New here, from kentucky. happy to talk about orchards and building houses well.

  I actually wound up here via a bass fishing forum.

  I was looking for examples of timber framing done well, but without chiseled joints,i found this fella building a dock and he wound with seven pages of good old boys cheering him on and offering advice.

  so let's give forums a try! my wife daughter and i live in the Valley Hill region of Kentucky. presently we live in the back half of a general store that we operate 10 months out of the year selling ice cream, pottery, jams, jellies and such like. we're purchasing ten acres across the road from us that includes a south facing hill with a well 2/3rds of the way up a tobacco barn and a decent sized creek.

  we're looking to build a sustainable home in stages on top of the hill while we continue to live in the store. the plan at present is best described as an "overbuilt picnic shelter housing a reasonably sized cob and strawbale cabin". the remainder of the hill will be turned over to mixed orchards.

i run a small gardening service as well so if you'd like to talk about your yard i'm game. i'm also up for just talking shop with folks in the trade.


that being said, good to meet y'all, and a fine new year to you!

I am new here as well.  Your plan sounds great.  Currently I am living in Texas with my girlfriend.  We will be moving on in the spring, to points unknown.  I am drawn to Kentucky and have enjoyed the little time that I spent there.  I must say having a general store and building a sustainable house on 10 acres sounds like one version of heaven.  Good luck 

while i do enjoy the hell out of kentucky, i wouldn't mind being in texas for the next few months. but springtime up here is grand.

I imagine you mean for the weather.  Not today in North Texas at least.  It snowed about 3 inches  earlier in the week after about 1 inch of rain and we are on our second day of around freezing temperatures.  Which is actually good because when it is above freezing it is just melting snow and mud mud mud.  Of course by the weekend we are back to mid 50's and lows in the 40's.  I am originally from PA and would much prefer a few months of cold and generally frozen ground with one or two muddy thaws.  We've gone through the cycle of rain, freeze, thaw about three times and its not even the middle of January.

hmmm, if the south keeps getting hammered with weather like that it kinda of seems to defeat the purpose of southern living. i'm glad to be buying property before the great snow bird reverse migration drives up property values in the mid west.