I got a similar property, with a cedar swamp on one corner, but in Northern Wisconsin, but not very cleared. I had access issues which got worked out because the corner of the property was 5 feet from the road and the neighbor was not “cool”. It was the first real cedar swamp I have ever seen and looks a bit like bayou. So I’m guessing you’ll have the red heavy clay, no nitrogen, and low pH… probably have moss growing on the soil.
I haven’t got my “bargain parcel” in use yet - still working on planting my 1st orchard. But the challenges I face are trying to find enough lime to get the soil prepped. (Lime is hard to get in quantity the north woods), then I’ll need to trench and run drainage tube, and I’ll have to plant some annual rye to bust up the clay. In northern Wisconsin a lot of people use an oat/pea blend for that, I like the annual rye because it dies every winter and covers the clay so it is not slippery and nasty. A radish/crimson clover blend also helps with the clay.
…anyways- plan on a lot of work to get it able to grow stuff- I personally enjoy the work.
well to update. i took everyone’s advice as well as my brothers and my wife’s. called the owner and cancelled the viewing last night. its alot of money and more land than i really need. tried to see if the owner would sell a smaller parcel but said she wants to sell the whole thing. thank you everyone for the advice. the search continues.
I won’t buy any land anywhere that wasn’t good for fruit trees. Land like that described might be good recreational land but if it’s frozen in winter and slimy in summer, I’m out. There’s tons of public land I can hike around or hunt on.
I would enjoy the work as well, but not all that to grow fruit trees in a swamp.
Are you talking about annual rye grass? Most folks I know using something to improve soil are using winter rye (grain). Plant in late August/early September, it over winters and grows a whole bunch until the following summer. Dealing with the straw it creates can be some work.
Yes annual ryegrass. It establishes really fast suppressing weeds, needs little care, you can swed by hand, and dies in the winter. After snow melt it is pressed into the soil precent erosion. You can then toss whatever seedbyou want on that and not have to worry about it washing away. Its my goto for planting whenbi dont know what cover crop i want to grow.
Most definitely. I thought I’d clear like a few acres and be ready to plant trèes by spring, Ha!
Im working on a parcel adjacent to my cabin now instead, I Estimate about 3 hours of work per tree, when you take grafting, clearing the land, transplanting and deer protection. At 100 trees per acre its a lot of time for an acre. At least this site doesnt have to deal with clay as well. But we dont all have choices where we grow, but have to make do with what we can get. If the pioneers could do it without modern tech, we can do it too.
Probably much better than putting money in banks or bonds…or even stocks…if you have the spare money. But, if you’re doing a mortgage…I’d prefer to see a path to selling at a profit in a bit.
Aroostock county’s been soil mapped and surveyed- check it out. It sounds like you’re talking about the Perham-Plaisted-Monarda soils, so you’d be investing in wet, cold, slow draining soils in one of the coldest parts of the whole country. There’s an old saying; “no one ever sold a good farm, and you can’t afford to keep a poor one”. That being said, the same properties went for $250-500/a. back in the 90’s when I was looking there, so the hedge against inflation still works, but if I wanted a small lot to work now, and with thoughts of it as an investment, I’d still favor the loamier soils near Caribou- Presque Isle and down along the border towards Houlton. The warmer, shallower Howland soils are way past being profitable for potatoes, and would make excellent orchard material.
For an orchard, tree farm, other plants, forest/prairie restoration, etc… it’s probably great. For building a house on? Even if it’s a small cabin I’d have a professional out to inspect that and look at what surveys and maps are available for bedrock, soil layers/types, and water(including not surface visible) in the area. I’d also get it thoroughly replanted with erosion control asap because a hillside above a swamp is far better if it’s not cleared than buying one that’s even had everything burned and bulldozer activity.
I’ve seen top soil stripped from even mostly flat ground in 1 growing season without the proper cover crops and windbreaks. It covered the road in dirt drifts as tall as any snow drift I’ve nearly gotten a truck stuck in. They cleared the land planning to do sustainable farming but failed to first follow all advice given of how to maintain the soil and land surrounding whatever crops they had planned. I’d prefer a hill that still had some bushes and at least small trees on it with established root systems or had been promptly replanted with deep rooting grasses and forbs.
I was so sad when my grandma and grandma decided to sell his parents’ farm. It was a lot of land full of old fruit and nut trees, open fields that had grown hay or pasture, a meadow with beehives, and fertile, well drained soil. They built the house on the flattest spot. Every few years the walkway to the house had to be dug a little deeper and a new step put in because the little house my great grandparents built slowly sank into the “well drained” soil that turned out to have a surprising amount of sand a few feet under the topsoil and a long way to bedrock so it never compacted enough to hold something the size of a house in place. Eventually you had to step over the apple tree roots that had grown under the walkway to the house and were now growing across the trench to the door. They just didn’t know enough about what was under the soil when they decided where to build the house and none of the land seemed to hold even lightweight, sheet metal sheds with dirt floors without the roof getting lower or uneven over time. On the surface it looked like all the other surrounding farmland that slowly goes from rich loam to increasing clay and quickly runs into limestone bedrock. It’s possible they also happened to be sitting on top of a large underground river system or water basin but I was too young to know those details.
Growing up in the middle of all farmland the soil quality is infinite times better if it hasn’t been used for crop farming. Modern farming practices and crops absolutely suck for keeping any good top soil around. Most agricultural states have lost a very large portion of the top soil and are basically planting right into the clay or sandy layers with just lots of effort and cost expended on concentrated fertilizers and amendments to help crops root securely. Corn 20+ years ago could bounce right back after a bad storm. Now it’s frequently a total loss. Forest land is the richest soil you can find in most of the US because it hasn’t lost any top soil, had a wide variety of wild plants growing that contributed to increasing soil nutrients, and had plant debris deposited on top making another rich layer every year. Undisturbed forest would be my ideal choice for converting into any type of growing area with the least effort. The trees can come down where needed as progress is made while continuing to improve the soil until then but building soil up and restoring the lost nutrients is a whole lot more effort. Land that has been used for crops for an extended period of time requires the most effort, money, and waiting years to be able to use even if you bring in top soil and fertilizing or composting components by the dump truck load. Land that’s had the top layer stripped for clearing with bulldozers or building structures is probably the second worst option since the top soil gets buried and the lower layers of usually clay are brought to the surface but at least it isn’t devoid of nutrients.
Clay is actually great at holding onto useful plant nutrients in large amounts for a long time. You just need to help it also release those nutrients and mix some organics back into it for a high ratio of loam if it’s become nearly all clay. It does also hold on to chemicals causing things like herbicides to last for 5-10 years when they are tested to normally break down in 4-6months. Carbon sources and rock dust amendments would be high on my list of things to source and spread to help clay soil. Farmers are increasingly finding the value of various rock dusts for even crop fields. It helps replenish as well as release from clay type soils a lot of micronutrients, reduce the buildup of chemicals, and improve soil structure. It’s getting easier to find places that will supply truckloads of rock dusts for about the price of a load of sand.
Find out if it is considered to be on a flood plane.
The price isn’t high and that circumstance isn’t that important to you, but a lack of developability is a bargaining point in your favor. The county probably has maps.
at least here in the north, when the snow melts the flood plain is where the water over flows its banks on the edges of rivers and streams. its very fertile as sediment is deposited every spring. flood plain fields are the best for production and never need fertilizer but are one of the last to be planted as they are still wet and drain slower than fields that dont flood. flood plains where there’s woods is where we find fiddleheads. like ramps to you folks, fiddleheads are our spring forage crop.
Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) is the one you want. they are easy to find when they are grown out as they are much bigger than other ferns. seen some near 4ft. they also grow well in most places you grow out mushrooms. they like more shade and wetter conditions than ramps. there are a few nurseries that sell them. i dug 6 rhizomes from along a brook here and transplanted under my norway spruces a few years ago. as long as i keep some mulch around them and give some compost/ manure they grow well. i have some ramps growing right next to them in a brighter spot.
my father had a big boulder in his back garden. he planted 20 fiddleheads around it and it provided a few nice meals for him and my mother every spring. his zucchini patch grew around them. only got about 2 hrs. direct light per day
One thing I didn’t see mentioned; the property could have an entire river flowing through it, that doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have water rights. Same for wells; if you don’t have water rights you can’t put one. For farm land this would be the first thing to ask about.