Eric, this is an awesome topic. I was thinking about these two properties the other day. My grandfather has 53 acres in NC that has been leased forever and farmed in corn and soybeans. It may have even been in cotton or tobacco a few times. It has been years since I have set food on the
land. I remember at the time that it had been plowed and was being readied for corn. This property will pass on to my father and aunt, maybe even to myself at some point in the future. I was thinking about how to convert it to a
permaculture food forest. The lay of the land is table top flat for the majority of the acreage. I was thinking that it could be planted in cover crops an
acre at a time if I was going to convert it slowly. I expect it will take a lot of work to overcome the effects of decades of industrial agriculture on the soil. I could probably let
local tree companies dump extra
wood chips on the property which would help as well. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated. I have thought about what Martin Shepherd is doing in Wisconsin, but I doubt that the tree species would be anything like what he is using. I have not begun to research how to set up something similar.
The second property is my father's land in Indiana. It is all steep hills and ridge lines. I remember when the forest was cleared out around the house 30+ years ago. There are about 8 acres of open pasture around the house; the rest is all mature hardwood forest. I have thought about putting in a food forest/orchard type setting on the ridge lines where the ground has been cleared. I have a hard time imagining doing terraces on the hillsides going down into the valleys and toward the river. These are steep hills; probably falling down to the valleys 400 to 600 feet down. I can only imagine timber on the hillsides. The local stone is limestone and sandstone. I don't think there is enough of it around to actually do terraces.
All suggestions appreciated. These properties will pass to myself and my sisters one day. I would like to have a good plan to work (before) and when they are ours.