The Acreage

Alright, so we've got the acreage. The journey has begun. The logical place to start seems to be with what is already there. The property was surveyed during the sale, so the boundaries are clearly marked. Pink flagging marks an old fence line along the West property line. The property line to the North is clearly marked, mainly by the back yards of the 4 or 5 houses lining the "main road" to our North. They each have smaller 1 or 2 acre parcels. Also, the Northwest corner of the property shares a border with Oconee National Forest, a part of the Chattahoochee National Forest. We have one neighbor to the East, with about 5 acres. Our neighbor to the West has a nice sized parcel, possibly several combined, adding up to what we've been told by another neighbor is 28 acres, including his own private pond. Overall, aside from the 4 or 5 smaller properties on the outside of our subdivision, most parcels are between 5 and 10 acres.

The area is in a river valley on the Piedmont of Georgia. Fairly flat, but being near the river drainage is adequate despite the mostly clay soil, and generally water from the region runs down to the river to our West. Our properties drainage, however, runs to the East. The highest point of our parcel is on the Western edge of our property, with a gradual slope to the East, which drops more suddenly just beyond our property line, feeding the water in our more local area into our neighbors farm pond. Luckily for him we plan on maintaining a chemical free, organic farm. Aside from some work needed on the Georgia red clay driveway which runs North/South, entering from the South, drainage shouldn't be a problem.

While walking the property learning where the lines are and seeing what we've got I've found some pretty promising clearings and plantings. There are two clearings on the North side of the property, which at one point were planted with Millet or some other grain in order to draw in deer. The clearing to the Northeast is the most promising. It sits down in a slight little hollow, but contains at least 8 muscadine vines! Although I'm sure they were once loved and beautifully trellised they need some serious TLC. I'll show you some before and afters of that project, it should be one of the first during our rehab stages of the property. Also found on the property are some amazingly well established rose bushes that have run wild, climbing the pines. That will be a big project too, but having them already established will be a big help in getting the front of the property, on the Southern side, looking presentable while we begin our slow and steady fight to organize some order out of the chaos.