Got my house and 10 acres farmland in Westmoreland! Yay!

[TuffGong]

Praedial larceny is estimated to cost Jamaican farmers up to $6 billion annually.

https://jis.gov.jm/praedial-larceny-...ganised-crime/

[TuffGong]

The reggae artist Winston Hubert McIntosh was born in Petersfield, and later on, when he lived in Jamaica's capital Kingston, he changed his name to Peter McIntosh (Peter Tosh).

[DRPhil]

Richard maybe take up reggae!

[Jaherring]

Very nice!

[rizla]

Wow, beautiful!

[Lola]

Congratulations, it looks lovely. Be careful with wet feet/flip flops on those shiny tiles! You will get used to the grillwork and yes you need to add and use security measures; that's just how it is. Magnetic door screens are nice for the exterior doorways/keeping flying bugs out. If you are there year-round you will learn the subtle season changes. Having some land is wonderful. I wish you all the best!

[Lola]

Per your interest in solar - start studying! US Solar Institute in Florida offers training courses, each segment is a week long, hands-on. I met the founder years ago when he had started a training school in Jamaica. There's also the aspect of storage batteries so you can have juice at night. Learn as much as you can so you can maintain and trouble shoot it, as well as verifying any hired work done to it.

Re: Leaving the place empty at times: especially in the early years it would be wise to come-and-go frequently on an irregular schedule. Keep your arrival and departure dates to yourself, then you will observe what happens when you are away. Its better for the house too, you will catch maintenance issues early. Ten acres is a sizeable area to keep track of.

[johng]

Hi Richard,
Adding to Lola's thoughts on security you might want to consider some trail cams spread around your property. You can get them fairly inexpensive online or at WalMart (apx. $50-$100 per cam). Buying 10 or so might be a good addition to your game plans. The images are quite good and stored on internal SD cards and powered by 6 or 8 AA batteries. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words!! Gives you a chance to see what's going on while you aren't there.

[rtitle]

Thanks for all the great advice, Lola and everyone.

I am proud of myself:
I already planted 6 fruit trees on my land.
Mango, avocado, starfruit, orange, lime.

[TuffGong]

Make sure you sprinkle some overproof around those saplings and they will grow mighty!