I am considering buying land to live on and support the family on using
permaculture principles. Although I am a keen gardener and have
tertiary qualifications in science (biology, biochemistry, genetics,
chemistry etc) and I can build or fix most things this will be my first
such development. I am seeking advice on the level of suitability of a
proposed site and the specific pitfalls to look out for in this case.

The district is about 31 degrees south on the east coast of Australia.
The climate is warm temperate, the district is some 30 kilometers (20
miles) from the coast at an altitude of 50 metres (150 ft) and has an
annual average rainfall of about 2100mm (80 inches). In this district
it never snows, heavy rainfall and drought are common in their turn.
Frost occurs in the district during winter but heavy or frequent frost
is unlikely, although this has happened this year due to the drought.
The soil in the district varies from orange/red clay to red/brown clay
loam. Most agriculture is beef cattle but the better blocks run dairy
cattle. Some crops are grown on river flats etc. The natural vegetation
of the area is eucalyptus forest (it has been logged in some parts in
the past) or temperate rainforest in the wetter parts. Much of the
district has been cleared for grazing.

The block is some 80 hectares (200 acres) which makes up most of a
valley which runs almost East - West, the East end is a little North of
the West end. The valley is approximately 1 km long and 250-300 m wide.
The East end is blind and you enter from the West (duh!). The North
side is a very steep hill about 70 m high mainly covered with rainforest
most of which is on the next property. The South side is a less steep
hill (cattle can graze it) about 90 m high, the boundary is on top of
that hill and includes some stands of trees and re-growth forest.

The valley floor is about one third of the block and it is mostly gently
sloping, a little is flat and it gets steeper on the sides leading to
the hills on the East and South. A creek runs down from the blind end
and out the entrance close under the edge of the North hill. We are in
severe drought at the moment and the creek is just a string of ponds but
there is a dam about half way along that still has good water in it.
The valley floor and lower slopes of the South hill have been cleared
for cattle grazing but some shade trees have been left. The soil down
near the creek is quite good but use of it will be limited as when it
gets heavy rain, having the whole valley as its catchment, the creek
will swell to a gushing torrent. The rest of the soil is clayey which
(due to drought) is rock hard now but can be improved. There are no
cattle there at present and despite the drought there is still good low
ground cover of native and exotic grasses and a little bit of greeness.

My present tentative evaluation is that the site is quite suitable for
small scale mixed farming, the water supply is good and can be improved
with more dams, it is very protected from wind and I think it will be
quite beautiful when it gets some rain. My concerns a
1 - The valley will have short days specially in the winter
2 - The protected nature seems appealing but it may act as a cold air
trap in winter
3 - The wind that it will get will be SW to W in winter (cold and dry)
and W in summer (hot to very hot and dry)

Problem 3 can be ameliorated in time with windbreaks at the West end but
these in turn could contribute to the cold air trap. Problems 2 and 3
are not so easy because generally you would be able to (and want to)
grow selected crops right through the year but frosts that take until
late morning to melt could destroy whole crops. The labour resources
required to cover/uncover the gardens to alleviate this will probably
not be available.

Any insights into these and other potential problems would be must
appreciated.

David