Is anyone out there struggling with too much land and not enough man power ? I have inherited a homestead from late 1800s iS BEEN IN FAMILY SINCE 1867 i HAVE THE DEEDS TOO

Give me some people who know there stuff I beg of you lol Im on babysitter time I need a grant and a couple specialists (Pauls too high priced)
HOMESTEAD HAS THE FOLLOWING:

330 acres paid in full

WATER RIGHTS

15 ac just cleared blackberries IT WAS BEING (Sepp Holsner was right about the apple trees they chocked out the invasive blackberries they are 140 yrs old apples are huge and mmmmgood

150-200 yr old Black Walnut trees walnuts the size of lemons
I HAVE A 3 YR OLD AND IM 47 SINGLE MOM TRYING TO RUN 3 FARMS FULL OF STUFF I HAVE NOT EVEN GONE THROUGH YET MAYBE OPRA WILL GET INVOLVED IF PAULS TOO BUSY ... JUST JOKING

NEED TO GET A PLAN HOOKED UP HERE AND START GETTING ORGANIZED (WE HAD 4 DEATHS IN A YEAR AND A HALF) SO IM OVERWHELMED WITH BELONGINGS AND FEEL LIKE I COULD USE SOME SOUND ADVICE ... NO SMART ASS COMMENTS PLEASE M TRYING HARD

Welcome to permies.com Kimberly! We are happy that you have come to us for help.

What are your plans for the property? What topics would like advice on? What do you envision for the land? What is your climate and hardiness zone?

Welcome to the forum. This sounds like an absolutely amazing property to have and it is unfortunate you don't yet have the manpower. I think Dave asks some good and important questions and I would like to add a few of my own.

Where is the property located? Are you seeking people as employees, work exchange, intentional community or something entirely else? You mention one homestead, but 3 farms. Are there separate farms on the single property or are you handling several in different locations beyond this property? Lastly, if you are wanting to have people living on the property itself, what is the situation with regards to buildings on the property?

I'm pretty good at organizing...I would love the opportunity but I'm not sure if I could help enough with my disability...

Hi Kimberly,

Welcome to Permies!!!

If you could fill out your "profile page" a bit more which can be found at the top of the the page under "My Profile." This will help us know you better, where your at, etc. I will wait for your to respond to Dave Burton's queries, as this is a good start.

I am sure we can be of some help, as a collective we cover most of what you are facing, have dealt with, and/or are going to deal with soon. Love having you here and look forward to helping.

Warm Regards,

j

I understand the overwhelmed part, but not to your degree. WOW.

Knowing where you are and what your goal is would be helpful. Short term and long term.

You say it is paid for, what are the on-going expenses (taxes, utilities, etc) and do you have another way to pay them or does the land need to produce enough to cover them ASAP?

Is there a house already? Is it livable now? Does it meet your needs long-term or does it need to be upgraded or replaced to meet your needs?

Black walnuts are good money just to the shellers if you have enough. If the nuts are that large, they could be worth a premium as seed stock--I would buy some that produce more nut meat, not just just extra husk or shell.

Walnut trees can be worth good money as timber, too. Most make a mess of your land to harvest them, though But if you have an area you want to clear (for gardens or buildings or pond or whatever) make sure to get the value out of the timber first, and then get someone to haul the rest as firewood. It can often pay for the earthwork you need. Some guys here will do firewood for shares--let them cut and they will leave you some split and stacked for you.

I can't figure out how to reply to people who where nice enough to respond to my original post
I'm a forum rookie uhhh
Kimberly farmgirl1

Kimberly Grimes wrote:I can't figure out how to reply to people who where nice enough to respond to my original post
I'm a forum rookie uhhh
Kimberly farmgirl1

Depending on how you wanted to reply, there are several ways. If you wanted to send a semi-private message, click the little PM button at the top of the reply of the person you wished to respond to. If you wanted a fully public comment here, either put their name with a dash or something similar beside the response to them specifically or you can use the quote button to quote their text and write your own comment under it as I have done in this reply.

Ok I guess I just figured it out!!!
How to I reply to a specific person ?

Farmgirl1
Kimberly

Ok that helps more info coming soon Thank You !!

This is for Dave Burton and others trying to help me I have put more on profile also ...

Good news lots of bees around 200 yr old walnut trees I guess the safe zone is working already lol I think there is 8 trees plus

Ok folks I'm here at homestead and my vision is permaculture w walnut trees grown maybe in same type pattern as the ones in this pic
But on the piece east of original tree with high value crop inbtwn grown on hulgerculture mounds to avoid toxins from walnut trees with some rotating flower wild flowers or whatever is best for our troubled pollinators (bee safety zone ) and a few filberts as they can grow good in some shade only for like 20 acres or 15!
Hopps and goji berries are a possibility also,and have a test crop in works
Do mushrooms grow under walnut trees?
Vision is multilayered collaborating with many services to achieve maximum operating ties for land specifically and education to our youngsters equally important
Too much for me to write but sustainable environment to set pace for this area plus I can advertise large permaculture signs to mass amount of people because the other 200 acres property (flat land mostly)is seperated by Interstate 5
I think I really can make a difference with the correct guidance and an open mind with the ability to adapt to my environment in all areas
More to come & pics next I got a long row to hoe !
Farmgirl1

Homstead wowa 120+yr old barn with trolley and hewed beams inside that go into each other I also I vision this orchard that is 120+ years old being utilized cuz last year the apples were Amazing with 12 orchard trees I'm so happy they made it through the two rare ice storms we had here last year in linn/lane county Oregon

Since you plan on making black walnut guilds, it is worth noting that there are many plants that can survive and thrive in the allopathic compounds that it produces. Rob Scott published an article online here about black walnut guilds because he felt that the plant got too much of a bad rep for producing allopathic compounds. The people at Midwest Permaculture have been very generous to the public, and they have allowed people to read and download their eBook on plant guilds for free. The book is called Plant Guilds, and it was written by Bryce Ruddock. This book will be posted in the resources section of the forum so more people know this is out there for free. The Black Walnut Guild is described by them on page 21 of their eBook.

just a quick post because i am feeling sad for that strangled maple tree- i dont have many plant enemies but ivy is one of the only ones.

i would pull all that ivy from the base, maybe even chop the tree down. a maple should come back from the roots, if it's still healthy enough, and it will give you a chance to uproot the ivy strangling it. if you dont it will keep spreading, and take over other trees in that area.

normally i like many plants that others consider "invasive", or ones that grow like ivy, just seen too many forests with too many strangled trees and nothing but ivy growing and thriving. it seems to me that most plants like this- they are actually more "resilient" and abundantly growing without human care, like i enjoy invasive blackberries (abundant food) and many many "weeds".

but yeah ivy makes the very short list of plants that i will uproot or weed if i see any of them growing, especially by large trees. if i were you, i would get rid of as much as you can.

best of luck with your project.

Bouncing off of Leila's suggestion, Howard Garrett's website has an article discussing how much goats love to eat ivy. Instead of using a herbicide to get rid of the ivy as his article suggests, a dense planting of fast-growing cover crops could be used to shade out the ivy and prevent it from returning.