The owner is interested in converting the mostly undeveloped land into as much of a Food Forest as possible.

Property Description

Zone 1: Has a house and a couple of small out buildings, well, kitchen garden, a chicken coop and a small corral for the cow.

Zone 2: There is also another fenced pasture to the NE corner of the property that contains a few small grazers - sheep and goats. To the NW of the house is an open crop field that extends down the western side of the property, 1/3rd the distance to the back property-line. The area in front of and in back of the house, as well as the eastern side, is basically open land except for a few scattered native trees and scrub bushes.

Zone 5: Approximately in the middle of the property (the central 8 acres) is an overgrown woods with a spring-fed pond/swamp that has been very limitedly explored.

Zone 4: The back 1/3rd of the property is more like the front 1/3rd (open crop land with scattered trees and scrub growth); with a stream crossing the SE corner.

The property elevation is 160' at the NW corner, and gradually slopes 3' to 157' at the NE corner. From the NW corner, it slopes 17' to the SW corner at 143'; and from the NE corner, it slopes 21' to the SE corner at 136'. From the SW corner, it slopes 7' to the SE corner. The rain runoff is from the NW, to the SE, across the property on a diagonal.

Proposal

Excavate a series of approximately 15 shallow swales on contour between the NW corner and the SE corner of the property. Plant productive tree guilds, and fence the swaled tree guilds, dividing the property into pasture/crop fields.

The current spring-fed swamp can be excavated into a pond/lake, and stocked with aquaculture species. Similarly, the SE corner (where the stream crosses) can also be excavated into a pond/lake, and stocked.

There are 2 other locations between these 2 pond/lake-sites that have "low" spots that can also be excavated in the same way, making a total potential of 4 ponds stocked with aquaculture species.

It will also be important to drill another well (wind-powered) in the NW corner to gravity-feed a series of water troughs along the eastern property line; one trough in each of the subsequent pastures, and a pre-sink overflow line for pumping excess water from the pond at the SE corner back up to the first swale in the NW corner. This return line will be the only part of the entire system that will require an electrical power source.