Small Property Improvements

[Beltzington]

My wife and I bought eight acres about three years ago and did not build on it as originally planned. We have spent the majority of our time on weekends cleaning-up the "farm" but after three years, other than mowing, we are about done.

Since it may be other 5-years before we can build a permanent home on the property I would like to plants some more trees, maybe a small orchard, plan for a garden plot and look for possible ways make some income from the property, RV Storage or horse boarding.

Looking forward to hearing about your resources for planning improvements or your personal experiences with your small acreage. TIA

 

[bcp]

Lease/rent part of it to a neighboring farmer, who is close enough that the small acreage is not a problem.

How close do you live? How much time do you want to spend on the "make some income" idea?

Bruce

 

[Beltzington]

Our primary home is 50-miles (one-way) from the property which means we plan most our trips. Three of the acres I bought for a buffer between one of my neighbors and our planned home site, nice guy, but his house sits right on our property line. These three acres are really the only part I would want to allow controlled public access to the property.

Since the property is only two miles from a lake and several campgrounds I was thinking covered storage might be an option to generate some steady income. Also, I have seen several ads by looking for a place to board horses where the owner would take care of the daily necessities. Both these ideas will require some type of pole barn construction but not a huge outlay of cash.

Post is to find out how other folks use their property and learn from their experiences. Very interested in the pros and cons on growing a fruit orchard.

Thanks for your reply.

 

[Western]

Might want to look into the liability issues with your insurance company concerning boat/RV storage, I would also consider that when boarding horses. Many times on the news, I see stories of boarded horses that end up neglected, so I would screen them well.

Orchard or other type fruits like berries may be a great option, by the time you move out there you may be picking fresh berries and possibly some fruit. Do you have a water well on the place? If not, then it may be cheaper to get that done now rather than later, if you don't build and decide to sell it sure wont hurt the value of your acreage.

 

[SPIKER]

Fruit trees can take some time to develop to producing size. what ever you do put out there make sure there is plenty of room to build on put in a well and septic etc. building a place/home can take up alot more space that you may first think of to get it done.

mark

 

[Taylortractornut]

I know around the lake here folks that have a few acres to spare will pit aup a few pole barns and a good gravel lot and offer a storage yard. Every one makes agood living at it to.

 

[2458n]

You are going to want a barn/shed on the property. Build it now and let someone else make the payments. Get a good idea from what people are renting now for storeage in the area. With any rental make sure you have a weigh of getting paid on time. Horses are a bad bet with people just plain leaving the animals.

 

[super55]

If your looking to put in an small orchard or doing a garden. I would highly recommend getting a soil test and see where there fertility of your soil stands as of now. Ph, organic matter, phosphorus and potassium generally require some time to reach ideal percentages in your soil. Spreading some lime now and doing a few rotations of "green manure" crops to help build up the organic content will definitely be a plus for your plants if your soil is less than ideal.

Starting your orchard is also a sound plan. Getting trees to the point of producing any significant crop is usually a minimal of 5 years from planting so the sooner you can get them started the better off you are going to be in the long run.

 

[forgeblast]

Since you are not going to use it for a while why not do a CREP type planting. You might be able to get some of the food plot/wildlife areas cost shared.
Programs | Georgia NRCS has a listing of the programs for GA.
We were only allowed 6 apples, but we did put in a bunch of nut trees, and shrubs like blueberry, cranberry, elderberry, and hazelnut.

 

[Bocephous]

We had a pond dug a couple of years ago and we're still working on the landscaping around it. I stocked it last fall with large mouth bass and bluegill from my dad's pond. The bluegill are nesting so I guess they like their new home.

This spring we had a bunch of 8-9 foot Norway spruce planted as a windbreak/privacy "fence" along the front of and down the side of our yard. There is new growth on all of them so I guess they're happy, too.