Pros and Cons of -

[country freedom]

18.5 acres - 1.5 open/ balance wooded
Year around wet creek

My DFiance' is questioning 'why this property' - why do we need a creek (or pond-with other properties) with a bunch of woods? He wants mostly open land, with/without a natural water source.

I say we can clear out more acreage as we need later, water on land is a plus (must have).

He is more citified - I am becoming more needful for elbow room with benefits (woods/water)

This is where we differ!

 

[xpc]

I would go wooded with a creek for the same reasons you said as long as the money was reasonable, but would not spend a lot more just for the creek.
I'd check the flood history on the creek and also with your states DNR for the legal description of a navigable waterway, you may have to keep it open if you can float a small boat and then have strangers paddle through your backyard. Sometime mosquitoes can be a problem if its stagnant enough.

 

[freemotion]

I used to want only/mostly open land, coming from a horse background. Coming from a ss point of view, however, the balance of woods/open land is very much an advantage. I'm glad I have it, even if it is not much of either.

Goats need browse.

Pigs need shade.

Woods slow winds that knock down grasses.

Woods offer diversity of plants and animals for wild foraging.

Woods offer foods, either naturally or that you can naturalize. We are growing mushrooms, have acorns, grapes, blueberries, sassafras, poplar, sugar maples, birch, and probably other stuff I don't know how to use yet. I bought some ostrich ferns that I am growing as a foundation plant in a sun-free corner of my house and plan to naturalize them into the woods near the stream once they really get going....looks like next spring....in a few years, I'll have fiddleheads to eat every spring.

In a drought year, my pasture remains alive only under the shade of the trees. I have woods on one side and trees along the fenceline, as well as a few "islands" of trees or single trees in the pasture. In hot weather, the goats and chickens go from shade patch to shade patch to free-range.

Do some research on permaculture to learn more about what you can grow/gather only from woods.

Oh, and the obvious....it is a source of wood for heat and other things....I've cut small trees for many projects, including plant stakes, trellises, even a hay rack made mostly from 4-5" diameter trunks and saplings/branches. I have a book on making rustic furniture that is fascinating, and very inspiring. I have some cool trunks that had bittersweet vines twisting up them, they are drying in my garage to make a table with. I have some great birch ones drying to make a headboard for my bed. I used nice branches to hang window treatments from in three rooms in my house and they look like something out of Martha Steward Living.

Get the property!!!!

 

[~gd]

I would go wooded with a creek for the same reasons you said as long as the money was reasonable, but would not spend a lot more just for the creek.
I'd check the flood history on the creek and also with your states DNR for the legal description of a navigable waterway, you may have to keep it open if you can float a small boat and then have strangers paddle through your backyard. Sometime mosquitoes can be a problem if its stagnant enough.

In the USA it is the Army Corps of Engineers who supervises/controls navigable waterways they may farm the job out to some state's DNR, but when push comes to shove they are the winners.~gd

 

[xpc]

In the USA it is the Army Corps of Engineers who supervises/controls navigable waterways they may farm the job out to some state's DNR, but when push comes to shove they are the winners.~gd

Then I don't which is worse as they both have some ungodly power to make your life miserable.

 

[kcsunshine]

These days the sad thing is we don't really own what we worked hard and paid for.

 

[Wifezilla]

I say get the wooded land with creek. Like the others have said, you can always clear some of it if you need. too. It is a LOT harder to grow a forest from scratch than it is to clear an area.

 

[~gd]

These days the sad thing is we don't really own what we worked hard and paid for.

Dont get me started on Eminent Domain! The State took half of my little hobby farm for a four lane highway. Fair market value? They offered me ~80% of what the county had assessed it for property taxes and refused to deal on the value. Once my fancy lawyer contacted them they really started to play hardball, they seized the title and ordered me to be out in 30 days. Did you ever try to buy property on short notice when all your capital was tied up in a different house? They threatened to have the Sherriff evict me; I told them to just let me know when so I could arrange media coverage. The sheriff wanted no part of that mess and pulled some strings to get them to back off. This was back in Feb. 08. In November after the elections my lawyer settled out of court (new State Attorney was an old law school buddy) he got 1/3 of the settlement money with one stinking phone call. It IS who you know that counts!~gd

 

[lupinfarm]

DEFINITELY the wooded areas are a big bonus. Our major concern is that when we do come to put a woodstove in (next year) we don't have a woodlot. Now it is very easy and not so expensive to order and have logs delivered, but in the time being we are stocking up what we have. We have a big old tree that needs to come down by the house as it has up and died/dying so that'll contribute significantly to our stock pile of wood. We also have about 3 years worth of cedar post off-cuts.

 

[Blackbird]

Wooded!!

A nice section of woods can support all sorts of life and food sources!

We have woods on either side of our property and a creek that runs right at the corner on the south woods. Unfortunately, we have cropland on the other two sides, so any fertilizers, pesticides, and chemicals that the neighbor uses often end up draining into the stream and killing the fish every summer.

We have most of the northern woods fenced in for goats. There is a low spot that foods every spring, and then dries down and then the plants grow all over.

So not only do they have enough forage and natural flora and fauna to keep them busy most of the time, but the area also supports various plants that have medicinal properties that can enhance their health and well-being. Versus if we had them in a small dry area we would be controlling their diet, and most of the hay you buy doesn't always have a lot of variety.

So yes, a nice pasture area with a stand of trees is always a plus!