My husband and I are considering a 12 acre property in New England zone 6a. The property is wooded (mostly red and white oaks) and sloping (apparently that's what we can afford with large rocks/boulders. We have chickens, ducks and (Icelandic) sheep that would be on this land as well as getting some pigs to help with establishing pasture in the forest. We'd be doing silvopasture, thinning out some of the trees in the area for pasture to open up the canopy so we could establish edible forages. The potential pasture land is drawn out on the photo below on the left side of the property with six, 1/2 acre pastures. That area is sloped (east facing) ranging from 7% slopes at the northern-most pasture and increasing with each pasture to the southernmost pasture which has 14% slopes. That seems to be the only area that might be suitable for pasture. It is at the top of a ridge that slopes down to the pond and many parts of the ridge are at 75% sloped so those will have to stay forested. The lower areas adjacent to the pond are a different soil type and we noticed many waterloving/wetland plants down there so I think it stays pretty moist.
There is probably enough open area around the house for my annual gardens and we'd hope with some thinning of the forest we'd have some areas opened enough to plant our choice of nut and fruit trees. There are areas that look good to me for berry bushes, and of course with all that oak we'd definitely be doing mushroom logs. We have some pretty specific house needs due to needing a separate inlaw apartment or area for my mother who will be living with us and wants her own space. We've been looking for almost 2 years and this is one of the first places in our price range that ALMOST fits the bill (would prefer some more open areas or already established fruit and nut trees and a little less slope!).
We are new to silvopasture and a property this size (we currently have 2 acres of mostly open land) and want to make sure we won't be getting in over our head or making a choice that we'll come to regret with respect to not being able to meet our goals with this particular piece of land. We were hoping to have a final flock size of 10-12 ewes, which is doable with 3 acres of OPEN pasture but I'm guessing in a silvopasture that number will be reduced. Then 7-14% slopes on pasture - how much is too much?
Tips, advice, experiences welcome. Thank you!
