Thriving The Future Ep. 26 – Choosing the Right Land

Detailed site survey for an off grid property

For our April workshop we did a property walk and site survey on a friend’s land. His goal is to turn this into an off grid property. We include clips of some of the on-site brainstorming conversations.

3 Acre lot in NE KS. Currently pasture with trees along the S side, which borders a creek/ravine.
Land slopes down to the S and SE. Most of the land is south facing slope (good for solar and gardens).
USDA Zone 6A

Goals are important.

Owner’s Goal: Turnaround property in 5-6 years and retire.
Do a proof of concept for off grid:
- 2 shipping containers, on trench footings, with a roof in between, enclosed space, and slab floor.
- Solar for power
- Rain catchment for water
- Compost toilet
The SE facing slope by the street (see pic above) would be perfect for perennials that increase curb appeal.
Note that your goals may change over the course of your time on the land. Allow for flexibility.
Looking back – would he buy the land? (listen to find out)

Important considerations for a small acreage property:

How much easement will you need? (how much space needed from the road or fence).
How much space will be taken up by septic system and laterals? If you put in septic, this would limit your growing area. (Because of this, he will not initially put in a septic system).

Land history:

20 years ago – large >20 acre pasture
10 years ago – land separated up into smaller lots. Neighbor built house on adjacent land to the south. Pastures to the north and west.

Trees along the S: Lots of hedge, some oak, hackberry. This area would be a good place for a shady spot in the heat of the summer.

Because of the SE slope toward the road you cannot see the back half of the property from the road.

Soil:

2 feet down is a rock shelf, which is estimated to be about 2 feet thick. This would limit digging a well and would also increase the cost of running water lines onto the land and digging a septic system.
Lots of rock protruding or working its way up through the soil, which could hamper using a mower across the land (we burned off the grass as seen below).
The soil is loamy and compressible.
The soil from the top of the hill is eroding down the hill. A test hole was dug about 1/3 way down the hill to test permeability, and it filled in with soil within 1 year. Part of our recommendation was to put in swales or hugel berms to slow the water down and maintain soil on the hill. Then plant into the uphill side of the berm.

Climate

NE KS is USDA Zone 6A

About 30 – 35 inches of avg. annual rainfall
Average First Frost (Fall) – Oct 20
Average Last Frost (Spring) – Apr 20
Although we have had frost in May in 2020 (May-9) and 2021 (May-5)! There is a 10% chance of a frost as late as Apr 28 each year.
Last frost so far in 2022 was Apr-26 (AM).
Generally frost-free from May 3 through September 24. That is a frost-free growing season of around 175 days. In NE KS that is enough for two crops per year if planned correctly (succession planted).
NE KS has an average of 97 days of precipitation per year.
It has an average wind speed of 10 mph most of the year. And 8.6 months of the year the wind is from the south. This is important when planning microclimates.

Resources:

DavesGarden.com – Freeze and Frost Dates

WeatherSpark.com – rainfall, snow, temperature

CoolWeather.net – precipitation and temperature

Evaluate solar coverage with the Sun Seeker app

You can see the rocks sticking up through the grass, which would hamper a mower. Note that burning off the grass did not burn the scrubby trees.

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