Well, we finally did it...DW and I made an offer on a 50-acre place in south-central PA that was accepted yesterday by the owners! We're finally going to get our place!
(And get out of the People's Republic of Maryland!)
It's about half open, half wooded, has a small 3-bedroom house and a huge post and beam barn. There's a spring, a small pond (of about 1/3 acre) and a stream that bisects the property. The open half is on a south-facing slope so it'll get plenty of sun. The wooded half was cut over probably 15 - 20 years ago so it has lots of small trees and brush. The neighbors have 300 or 400 acres each, and there's only one house visible in the winter. It's perfect!
Current plans are to put up some tight fencing and get Icelandic sheep, probably some American Guinea, Tamworth or Bershire hogs, Muscovy ducks and a whole lot of chickens. There are lots of sign of coyotes so we're looking into LGDs or other guardian animals - there's a llama farm right up the road so we might try one or two of them. I'd like to use the hogs and sheep to clean out the woodlot a little bit, although I may have to protect the smaller trees I want to keep (there are lots of small hickory, maple and oak).
Will hogs pose a problem with the stream? I'm not sure how I can fence it off so they don't get out through the stream, but I don't want to create an erosion nightmare by having them in the stream too much. I guess if necessary I could create a paddock of the entire back section but it would be easier if they could have access to the stream for water.
Anyhow, we're really excited about this! I look forward to meeting anybody who lives in the area, too...we'll be in Bedford County, PA.
Check us out out "
