Hello to all of you at permies,
I registered here, because me and my wife want to hear the opinions of permaculture people on what we will (try to) do.
My wifes parents will offer land to us for the self-sustaining life we want to live. This feels like a great opportunity, as it has been my greatest wish. Even more so since reading "Walden" sometime in 2006.
The land offered is entirely covered with forest, so cutting a clearing is obvious. The property has a brook/stream running through it. It is our goal to have chickens, bees, Hügelkultur beds, food forests wild hedges with berries as barriers for game, wind turbines (the atlantic ocean is a 5 minute drive away), a water turbine and an Esse wood stove for cooking and as a heat source. Pigs for clearing and fertilizing the land are an often returning idea as well.
The region I am talking about is the Eastern Shore in Nova Scotia, Canada. The hardiness is 5b, there are 130 frost free days. A governmential document might help me explaining the location a bit more in deatil:
"Climate. The Sheet Harbour Ecodistrict is
characterized by moist summers with no moisture
deficit. It has a mean annual temperature of5.8°C,
and mean summer and winter temperatures are
16.3 and -5.0°C, respectively. The ecodistrict
receives about 1440 mm of precipitation annually,
including about 535 mm ofrain between May and
September. The ecodistrict accumulates 1522
annual growing degree-days (5°C basis) and has a
growing season of 196 days.
Landform. The Sheet Harbour Ecodistrict is
predominantly located on a rolling to hummocky
till plain. Much of the topography is controlled by
the underlying quartzite and granite bedrock and is
covered with stony till. The dominant till is derived
from quartzite, is found on rolling topography, and
is excessively stony. Till veneers and bedrock
outcrops are common. Moderately fine-textured,
reddish-brown till, derived from Carboniferous
shale, has been deposited to a notable extent as till
plain around the Moser River area and as drumlins
south and east of the Musquodoboit Valley. A
gravelly medium-textured till veneer caps
Wittenburg Mountain, a high narrow slate ridge
located along the northern boundary of the
ecodistrict. Peatland is associated with very poorly
drained depressions, shallow lakes, and sluggish
rivers and streams.
Vegetation. The northern elevated edge of the
ecodistrict is a hilly area that is far enough inland
to be immune to the cold summer temperatures
common to the Atlantic coast. This elevated area
supports tolerant hardwoods, such as sugar maple,
yellow birch, and beech. Red spruce, white spruce,
balsam fir, and hemlock cover the upland flats,
lower slopes, and valleys. Between the hilly,
northern edge and the coastal zone to the south, red
spruce, balsam fir, yellow birch, eastern hemlock,
and white spruce are common species on welldrained
sites. Beech, yellow birch, red maple, and
sugar maple are found on the higher hills. Exposed
bedrock cliffs commonly support white pine and
black spruce.
Soils. The ecodistrict is dominated by the well- to
rapidly drained, stony sandy loam Halifax and
Gibraltar soils (Orthic Humo-Ferric Podzols and
Ortstein Humo-Ferric Podzols) that have developed
on quartzite and granite-derived tills, respectively.
Imperfectly drained, stony sandy loam Danesville
soils (Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzols) and Bayswater
soils (Gleyed Ortstein Humo-Ferric Podzols) and
poorly drained Aspotogan soils (Gleysols) are
associated with Halifax and Gibraltar soils on
seepage slopes and in depressions. Moderately
well-drained loam Wolfville soils (Orthic Humo-
Ferric Podzols) have developed on till derived from
Carboniferous shale. Well- and imperfectly drained
gravelly loam soils of the Rawdon association
(Orthic and Gleyed Humo-Ferric Podzols) cover
Wittenburg Mountain ridge. Bogs (Fibrisols), fens
(Mesisols), and forested swamps (Humisols) are
associated with poorly drained soils and slowly
flowing streams.
Land Use. Forestry is the dominant land use.
Residential development is concentrated in the
Halifax-Dartmouth area."
I added pictures of the ground and some trees. They have a funny size, but I have to respect the people originally appearing in those photos.
There are also oaks, sugar maples and other hardwood trees.
What is your opinion on this land? What would a premaculture expert do on that land? What are the advantages and disadvantages he would see and make use of?
We definately want to start it all there, since our daughter will have her grandparents near and we will get the land for free. There is more than enough firewood as dead trees and trees for lumber, to be cut with a mobile sawmill, as well as stones as building material.
Thanks for your opinions and suggestions.
Have a nice day!
Mattes from Germany.