Purchasing some
land in southern Georgia, and would like to slowly convert a peanut and pine farm into food forests and pasture for sheep.
It is about 90 acres.15 acres of peanuts. 10-15 acres of planted pine. A lot of seaonally flooding bottom land.
My initial goal is to clear out some of the timber just northeast of the cropland as well as west of the cropland and turn it into food forrest.
This property will be our homestead, but wanted to start with clearing out some areas and establishing a food forrest as this seems to take the longest to get going.
The soil in the northeast part of the property is a sandy loam, and west side a loamy sand.
My question the the forum is for suggestions on what to include in the food forrest. I want a rugged low-maintenace, disease resistant plan that once established will not need a lot of upkeep. Looking to both produce food for our homestead, but also to supplement the
local deer and boar diets...
I was thinking about mulberry,
hazlenut and black walnut being the larger
trees and some larger
apple trees forming a
canopy, with a persimon, dwarf plum, cherry subcanopy. Lots of blackberries, elderberry, and rasberry brambles. In the open areas I want to fill in with edibles like suncoke, walking onions,
perennial thyme etc. I am both looking at ideas of things to add, critique to my plan, and other thoughts on the property in general.
https://s11.postimg.org/53s1szscz/overviewprop.jpg
There is an overlay of soil types. And a blue overlay of the possible seasonal flooding. Creeks flood, and depending on precipitation but also will run dry.
The front acres are being used for peanut production currently which is being leased out and for now want to keep it that way for the income, but eventually will convert to pasture for sheep.
There is about 15 acres of planted pine, which has few years before it will be harvested, which I plan on leaving alone right now..
I am not sure where to put the
cabin we will live on. Will put a small annual vegetable garden somewhere.
Other issues. The farmland in this area has had a bit of the nutrients stripped from the land in the flood plane area. This property has about 30 acres of Bottomland around the creeks. Its a somewhat depleated sandy soild with mixed "bottom land" hardwood mix. Any ideas on what to do with this area Its about 30 acres of seasonally flooding terrain that I have not fully explored.
