Rick English

Howdy neighbor! I'm near Milton, PA and had similar ideas a few years back.

I ended up buying an old farmhouse instead.

Maybe building codes, taxes, etc. are all specific to the location.

Around here, most small lots aren't rural. Most rural lots aren't small.

Might be able to pry a few unfarmable acres from a farmer, but they you will be in the spray zone.

Working from home can be a challenge due to poor Internet access, especially in rural areas. Starlink is good, but pricey. Some rural areas are close enough to highways to have cell tower coverage you could use for Internet, but that can also be pricey for the quality. Very little DSL/cable outside of towns.

Maybe start trying to find a property first?

Always happy to help local permies if I can

One quick alternative idea... It seems like snow really pressures the varmints into eating bark because they can't get "better foods." Tree trunk bark seems like their last resort to prevent starvation.

When it snows, we make paths in the snow to make it easier for people to get around. Judging by the rabbit pellets, they use the paths too, so you might be able to direct their traffic away from your trees.

In my yard, I have lots of wild areas with winter foods the varmints like. Also, when I prune my trees, I leave the branches on the ground for the varmints to eat. They seem to like the tender stuff from the tops better than the old tough trunk bark.

I have to prune during snowy times anyways, so pruning also helps prevent trunk damage.

Don't get me wrong, my younger trees all have chicken wire cages, but the older trees are mostly ignored by varmints.

Congrats on your property!

I don't really have any feedback on your plans, but maybe some experience to share, because I have lived at my current property for about 11 years in maybe a similar climate on a north facing slope.

The thing about a north- facing slope is that you get less direct sun, especially if you already have trees. I'm in a valley, and my northern slope holds snow days or weeks longer than the southern slope, so the growing seasons seems shorter than the southern slopes a stone's throw away

I didn't have a choice, but I would put the tallest trees at the bottom of the slope and get shorter as I go up the slope to maximize sun exposure.

Fruit trees are supposed to be happy on a northern slope, but I've only really had luck with mulberries & paw paws, after we added ducks and their daily water input. Doesn't seem to be enough sun for normal sun fruit trees.

Our place has an 1890 farm house with a ton of windows on the northern & southern sides. We gain a bunch of passive solar, which is great in the winter, but not so good in the summer. Would be quite nice to have deciduous trees between our house & the sun. Awnings over the windows at the perfect angle would also help in the summer.

Water running down the slope is an interesting challenge. Our soil stays much less moist than anything level nearby. Swales or ponds at the top our your property will help hydrate things downslope. Also, water storage at the top of the slope will give you water pressure at the bottom of the slope. Our house is at the bottom of our property, maybe for this reason

Most houses built on slopes near us get wet basements when it rains, but not us due the  perfect placement of our driveway upslope from the house. I have added lots of features to slow and soak in rain, but the driveway is a great last line of defense for those big thunderstorm downpours.

We also have an old shed with a simple lean-to roof that drains upslope of the structure, which leads to rot...

Our north slope is perfect for mushrooms, and sounds like you will have plenty of logs for mushroom logs.

Do you have deer? They can make food forest establishment more difficult without a fence. I've been working on a brush tanglefoot fence around the perimeter of our property, and seems to bee a good low cost strategy the help keep the deer out.

Good luck & hope you post updates

Where are you located? I never have enough mulch and could use it at my place. Have to think others would also happily take it off your hands.

Any chance you know what kind of trees were mulched?

Here is a good place to start with Tai Chi:
 https://youtu.be/ZxcNBejxlzs  

There are many more videos in this channel. I have one of the DVDs that is also quite good.

I second the concern over large eggs and egg binding. Did you see any signs of blood or extra goop on the large eggs? If so, you might want to make a vent check.

I am still very much learning with our mixed flock, but have now twice experienced a meat breed (like Pekin or Appleyard) when kept with more general or egg laying breeds, eats more than their share of food, leading to large eggs and prolapsed vents. We tried feeding less to the entire flock, but the meat breeds just ate almost all the food.

We were only able to get the egg size down by separating the meat breeds from the rest. Keep the in mind ducks are very social, and dislike being alone. A solo duck is often very stressed.

We lost both meat breed ducks, and now I am very careful to keep breeds that are more compatible from a feed standpoint.

There is probably a better answer, but just sharing my experience.

I used to drink a lot of black tea, but now stick to mostly green tea in the morning, and herbal teas in the afternoon.

Gunpowder green tea has a similar flavor profile to a black tea. Adagio tea has a good one that is reasonably priced.

Stinging nettle is my favorite non-tea. It isn't anything like black tea, but it's very robust in a good way. Also mixes well with other flavors like mint.

I also buy culinary bergamot oil (a type of citrus fruit) to make my  non-caffeinated teas into something a lot more like earl grey tea. Though not related, the the herb bergamot (or bee balm) is supposed to taste quite similar as a tea. It is even supposed to have a similar silky mouth feel. I haven't yet tried it myself, but plan to sometime soon.

Both stinging nettle and bergamot are considered medicinal, so you may not want to drink too much of either

Don't discount the sheer entertainment value of watching beavers do their thing. One of my most memorable experiences as a kid was getting to explore an area around an active beaver dam. Fascinating creatures that change the environment in positive ways at an epic scale.

Passive income idea - make videos of beavers doing beaver stuff & post them to YouTube to earn some coin.

It seems to be working for this guy:

Just also wanted to add it is pretty difficult to drown maggots in my experience with reusable fly traps.

I agree with Jen. I wouldn't punch holes in the plastic, mostly because I don't think you will get a complete solarization. You really want to kill the weed seeds.