A few weeks ago as we headed into this year’s major undertaking that is landscaping, I posted an overview of what I call the residential portion of the property. That post got me thinking that you might be interested in seeing the whole farm. So let’s zoom out a bit, shall we?
Voilà. The farm. All 129 acres of it. Clear? Good. Post done for today.
What? Oh. Not clear? Perhaps you’d like some explanation of where and what things are.
Obviously, the residential portion is a very small part of the property.
The farm is a fat L-shape. The small severance on the west side belongs to the people who owned the farm three owners ago.
During our real estate search, it was very hard to find farms that hadn’t been chopped up over the years. Lots of them had rows of small one acre lots cut off on all sides, and it became a running conversation between Matt and me about how I didn’t want a property that was missing any pieces of pie. This single severance is relatively small and tucked around the side, so I don’t notice it too much. Ironically, it’s an unusually shaped lot: triangle, just like a piece of pie.
Anyways, before you all leave me and go looking for dessert, back to the explanation of the farm.
At the top of the image (on the west half), the dark squiggly line cutting across the top left corner is the creek that runs across the front of the property and under the driveway. It flows into the pond and then continues out to the back half of the property, which is mostly marsh.
When I describe the property, I say that about half of it is cleared for hay fields and that the other half is natural. The natural half is very wet, but it’s also thickly forested.
According to the third season of Sarah’s House (where Sarah Richardson bought her farm), an acre is about as big as a football field and fits 16 small city lots. So using that math, we could have more than 2,000 houses on our property–or a whole lotta guys in tight pants. Yikes.
One of our most frequently asked questions is, “What are you going to do with all of that land?” My answer is always, “Enjoy it.” The opportunity to live in these surroundings is a luxury that I do not take for granted.
I’ll admit that my environmentalist side was one motivator in buying such a large property. I am not a fan of suburbia, and I’m happy that I can preserve this small (or large, depending on how you look at it) corner.
That was wonderful to see. Thanks for sharing. I get it and I have grown to love my marsh most of all. Few realize how rich it is in wild life with a flora all its own.
The marsh is incredibly lush. I can’t believe how thick it’s become just over this spring.
Wow! You have a little bit of every kind of land to enjoy! Fields, forest, marsh, pond, creek (or crick around here). I can’t imagine anything more perfect!
Crick! I love it. I’ve heard that before–probably from my grandmother. I should start calling it the crick.
That is how it is pronounced most of the time down here. But we have Big CREEK that runs through the area and it is pronounced CREEK. So who knows!? 😉
I haven’t consulted my official country dictionary, but I think crick is a slightly smaller waterway than a creek.
In Alberta they sometimes call it a coulee. Your land is amazing. I LOVE the photo of the marsh! It’s fabulous that you’re preserving a wetland. The world needs that a lot more than another 2000 houses!
I like “coulee.” It’s an apt description of many sections of our property.
I like it too, it’s a flavourful word.
Thanks for the overview of your farm. You really have a very diverse and lovely piece of land. I totally agree with the comment about not needing more development. I am all about keeping my tree farm from being developed. Love the natural terrain, wildlife, (even the bobcat caught on my trail cam). Thks. for sharing.
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It sounds like you really treasure your property as well. Enjoy!