Progress to date

We're moving up on it slow but steady. 

This week is the last full week our attention will be focused on the house going up for sale in Black Mountain. All I've been able to do on the farm is -ta da- get it mowed! And it looks pretty good close up too, not too rough and not that many scrub bushes.  We did a quick walkthrough while Frank was mowing and a drive-by when he was done to take this shot. 

Other than that, I've been in touch with the engineer at the DOT who is looking into whether I need a  driveway permit before grading. I need to get the property surveyed soon too.  It should be a quick job to get some pins in and fencing lined up. 

Probably we'll get some standard livestock fencing, 4 ft should do it, alternating wood and metal posts. Likely it will just need to keep the local dogs and the neighborhood kids out. I doubt that there are many deer out there. Just whatever is living in the rough along the creek, and there's not much of that. Hopefully not too many snakes. 

On the home front, I am trying to keep the initial plants healthy, but as the season winds down, I am losing too many of my starts to bugs, though these are mostly the ones I started in July. The ones started in spring are nearly all still doing well.

  

These I call the losers. Probably most
won't make it to spring, but I will keep them in
the group just in case I'm wrong. 

These are the early starts, around 20
 of the first 28 that grew to at least 4'.
I think of them as the winners. 

     

It's time to order more stalks to start in the spring, because I will have only about 40 plants at most that will make it through the winter. I think once I get them in the ground, the stalks will do much better than the ones in pots. I am now looking at these as a trial run, rather than the cornerstone of the farm. It's a little sad, but it's ok too. Plans can change, and agriculture is always iffy. 

Speaking of iffy, we are in a drought period in WNC. I would rush over and pop these babies in the ground, but I have no way to do irrigation yet. I am thinking of a quick pond and a pump. That means I still need to wait for grading, probably next month. 

Slow and steady can be pretty frustrating. 

Enjoy this panorama of the valley taken on the day we stopped by during the mowing. We were standing in the back corner of the lot, next to the creek. 

Inspirations

 

I am incredibly inspired by the women on Instagram who have bought land, are bringing it into their vision of peace, empowerment and are testifying to the power of Nature to bring out our best selves. Respect to @ablackgirlinthewoods and @farmercee for their wonderful posts.

I have a smaller vision than theirs, but if I had been born a little later (and therefore now a little younger) I would have acres and decades more. Enough to really build a sanctuary for me and mine, and a resource for others. As these women have been for me.  

As far as my luck will hold, I should still have a small beautiful space that will keep me active and involved. 

The main benefit I have now is a little less risk and a little savings; as a senior woman who draws a moderate social security check, I tailor my ambitions to what I can live on and what I can pay cash for. If the venture fails or succeeds, I won't be pushed off the land by a bank. Hopefully, that will keep me safe for any upheavals. Younger folks will have a longer road to financial independence, and more incentive to make the land pay for itself. 

One of the risks I carry with just one cleared acre is the scrutiny of the too-close neighbors. I am in a rapidly gentrifying red-neck town, close enough to Asheville to attract an influx of quirky young and old liberals like me. We are all looking for a place to build something more local and personal. I hope the group of us can shift the politics, but you can't change a small town's basic nosy nature. Everyone wants to get in your business. Yes, I am apprehensive. 

But I love small towns and I'm really hopeful too. I just want to promote the joy of women's self-sufficiency, learning from each other,  finding purpose in working the land and happiness in the simple things. Goddess bless us all. 

Farm matters

 

Little Farm, Pocket Farm, Mini-Farm, Hobby Farm, Farmlet, Farmelita. 

I'm setting aside 1/2 acre for the initial farm field. It's about 150 feet squared. Each 10 foot square area can hold 35-45 willow plants, with generous aisles between rows. That half acre will eventually fill with around 10,000 plants within 3-5 years. Each plant will grow 10-50 usable rods per year on average, giving a possible harvest of 100K - 500K rods. They currently sell for about a dollar per 4-6 ft rod. 

Not so little, eh? Well, depending on good weather, plenty of rain and sun and some timely planting and replanting. 

The first two years will be taken up with filling out the numbers. About half of my starting willow plants have rods that can be replanted in the spring to be new plants. I'll probably fill in with purchased stakes of willow varieties or colors that I want more of, and hold off selling anything til I have about half of the field producing well. 

For those interested, I started with these seven varieties, all recommended highly for baskets and some that are also good for fencing,  hedges and stream retention. 

• Streamco
• Frances Red
• Rubykins
• Americana
• Miyabeana
• Brittany Green
• Acutifolia

Jinxed

 A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks. Apparently, I DID jinx myself, if not the land purchase, in my last post. Yes, the purchase went through! We closed this Monday, four days ago. A little drama occurred since NC law apparently gifts half of any real estate purchase to your spouse, however estranged and distant he or she might be. Luckily he agreed to a quit claim, so the actual closing went through without a hitch. 

No, the jinxing was on me. On the 23rd I wrote, "anything could happen" to me, and it did. On the 26th I slipped and fell in a puddle of water. I had left the water running to fill a watering can and walked away too long. After hydroplaning, I fell flat on my back and knocked my head hard enough to throw my whole face off center. I was pretty sure I had done some damage, though I stayed awake and alert and only had some immediate pains. We went to the local emergency room and then I got ambulanced over to big Wake Forest Baptist in Winston Salem for observation. I was cat scanned several times and repeatedly tested. I went home the next afternoon, cleared for the moment, but with a concussion and some other possible damage to watch. 

I felt like I had been beat up for several days, and meanwhile, closing was closing in. I couldn't think, read, watch tv or really anything useful. Closing got pushed out several days, thankfully, but I was still a basket case up until the day, when I had to be an adult, handling large sums and answering for myself legally. But I did it, and pretty much fell out once I got word it was completed. 

Hell, yes! My one acre of paradise!

Anyway, I am still recovering and need to take it easy for several more weeks, at least. Meanwhile I am trying to get my house done to get it on the market so I can't rest every day. 

Why does everything have to happen at once?

For the next two months, I'm going to try to get my driveway permit filed and get the property graded and the driveway put in. Hopefully by October, I can get some electricity to the site. None of these things involve me lifting anything other than a cell phone, and maybe a site visit or two. The two groups of willow starts that I have going - now 56 of them  - are getting moved into a sunnier place in my yard, giving them a few more months of growing season before they go dormant. I'll plant them on the site... when I can. I'm looking at day to day right now. 

Land Lust

It looks like it's going to happen, closing is in 10 days, though I suppose anything could happen in that time including me dropping dead - which at 71 is not that unlikely. But the waiting is going to be hard, hence this blog. I hate to jinx the sale by writing about it, but a few photos can't hurt, can they?

We drove by the property Friday, at the conclusion of a frustrating day of finishing up my house to sell. I already had a headache coming on but we stopped for a few quick photos. Not that much different than Google street views, but I wanted to have some photos to show. 

It's just 1 acre. I say just because I wanted more, much more. When I first moved to Asheville, with my then-husband, we looked at 25 acres of forest and level pasture, with a decent house and several outbuildings for $250,000. (Cue hysterical laughing.) That was in the 90's, so yes, I am kicking myself now for not getting it but then-husband got cold feet and that was that. 

Now I have my own money set aside, but I'm just that much older. And tireder. Most the land we've looked at recently, partner and I, has been steep, wooded and isolated. The clearing and leveling needed was just not what I wanted to handle these days. Then this small gem showed up and I breathed a sigh of relief. Yes, 1 acre of already cleared and level land would be enough. Even if our neighbors were too close for comfort. Even if development will eventually destroy the beauty and quiet.  

Even if, and it could happen, the willow business gets so big we need more land. But probably, 1 acre will be enough. 

Close to Asheville and Black Mountain, where I lived for 12 years. Close to my doctors, just in case. Close enough to all the fun stuff like concerts and restaurants and brew-pubs, but far enough away to enjoy peace and quiet. 

I still get land-envy driving through rural WNC, where most of the farmland is still family owned. It took generations to get these rolling hills and fields to their green perfection, the neat houses and barns set below the mountains. I might have 10 good years, I have to remind myself, and after that, likely that property will be cleared of willow and another neighborhood house will take its place. But I am still content with those 10 years if I can spend them here. 

Throwing your hat over the wall

The first 28 starts, 3 months old

This last winter, I decided that I was ready to order the willow stakes. I ordered them from Lakeshore Willow in Canada in January - 10 each of 7 varieties - and they shipped in March. They sat in the fridge until April when I managed to find enough 10" deep pots (or close to) to start 4 each of the 7, or 28 stalks, 2 to a pot (that's about 6-8" between them).. This was all predicated on the decision to go ahead and look for land this spring. I thought we could find some property before the end of the summer, and plant the first starts before the winter. 

Luckily, for the willow, we had a wet spring, and every single stalk had buds bursting forth after about 8-10 days. And most of them are going gangbusters now, 3 months later, with just a few exceptions. They are doing so well in the pots that I went ahead this week and planted the rest, splurging on nursery pots and lots of bagged dirt. 

The second batch of 42, a few days old
 and several are already budding!

Can I also mention, those cat litter totes make great -deep- planting pots. 

I haven't spent that much on this venture yet, under $400 for everything, which is good, since the property will be very cost-heavy. 

The excitement of watching these stalks turn into graceful willow fronds really made me anxious to find some land for them to live on! That's the value of the commitment, stepping up and making it happen. It nudges you to take the next step.

Due Diligence ends this week and closing is in August!

Whys and Wherefores

 So, you might ask, why a farm. Why, at your age, are you starting a new business, much less a back breaking one like farming? Why aren't you gentrifying some almost trendy town along with the other well-heeled retirees of your age. 

Well. 

Not so well-heeled. We both survive on Social Security. We both have houses that are beginning to look like albatrosses with the skyrocketing cost of repairs that older homes need. But we want to stay in NC for the 3 seasons it's wonderful, and have a means to leave for warmer weather in the winter. 

We also want to avoid any bank debt. We are paying for the land in cash. When I sell my house, there is no way I can buy another house at the prices they are asking. My mother's house, which sold in 2001 for 250,000 is now offered at 675,000. Everything is 3 times as expensive as 20 years ago. Not to mention, I couldn't get a mortgage with no other income than my (very small) SS check. 

There are few ways out of the trap this economy sets for people with restricted income. Ultimately, doing some kind of work is necessary, and every dollar counts. Putting together a business that is outside the corporate network won't be hugely profitable, but it's satisfying and can be profitable enough. Small, local businesses are the answer. 

So starting a farm will cost far, far less than buying a house. There are tax breaks and incentives for agriculture, and the regulations will allow a little permit stretching. With an RV doing triple duty as home at the farm, trips to see family and vacation home during the winter, we don't have to put in a well or a septic system which the county would require with a home build. 

Willow should also be a relatively hands-off crop, unlike food or livestock. Leaving aside the fact that I am enthusiastic about a new venture, and the history and potential of willow and other useful plants, I am looking forward to change. I am one of the few people that love change and new vistas; even at my age, the urge to do something new is calling. 

I am just lucky that I have a small amount of savings, enough to buy an acre of farmland outright, and a small but regular SS check. And that I love rural quiet and privacy. And that my partner is my partner in all my adventures. I don't know what will happen in the next 5 years, but I know that we will be together in a beautiful place, with good work to do, free to come and go as we will and at peace with just what we need and not needing much else. 

Looking for a Home

Hanna Van Aelst's videos are an amazing source of
inspiration and support.  This is a photo grab from
one of her videos. 

 It has been at least 5 years since I started looking for a place to call my own little pocket farm. I first found out about willow when I was trying to find a solution to the flooding in my basement caused by the incredibly heavy rains we've been having in WNC. Willow loves wet ground, and would have helped with runoff, but my city water pipes were too close to risk willow's water attraction. But my interest in willow was piqued - it does so many things well.  

I just ended a 25 year career as a fiber artist, making clothing from wool, another natural product that does many things well. I am close to this community and basket makers are a large contingent of our WNC crafts population.  Willow is a very common material in baskets, and also is used for sculpture - Penland, a craft workshop nearby has had Patrick Dougherty's work on their property recently. 

A living fence/hedge with a woven base, 

photo from The Willow Bank in UK.

The landscaping applications really made me want to find out more - Willow excels at Fencing, Hedges and Screening but also can make living fences and structures. It's easy and quick to grow and is very productive when given sufficient water and sunlight. And beautiful in all seasons.

And boy, is it raining these days in NC. And there are only a few Southeastern growers.

So I am currently in Due Diligence on a small property for the Good Willow Farm. I won't jinx it by giving out the location because it hasn't closed and there's still permits to be checked on. If the purchase goes through, we'll start grading and getting in utilities and storage this summer and we'll be planting in the fall (I have 70 plants already in pots). I'm doing lots of searches and you tube videos on farm tractors and shed foundations, so those subjects are coming up now. 

So this is the beginning of the newest adventure. Hope you will come along.