Thanks for that, interesting read.
Lol, completely unrelated to my main issue, but was more then worth the time to read.
Our starting situation is a lot better then theirs was. We have about 3 acres that is forest that's been there for decades.
Let's see if I can paint this with words
The property is a bit over 6 acres. The front of the property, likely about 3 acres worth, is forested with maples, pines, birch among other species, likely 40 or 50 years worth of growth.
The banks around the pit, which takes up the other part of the property, range from 100' to 15' high. The main 'floor' of the pit, is on the same level as the road and driveway, the banks go up around it.
In the floor of the pit, there are a couple of deeper pits that have filled in with water. The main one is at around 15 feet deep, the secondary one is at least 6 deep... I say at least, because we don't know yet, we didn't wade into them to check.
There are already weeds, grasses and shrubs coming up in the pit, although it is still fairly clear.
The water in the ponds is clear and teeming with life. Frogs, both normal and bull abound.
What I call the secondary pond will actually be more of the focus of where we start, as we will be parking the trailer on the north side of it, so we will be looking out over it from the trailer. The greenhouse will be going over the trailer, have a wood cook stove inside it, an indoor chicken coop (for the winter) and work area.
The greenhouse is 24'x60' so there will be enough room left over for a work area that is protected in the winter (and rain), as well as planters, both permanent and for starting plants in spring.
It is really well recovered around it, with growing ground cover grasses, shrubs and bushes.
The front part of the property will be fenced off with electric fencing and we will have a cow (dexter or jersey) and her calves) wandering around there. Our chickens will be paddocked in a part of the pit that is part of the drainage of it and the area above. It is virtually unusable for anything else as it would have to have a lot of fill in it to make it level, for the chickens it will be great as it has lots growing in it and water running through it.
For garden beds, we will be building raised beds and filling them with strawbales and planting in them the first planting year (next spring). The following year, we will have lots of compost to mix into the straw that is remaining in the beds.
As far as all that goes, we are pretty well set to do it, have what we need and know how to do it. If we wanted, we could just build in a different manner and not worry about the issues of the bank sliding, just plant is with grasses and let it settle as it wishes.
However
The idea of have the house built in a long narrow wrap around fashion with the center of the gravel pit as the 'courtyard' really appeals to me lol
The deeper pit, would end up having a cantilevered floor/deck, over the edge of it, with some steps going down into it. It's deep enough not to freeze to the bottom, so we can stock it with some fish as another food source.
I just need a way to hold back the banks of the pit when digging into them to build the house.
