We thought it might be fun to give you all a monthly wrap-up of what we have accomplished. We started working on our 10 acres July 12, 2014. We had a 10 day plan in place, that we met and continued onto our next set of goals. The most important goals were to clear the borders so that we could essentially walk completely around our property. We also wanted to carve out a parking area so that we could park on our own land instead of in the right-of-ways.
Our next set of goals included creating a path so that we could easily walk to the northern border from our parking area. Future goals will include paths to the west and south borders. We are quite proud of ourselves for meeting our first set of goals.//tr
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The second in a three part series of articles that will give you some insight as to why we chose this particular piece of property. When chronicling any endeavor or adventure it’s always best to start at the beginning. This certainly holds true when it comes to establishing a sustainable farm in ten acres of heavily wooded Florida pine scrub. Property hunting certainly calls for some selection criteria. It also demands some soul-searching, vision and a very good sense of humor. The property hunt and how we finally settled on purchasing the land we did is as good a starting point as any. Here’s what made our latest purchase the right place at the right time. Wooded/Raw The second major criteria we had for any potential property purchase was that we wanted something raw with plenty of trees. You know, a relatively untouched and wooded lot. Why? Well, several reasons, but primarily due to climate concerns. We are in a subtropical environment (USDA growing zone 9B) and the sun is very intense. The premium that shade offers is evident when driving past some of the commercial nursery growing operations. Growers utilizing acres of irrigation under shade cloth in order to protect young plants isn’t unusual. The natural shade wooded acreage affords calls for no major infrastructure investments other than some strategic trimming and clearing.
For us, selective cutting and clearing was something we were willing to invest time in doing. Creating “edge effect” through removal rather than planting and waiting just seemed like a better option. Gotta be thinking Michelangelo’s David here. No way is there room for anything other than a full piece of marble. No pre-shaped slab is going to do (hold that thought). On a practical note, wooded lots in our area are often undervalued and overlooked. Many potential buyers looking for acreage are horse-loving retirees relocating to a hobby farm with pasture. The last thing many of them can do is clear land themselves or waste precious time waiting for it to be cleared. Also, land clearing is expensive and a good way for capable people to save a bit of coin when starting out. So, concentrating on wooded acreage took some of the property competition (the overpaying horse crowd) out of the equation. Now, back to Michelangelo. Raw, vacant land was just about the only non-negotiable criteria. Why? Because we wanted to put ourselves in the best position to work WITH the land. We want to make sure we’re in a position to become the best stewards of our plot possible. Rarely is there a perfect piece of property, so why complicate things even further by having to accept a previous owner’s incongruous vision? Again, something that was just a non-negotiable in our view. So, with an untouched wooded/raw lot, the prices in our geography is more realistic and much less open to any bidding competition. With our fully wooded lot in the raw we’re also able to take our time or open things up full-throttle as we see fit. No wasted time repairing old buildings or broken systems. In essence, our full-sized marble slab is ready and waiting to be chiseled and shaped into our masterpiece.//mr It had to happen. We had to do work along the main road. The North, South and West lines have all been cut. The East side road frontage is the only line that has work remaining on it. The goal was to make a cut into the property that will first serve as a place for us to park our vehicles on our own land as well as begin to establish our future driveway.
We have avoided this for a couple of reasons. First, the road is on the East side of the property. From about 7 am to 8 am its nice and shady. After that, it's not a pleasant area to work because you are being baked. Somehow the jungle heat of the interior of the property paled in comparison to that day's work due to the blazing sun. We would have to walk across the glaring limestone road that captured every last ray from the burning star overhead to seek relief in the only sliver of shade within sight. The second reason we have been avoiding working along this section of the property is that it is inevitable people are going to stop and start asking questions. While this is not a bad thing - we both feel knowing our neighbors is beneficial - it feels kind of weird being the couple questioned. We do understand the curiosity of two strangers hacking away along the road with hoes, rakes and shovels on a piece of property that has sat idle for greater than 20 years. So the day we worked the road, we met some of the locals. The conversations and comments ran the gamut from "you're not going to cut these trees down and clear this land, are you" to "cut them all down, they are all junk trees!" Mostly everyone was kind and welcoming. They asked what our plans were and if we would be moving out there soon. It’s funny, because when we asked a few questions of our own, many of the negative comments about the area centered around the roads. The road and it’s access is actually one of the reason why we chose this particular piece of land. One guy was trying to scare us by telling us all about the multiple 5 foot rattle snakes he kills all the time. When my husband extended his hand into the truck’s cab to shake hands, he later commented that he got a contact drunk off the guy. It’s is Florida, and the saying goes, “up by 7, drunk by 11.” A couple of folks were even bold enough to ask us what we paid for the property. We were perfectly fine offering up this information, it is public record, but I don’t ever recall asking a stranger what they purchased their home or property for. Immediately after asking that, they harkened back to the days of the last real estate bubble. We achieved our goal for the day of being able to park our vehicle on our own land. The fact that neither of us had a heat stroke was an added bonus. //tr&mr It's mid-July, in Florida, and it's hot. I must preface this though with a statement that Florida is not the hottest place we have ever dealt. We lived for many years in Arkansas, where triple digit temperatures, straight-up, no heat index were normal. Don't even get me started on the heat index... Florida is a different kind of heat - more along the lines of a jungle heat. If you wander into the shade, it's instantly cooler. If you sit down and put a cold water soaked bandana on your neck, it's instantly cooler. If you eat your weight in watermelon, you are instantly brought back to a cooler internal temperature.
You have to be careful, and you have to pace yourself. You have to know your limitations, and you have to know what you can and cannot do. You have to rest when you feel fatigue setting in and you need to stay hydrated. We worked for about 6 hours today with rest breaks totaling around 45 minutes. We sat in the shade, we drank Gatorade and ate watermelon. We brought enough water to last us twice as long as we were out there. We achieved our goal for today (clearing the West line) and decided to eat our sandwiches and take a little break before packing everything out. As I was inhaling the last bit of sandwich, I found myself staring off into the landscape. You know, that far off stare where your mind is completely empty and void of all thoughts. I finally heard a voice, "stay with me sunshine". Ooops! It was time to go home. A bit more water, a nice change of clothes, and a sweaty walk back to the car put an end to me. It was a pit stop at the ABC store, then straight home to the pool to cool off - gotta get back out there in the morning!! //tr There is something special about using hand tools. Sure it would be easier and quicker to rent the equipment or hire the workers to clear the land, but what fun would that be? In just one day using only hand tools we were able to clear away a path about 4 foot wide and 200 feet long. We are both extremely pleased with that.
It is an exercise not only in clearing the fence row, but in access. The property is thick with scrubby underbrush which makes maneuvering through it very difficult. The exercise in clearing the land is also one that will enable us to learn about our land. We will learn where the live oak stands are, where the trees we need to remove are, and where the bumps and depressions are. We can decide where we want to put meadows, gardens, and our home site. Yesterday we hacked and sawed and machete'd our way along the North boundary. Today will be much of the same. It's not easy, but strangely satisfying. The quote by Robert Frost: "The only way out is through" kept creeping into my mind to keep up the momentum. I love the feeling of accomplishment I am already feeling from just a mere 200 feet of open space. Only 400 feet to the pin! |
About UsIn 2014 a couple of 40-somethings decided to make a change. The purchase of 10 raw, pine scrub acres along Florida's Nature Coast started it all. This is that story. Archives
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