. THANK GOD I DIDN'T WIN!!!!!!! I got to read this shit more closely giant life size artist statues they were... can you imagine me explaining to my wife oh yes that's my new vocation, here they are our ticket to continued prosperity- just don't pluck them- stare at them honey, in all their splendor, in the garden honey look another! no they don't move.... No. No No...... Real Ostrich boots and real pets. Ac you are in Australia how much would you charge to freight over say two (birds not boots)?
A trek and a hike-usually, its assumed your wearing heavier packs or going over rougher terrain on a trek, requiring extra ankle support or something, sturdier boots. I doubt there's much to it really. You can check the range of asolo's, scarpas, whatever, you wont find a 100% leather boot anywhere-let alone, thats not made in asia. Why not get a bunch of pairs, you could be the only stockist in the US! Plus, your gauranteed to get ones that fit-you dont wanna be returning them, freight wouldnt be cheap. I'd go for the ellery, but only because its insane overkill in every department. I own a pair of the snow boots, their basically a sorel caribou clone, so doesnt give me any feedback on the actual shoes-the sizing is european, a US size 11 would normally be about a aus/england 10, which would be a 44 IIRC. You nearly bought fake ostriches? Well, classier than tyre-swans.
Thanks for the update AC, yes if I still had my store i would retail these they are that good looking. The designs are really special. That Bunny Yip! (If it was only called The Godzilla )vs the Ellery I'm down to two choices and will buy today.... i also like that snow boot but we are heading into summer. I need something I can wade into the underbrush with my dad's machete and wack away all these shrubs with ticks. Did you know that in Ct the odds of your tick having lime in 30% vs 3% on the west coast! No wonder I got a discount on this property. Anyway Yes my dog Clyde tested positive for Lime. They called me in again yesterday with some breathless information I could not comprehend about liver levels and proteins being dumped into urine I just went through all this shit with my stepfather who has simmering blood cancer.... Well I can either let this deter my country dream and scare the hell out of me or I can burn and destroy everything which I will do. I probably am going to need a bee/ smoke suit at some point but for now tick resistant Australian leather is the trick... So there I was downstairs at the French butcher on 22nd st NYC when I gazed into display and what the F was there but OSTRICH meat! It's legal to eat these birds!!! Well now the economics of the whole venture get that much better- not only am I plucking at will, but if they talk back or nip... it's off with the head and I guess total plucking de-skinning and filleting , wow my daddy's machete is going to get a work out... anyway the butcher said he could put me in touch with someone up Woodstock way who would meat sorry meet me on the side of the road we would both have u-Hauls and we would de- clip and switch carriers and he would drive away with a briefcase full of money and me with 4 Ostriches! So it's back to the ostrich idea although llama farming is also interesting and Yak you can shave the softest fibers off the underbelly of these creatures and sell it to Italy for big $'s. I don't think there is a eating of the meat option though on the llamas so I need to determine their lifespan and x that out vs feed costs. But as those around me fall ill with near fatal diseases I am that much closer to being a gentlemen farmer! ~stoney
Oh, you actually did mean birds-we got Emu's, (native) easier to raise, there are many farms in the US doing it. Better than ostrich from a farm perspective, not saying much though. Not wise, while the feed>meat ratio of these these things is among the very best out there, and they are great eating, there's some problems. Re; ostrich, saw some calculations years ago of "supposed" value of investing in ostrich farms, a good portion of which comprised feathers and leather.......=bullshit and wind, demand for ostrich feathers died out 100yrs ago, and well........the leather is knobbly and quite unattractive really, leaving you (the investor/grower) with meat carcass weight. Its absolutely DELICIOUS, but try telling that to resaurants or potential consumers. Just guessing, connecticut would be way to cold, surely, to breed or thrive.
yea Ct gets cold that's what I was thinking when I took my dog walking through the underbrush and prickers while I tried to live out my wild west fantasy of clipping bushes and moving rocks. Clyde got Lime, AND Rocky Mountain Fever AND Erlichea AND Leptosprosis which on my last phone call with the vet was presented to meas a danger to my family as well, (if we came into contact with his piss) What kind of tic from hell bit my guy and gave him every tic born disease under the sun? and what did he get into that gave him the Lepto, he's not a big drinker and I don't think he would drink still water.... he likes piss though a lot....boy the thought for he day is Mother Nature Is A Bitch. And Don't Drink Piss in no uncertain order. Ostrich's can't fend for themselves during the weekdays apparently so that's out... kind of back to he Koi- they are mechanically fed and I'm thinking very seriously about Salmon farming, there is a great need for salmon and I can wash the bad water down the beautiful brook.... ~ stoney
In Albany they have the Pine Bush preserve, home of the Karner blue butterfly, all the preservationists were up in arms over the years for various reasons to preserve the preserve for public use. Last I read, the place is hopelessly off limits to humans because of deer ticks.