ning
Elite Member
We've got a couple acres which some 40 years ago were part of a larger area cleared and for a landing strip (grass, unpaved); apparently the fellow landed the plane once and never tried it again. I'm not sure about the whole landing story (did he crash? get freaked out? just didn't fly any more? idk) but the land is pretty iffy at this point. It doesn't drain much in the winter (assuming we get rain, which happened a sadly small amount this year!).
Grasses grow on the land; the soil isn't great, and if you dig down much at all there are some rocks and a lot of clay. Last summer I drilled into it 5' for solar ground mount footings so I'm somewhat familiar with its deeper reaches.
So my question is... what should I do with this? I'd kinda like to make it productive in some way; at the very least it seems it should be planted with something to encourage soil production, do something to encourage drainage, and at best plant something that can actually be harvested or eaten by idk, future goats, or even humans?
I have water available (there's a regional canal system via which we have access to water, and nearby). I have my tractor (35hp gross/29hp pto/4000# bare weight), a 3ph tiller, and a subsoiler. I'm willing to buy another implement if needed (like this, though I don't know if it's appropriate for my tractor, or a good price).
Our summers here are hot and very dry (think desert dry; it's typically 15% humidity and occasionally in the single-digits); the land in question is in full sun from 9AM-630PM in the summer (which is why I put my solar there). Winters here are supposed to be wet, but this year were merely damp; it occasionally gets one day's snow but usually just chilly rain - USDA zone 9B for the most part.
So I put to the good people of TBN - spend my money and take my (already overbooked) time - and give me hopefully educated ideas of what to do?
Grasses grow on the land; the soil isn't great, and if you dig down much at all there are some rocks and a lot of clay. Last summer I drilled into it 5' for solar ground mount footings so I'm somewhat familiar with its deeper reaches.
So my question is... what should I do with this? I'd kinda like to make it productive in some way; at the very least it seems it should be planted with something to encourage soil production, do something to encourage drainage, and at best plant something that can actually be harvested or eaten by idk, future goats, or even humans?
I have water available (there's a regional canal system via which we have access to water, and nearby). I have my tractor (35hp gross/29hp pto/4000# bare weight), a 3ph tiller, and a subsoiler. I'm willing to buy another implement if needed (like this, though I don't know if it's appropriate for my tractor, or a good price).
Our summers here are hot and very dry (think desert dry; it's typically 15% humidity and occasionally in the single-digits); the land in question is in full sun from 9AM-630PM in the summer (which is why I put my solar there). Winters here are supposed to be wet, but this year were merely damp; it occasionally gets one day's snow but usually just chilly rain - USDA zone 9B for the most part.
So I put to the good people of TBN - spend my money and take my (already overbooked) time - and give me hopefully educated ideas of what to do?