What unique problems does your land cause?

[SirDude]

Hi Y'all,

I was banging my head against a wall trying to find the words to use for a different question when Navotifarm said something that sparked a new questions.

So what unique problems do you have with your land, or state, or region of the country?

Thanks,

SirDude

[highlands]

We have winter and steep hills.

Winter means a rather short growing season. We count on about two and a half months of frost free growing season but that can be iffy. Some years it has snowed every single month. One learns to use cold frames and such, plant multiple times, etc.

Steep hills make cropping difficult. I have the tires on my tractor set out at the full 8' width to increase stability and I still don't drive on a lot of our land because it is just too steep. Okay for grazing animals but not tillage. Our solution is we terrace.

There are some advantages to these problems though to these 'problems'...

Winter kills off nasty things like kudzu, snakes, spiders, crocs, alligators, ticks and blood sucking politicians.

Steep hills keep the blood sucking politicians rolling down hill away from us and because of the steep hills we have 100x more land area than appears on the map or surveys. Speaking of which: Did you know that Vermont is actually larger than Texas? It isn't obvious because you see Texas was stretched out flat and Vermont is all crumpled up.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/csa

[watcher]

Not much bad about living around here just; swampy land, high water table, sand with no nutrients below an inch, skeeters from tiny to dime sized, bitting gnats about the size of a pin head with teeth 2" long (ok it just feels like that when they bite), deer flies, horse flies, scorpions, rattle snakes, hurricanes, tourist, sudden local thunderstorms dropping 3" of rain in 3 minutes (well, maybe not quite), 90-90 days (90 degrees with 90% humidity), deer, wild hogs, armadillos, rabbits and squirrels who think everything you plant (including your lawn) is a buffet just for them. Oh and did I mention skeeters and tourist?

Other than that its a little slice of Heaven on Earth. . .

[partndn]

Watcher - I don't think you let him know where you are..

I'm in south central North Carolina.
Stuff that grows well here:
all basic summer veggies
pears
berries - all kinds straw, black, blue, etc.
grapes
figs
pecans, walnuts
Stuff that's hard to grow here:
peaches very risky with the cold
anything citrus

We range from 15 degrees to 100 degrees, lots of summer humidity. The extreme side of the low temps are rarely for long term, only a day at a time. The high temps however, can stay sometimes til you think you need to get some oxygen supplemented.

We have a nice variety of native trees and plants, pretty decent soil. Lots of rivers, lakes, and creeks.

The biggest challenge here with "land" is there's not any. It seems just about every rural farm area has been sold or is for sale for development. No farm is ever sold as "farm." Just future ugly housing or business.
There was one retired cattle farming family nearby who insisted their land be divided in parcels no smaller than 5 acres. They were sort of hoping for mini farm families. The result was a gated community of custom homes that are 1 million +. Tons of restrictions. You may be allowed to have a horse there.. the kind that gets a bath as many times a week as we do, if you know what I mean. There is no self sustaining going on there, just entertainment and subdivision living on a larger scale.

It would be real tough to find property for sale that is still ag approved so you could operate without so much city/county/state say-so. But once in a while, you can still find a nice basic home on 2 or 3 acres for a decent price.

There are more pieces of available land toward the mountains, which as you have said, are so beautiful. But same problem. They know it's beautiful, and they want a lot of money for a 1-2 acre place. I am not as familiar with the coast, but HT member Eddie Buck is there, I think.

Less than an hour from Charlotte airport is a bonus for a lot of people.
Nascar business every where you turn.
A pretty good university and several trade schools.
Medium taxes for the surrounding area.

Let me know if you have any more curiosity about this area.

[sunshinytraci]

I live in Michigan. My problems are basically a shorter growing season than I'd like to have. I can be a bit of a procrastinator, but every day counts so I have to stay on my planting schedule or I won't get a harvest before first frost.

Hmm.... The state is going broke (going? IS broke) so I expect to see higher taxes in my future. I believe they are already too high.

Any jobs, not just decent ones, are very very hard to come by.

My land is either way too sandy or way too much clay in most areas. Over the last five years, I have built my garden's fertility up and things are growing better.

Other than that, I really like it here.

[Fae]

Heat, humidity, mosquitoes, clay soil that won't drain(and living under a hill makes it worse), snakes and did i mention heat and humidity. Other than that it is home and I have lived here a long time.

[SimonJ]

Scorpions, rattlers, lots of other nasty critters; heat; barren soil; arid climate; more heat. We're supposed to be up to 112 degrees by this Sunday, and we'll probably see 120 degrees a few times before the end of summer.

Growing crops in the middle of the Arizona desert is a challenge.

[SirDude]

Watcher, sounds a lot like FL, but can't say I've seen scorpions or rattle snakes, but the tourist make up for that! LOL
The island I live on goes from a population of 4200 to over 25,000 come "season." Sometimes I wish they meant "Open season." LOL

As for the "squirrels who think everything you plant (including your lawn) is a buffet just for them"

Do mean this guy? I needed to start a feeder just for them because the other option was the frying pan.




And you said "Other than that its a little slice of Heaven on Earth. . ." so I take it this is your sign? LOL

[SirDude]

Originally Posted by SimonJ

Scorpions, rattlers, lots of other nasty critters; heat; barren soil; arid climate; more heat. We're supposed to be up to 112 degrees by this Sunday, and we'll probably see 120 degrees a few times before the end of summer.

Growing crops in the middle of the Arizona desert is a challenge.

SimonJ, I lived in Phoenix for about 7 months leading up to 9/11, and I could not think of trying to grow anything there in the summer. Maybe underground or something. The crews I had working for me were up on a metal roof around this time of the year and were taking temp readings of 141 degrees.

Still to this day I don't recall ever seeing my shirt wet from sweat. It's funny how now living in FL I can't seem to keep my shirt dry. The dry heat is differently something else.

[SirDude]

Originally Posted by Fae

Heat, humidity, mosquitoes, clay soil that won't drain(and living under a hill makes it worse), snakes and did i mention heat and humidity. Other than that it is home and I have lived here a long time.

Fae,
What do you grow or do you just raise animals due to your soil?

And what do you do to help your soil since it has much clay?

Thanks,

SirDude

[SimonJ]

SirDude,

Yep! You're right about that. The standing joke is "But it's a *dry* heat!" That's true, too: we might dehydrate and turn into human jerky, but we don't melt. I'll take the dry heat at 120 over high humidity and 95 degrees any day.

[SirDude]

Partndn,

I noticed that with the lack of Ag land. I really like the western part of NC, but it seems like all the land for sale has some kind of restriction on it or it's big money, and then more then likely they have a minimum square footage for building size.

Friends of mine have cabin rentals in Tellico Plains, TN, so for a while I was looking hard on both sides of TN and NC. You can thank all the half-backs from down by me for your high prices. If it aint one thing it's another.

At one point I kept coming across these really run-down HUD homes for less the vacant land prices and thought about buying two next door to one another and leveling one of the houses, but with them being within city limits there's no way to deal with the livestock issue.

That area is far from off my list. You know anything about around the Cleavland / Chattanooga, TN area? I heard that NC actually gets a little more snow then eastern TN, how that by you?

[SirDude]

Originally Posted by SimonJ

SirDude,

Yep! You're right about that. The standing joke is "But it's a *dry* heat!" That's true, too: we might dehydrate and turn into human jerky, but we don't melt. I'll take the dry heat at 120 over high humidity and 95 degrees any day.

Yeah, I love that saying, "but it's a dry heat", when I was there and my family would say something like that, I would tell them to go stick their head in an over and tell me how much different it felt. LOL

It's a big toss-up with me. I hate sweating all the time, and changing my clothes two and three times a day while working, but on the other hand, I like when it rains more then two or three times a year. LOL

And the way Phoenix was going with all their pools and people installing grass, and trees that need watering it, the humidity was starting to climb, not anything like FL, but when you're 115 degrees and with 25-30% humidity it's starting to get sticky.

So do grow or raise anything out there? I bet that would be a good place for something like Aeroponics. I just saw a TV show on it and it's cooler them hydroponics. Less water, and I think both had next to no bugs since there was no soil. I think that would be the way I would go if I moved out to AZ / NM.

How's the wind by you? More then one person in my life has complained about the wind in the SW. I didn't think it was all that bad in Phoenix, besides the dust/sand storms that came through.

[SimonJ]

We're over on the Arizona "coast", right off of the Colorado river. We don't have the crowds or other problems they do in Phoenix.

We had a pretty good spring, with lots of tomatoes, carrots, green onions and beans, but just about everything is dying out now. It's time to give it up for the summer. We're trying to keep some bush beans and Armenian cukes going as long as we can, though.

I'll have to look into aeroponics. I'm not familiar with it. We're gradually building up our soil, but it's going to take a few years.

Yes, the wind is a problem at times, but I think it's pretty much a problem on any flat land. I know they get a lot of it in the midwest, too.

[rambler]

Is the cup 1/2 full or 1/2 empty???

It gets cold here in winter, & lasts for a long time. Waterpipe needs to be burried 5 feet deep, frost will go over 4 feet some years. But - we don't have termite trouble because of it, and other good points.

I farm a small farm, rather than homestead.My ground is 250 feet deep of yellow clay, and it holds wayter to the surface. Much of my ground is practically saturated. I just spent close to $30,000 to tile it - drainage - which is covering 35 acres of my wetter ground. Dad put in tile to the low spots, this is draining the sidehills.

But - it is good ground, holds lots of nutrients and moisture and can yield over 200 bu corn. So, all that wetness & mushy clay can really pay the bills in a good year - so is it good or bad?

I love thst dirt, even if I need to spend some on tile. It's good stuff, once you brush the warts off.

Worst things for here with no redeeming values are deep snow which only means a very long winter of blowing, shoveling, and slipping through snow. And mosquitoes in summer. Argh. The snow is fun when you are young, but it loses it's charm as you age.

--->Paul

[adamtheha]

Southern Alberta.
Pros - Zone 3b, close to the mountains (nice view, camping, skiing) Chinooks that raise Jan temps to +7 C on occasion. Cheap land, not flat, but not super hilly either. My land is so far from any large city that you'd need GPS to find it. I am close to a decent sized town that could be a good place to sell produce I will be growing.

Cons - REALLY windy at certain times of year, 100kph gusts, and no trees to block it (yet). No trees mean neigbors and passers-by can see everything you're doing. Shorter growing season, about 3 frost free months, sometimes more. Heavy clay soil takes FOREVER to shed water, and creates the stickiest mud I've ever seen! County government is extremely intolerant of legitimate, yet unusual activities. Neighbors who have every gov't agency on speed dial, and make dozens of nuisance complaints. Dangerous "prairie hurricanes", also known as downbursts from T-cells. Insanly unpredictable weather.

Despite the cons, most of which you would find in ANY location, I would rate this my second highest choice of where to live. My first choice is in the mountains...
Our summers are reasonable for tempurature, no AC required. Heating in the coldest winter months is as simple as chucking another log on the fire. I'll be building some greenhouses to extend my growing season, and most of what I'm growing is fairly cold tolerant.

Plus, the AB gov't actually funds homeschoolers! We get a "budget" from which to purchase supplies and books and stuff. The gov't doesn't require any testing, and I don't have someone breathing down my neck, at least in this respect.

I "heart" Alberta!

[SirDude]

Originally Posted by SimonJ

We had a pretty good spring, with lots of tomatoes, carrots, green onions and beans, but just about everything is dying out now. It's time to give it up for the summer.

I'll have to look into aeroponics. I'm not familiar with it.

That's one thing I am liking about FL, it's almost like everything is in reverse around here. Even the tourist! LOL Unlike in the northern states when it gets to the point to close up shop and start planning for next year's crop, it's nice and warm and you get to go out and do something. Having a seasonal career sinks when it's the summer-time that you need to work.

As for the Aeroponics, do a Google search for it, the TV show I saw about it was short, but cool. It looked like they used the "sprayer" hoses from a drip-system and put them right by the roots, which are hanging down through mesh or foam like you would in a hydroponics system.

The big difference is the water only comes on every so often and now then flowing river that needs pumps running all the time. Saves money or energy if you're using solar, but more important it uses less water. And the weight of the whole system is less too, since you don't have all the PVC tubes full of water, they are just there to carry off the extra run-off water.

I like that idea if you are going to stack the system say for growing short plants. The few shows or articles I've seen on these systems they were growing lettuce, so they could stack the plants and have the artificial lighting on the side. Since it's fully enclosed and no soil, means no pesticides. I like the idea of the organic thing.

Now if you are doing double duty with the water like in the "Aquaponics" post here on HT, it maybe worth having all that water sitting around to raise the fish, which is something totally interesting to me, but first things first. I have enough on my plate for now. LOL

[FarmersDaughter]

I live in West-Central Illinois.

Problems with my land: Currently living in town, so not as much room as I'd like to have. I do have a large lot and am able to have a large garden, but poultry are not allowed in town. Will be moving to the country within the next few years, so that will be solved.

Problems with my area: Hot and humid in July and August. Spring and Summer thunderstorms with high winds can occasionally damage crops. Taxes are higher than I'd like, but that would probably be true anywhere I lived.

Good things about my area: Excellent soil. Adequate amounts of rainfall in most years. A decent growing season length...long enough to grow pretty much anything that I want to grow. I love that we get all 4 seasons in relatively equal amounts. Low population! Flat land and lots of growing space for those that farm crops.

As an aside, I see that many people love living near mountains. I love to visit mountainous regions and think they are beautiful...but I can't live there. Having been raised in a prairie area, I've got to have wide open spaces. When I lived near mountains for a few years, I always felt claustrophobic. I finally felt like I could really breathe again once I got back to the prairie.

[cfabe]

The biggest problem we struggle with on our land is a very high water table. In a wet spring, we have lots of standing water in low areas. The soil is sandy and would drain easily if we installed drain tile, but we have no place to run the drainage to. Our parcel is flat and there are no county ditches close enough to be feasable.

[Beeman]

No flat land, every post hole has a rock, the rocks literally grow out of the ground. Limestone so we have sinkholes and caves. Soil is clay and in an acre you can have 2 or 3 different types of soil along with slate. When it dries up during the summer the ground is so hard it cracks open, you can't put a shovel or a pick in it. Open soil when it's wet is slippery and if you walk in it will stick to your feet in huge clumps.

Before I lived here I lived across the mtn. in WNC. Climate was better and so was the land. A lot more mountainous but better soil and less limestone, no sinkholes.