After 34 yr of living in the Piedmont, my husband and I have recently moved to our new home. We have 8 A of wooded
land with a large
pond. Our goal is to keep the property wooded but to manage it to improve tree health and overall beauty. After working hard at our old place managing an organic garden, fruit
trees,
water catchment, etc, we are ready to slow down and enjoy our new space while sourcing most of our food from the farmers market and grocery store. We have cleared a small area around our house site and plan to landscape it with low maintenance edible
natives as much as possible. Thinking chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) var Nero and Viking, pawpaws, hazelnuts, blackhaw viburnum (Viburnum prunifolium) and blueberries. Other ideas are welcome. There is an extensive natural ground cover of golden ragwort. Plus many ferns and some yucca plants. Although I was taught in
permaculture workshops that it was not okay to clear woodland for homesteading, we found with our previous house that the wildlife much preferred our plantings of edibles to sweet gum, pine and maple trees. We just extend and expand on the forest edge.
We are putting our house in Hillsborough NC up for sale. Considering that houses
sell within a few days to a week of listing there, we have chosen not to list it with a realtor. Instead, we are listing it here and with other list serves in the hopes of finding someone who will appreciate the good soil, plant variety, garden ponds, water catchment system and my specially designed garden/wood shed.
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