Andrew Carter

Just an update for those that posted.

Met the farmers yesterday. Two really good guys (brothers).

We agreed to keep the place in Alfalfa - so everyone is happy.

Hey all

Planning my first bed(s).

I have only recently purchased the property and as such do not have any "obvious" compost to hand to put on top of the branches.

What I do have though are:
- Plenty of old hay bales
- Tonnes of leaves on the floor of my forest area, that are partially decomposed

Will any of these work as an alternative to layer on before I cover wih top soil?

Thanks

Hey all.

I just purchased a property, which has a decent amount of cropland right now (10 acres).

Now I have a lot of permie plans, but I am trying to not take on too much this year. So I am thinking about starting off on a 3 acre parcel at the top of my land.

That leaves 7 acres I know are next year's business.

Here's the question. I am the big city shot who has just moved into the area and the land has been rented out for years to a farmer. There is not a lease in place, and I am free to do what I want. But I want to fit into area, I don't want to hack people off or sound like I know more than I do.

The land has been in alfalfa for 2 years in a row. The last time I spoke to the farmer he said that it really needed to go into corn this year, said that another year of alfalfa wouldn't be good for the land.

What I want to avoid is corn or something that they use round-up or something that's just going to suck the life out of my soil.

Are there any other ideas? Soy?

I am meeting him on Saturday, and want to go armed with some knowledge and not sound like a total n00b.

Any help on the crop rotation cycle or other ideas I can take to him would be great.

Thanks to all that have replied so far.

I agree with a lot of your suggestions. The biggest one being to take a step back.

I am going to get a pro in to come and give me some advice. I have a really respected guy in the perma field that I've been introduced to and trying to get him to come out to the place. Fingers crossed...

Ok, so in my head I have the two options of :
1- Killing myself with a shovel
2- Hiring someone to do the work for me with a earth mover

Is there an intermediate $500 solution that makes me way more efficient, but also independent of getting someone else involved.

I need to dig several swails 90 feet across.

- All.

Please let me apologise if I am posting this in the wrong place.

Here is my background:
- Just purchased a 27 acre farm in Elizabeth, IL
- Property splits about half hardwood forest and half ag
- Last few years the ag has been in alfalfa and soy
- Property has quite steep contours. The forest goes about 150 ft top to bottom, but is readily accessible via a cleared path. However, there are many downed trees to remove.

So here we go. My question is, where to start...

So many things that I want to do, but only limited time. I am there every weekend, but I work in finance (it's not a 9-5 either).

Here's what I want to do this year:
- Start vegetable patch. I was thinking of starting off on an acre. I have read Ben Falk's book, and probably wanted to look at building some swales into the land given the sharp slope.
- I want to get some fruit trees going
- i have a big decision to make right now. The land is currently rented out. I need to decide what I do with this. Farmer wants to go corn this year.

What books do I need to read. Is there somewhere on the forum to start.

Sorry I know I seem quite scattered in my thoughts.

HELP!