Acquiring That Spot

Selecting a Region, Community, Site

By William H. Pietsch.

Upon deciding that you want to move from your present situation to a "few acres in the country," choosing the location emerges as a crucial question. By now you should have determined the objectives an acreage will help you attain more satisfactorily than your present location.

Based on the range of options available as you make the decision, you may need first to determine the general geographic region in which you will relocate. Your second step will be to select a community that satisfies the needs of your family. This community might range from a suburb of a major city that allows "a few acre" lots, to a rural "community" where your next door neighbor is several miles away. Your third step will be to select a specific site that you can afford from among those available for sale.

The first and third of these steps will be influenced by the objective you wish to achieve by moving in the first place. The second step will be influenced primarily by your family situation and desired lifestyle as well as what you wish to accomplish on a few acres.

For each of the rural living categories examined, this chapter will take up the unique aspects of geographic region (Step 1) and specific site selection (Step 3). That presentation will be followed by a discussion of selecting a community (Step 2) which is less influenced by the type of operation than by individual lifestyle preference.

For purposes of discussion, the following categories of rural living objectives will be considered: a) a rural residence; b) a rural residence with expanded gardening and orcharding opportunities; c) a "mini-farm" aimed at food self sufficiency; or d) a retirement or part-time farm. As each of these primary objectives is evaluated, factors to consider include the geographic region, climate, and local topography that underlie achieving the objectives.

The Rural Residence

If your objective is to have a rural residence, choice of a geographic region will be based primarily on climate (your personal comfort), social and cultural preferences, and employment opportunities.

Since other people considering relocation are likely to use similar criteria in their decision process, areas generally desirable on all these factors attract a lot of new residents. In many areas this means strong competition for the available "few acre" locations. Much of the westward migration in the United States during this century can be attributed to climatic conditions viewed as favorable by large numbers of people.

As you consider geographic areas, your age and thus your planning horizon is important. If you are nearing retirement, factors such as cost of living and climate will likely outweigh employment opportunities and long-range water and energy availabilities. If you have a longer planning horizon, you will give more weight to expected employment potential, environmental quality changes, and direction of social and cultural changes.

Selecting your specific site for a rural residence will be influenced by such factors as the view, surrounding vegetative growth, and the general appearance of immediately surrounding areas.

Factors easily overlooked are availability of a water supply, soil characteristics that influence septic tank construction, surface drainage and flood hazard, and wind exposure. These are difficult or impossible to change once you've committed yourself to a site. Unless a common water supply is available, an agreement to purchase land for a homesite should be contingent on availability of an adequate water supply.

Expanded Gardening. This living situation is similar to the rural residence, but with the added objectives of growing vegetables and fruits primarily for home consumption. Most gardeners learn to limit their selection of crops to those climatically suited to their specific situation, or else find innovative ways to overcome the challenges posed by nature. While choice of a geographic region will likely hinge on several other factors, a serious gardener should give some consideration to climatic restrictions on crop alternatives.

Many factors contribute to successful fruit and vegetable production. The overriding elements is the combination of environmental characteristics we think of as climate. One of Webster's definitions of climate is "the prevailing or average weather conditions of a place as determined by the temperature and meteorological changes over a period of years." Individual characteristics such as day-length, sunshine and temperature intensity, frost-free period, and relative humidity combine to determine the quality of the environment for vegetative growth.

Choice of a specific site for the garden can be extremely important. Besides the characteristics desirable in a rural residential site, you need to consider soil depth and texture, frost hazard, and direction and degree of slope.

Although certain modifications in soil characteristics can be achieved, you will get a head start on a successful garden by starting off with a deep, well-drained soil that contains substantial organic matter.

Texture can be a critical soil erosion factor when combined with certain slope characteristics. Few experiences are more disappointing than to find your topsoil (and perhaps the plants that had been growing in it) at the bottom side of your garden after the summer rain you had awaited with so much anticipation.

Within any general climatic area, frost hazard can vary greatly. Elevation of your garden relative to its surroundings can spell the difference between an ideal site and one that is "frosty".

The principle underlying "frost pockets" is that cold air is heavier than warm air. This weight differential causes cold air to displace warm air in low-lying areas. Frost pockets occur where cold air cannot drain to still lower areas. Site selection that embodies an awareness of this principle is critical if you plan to grow crops that require the entire frost-free period to mature.

Direction and degree of slopes on the site you are considering can be important indicators of your gardening success. As indicated above, the degree of slope has an important influence on soil erosion potential. Excessive slope also makes preparing and tending the garden more difficult especially if you use power gardening equipment. Desirable slope direction is influenced somewhat by the crops you intend to grow.

It is commonly recommended that the vegetable garden have a gentle south or southwest slope. This allows maximum use of solar energy to warm the soil in spring as well as to speed crop growth throughout the season. The recommendation holds generally for those crops whose early season growth is important to their maturity.

For certain tree fruits, however, warming the soil leads to early spring growth that may bring the trees into blossom while freezing temperatures are still likely. Thus, if orchard production is an objective, and if frost is a hazard, slope direction and air drainage can be important in your site selection. As with soil conditions, certain modifications of other natural situations can be achieved, but normally only at a cost either in terms of time, effort, or money.

The "Mini-Farm"

Objective of this operation is to provide a wider array of homegrown foods for the family. Food items to give away, barter, or to sell in small quantities are incidental to the primary purpose of this operation. Primary additions to the gardening situation described earlier include producing meats, fish, eggs, milk and other dairy products, and honey.

Climatic conditions are generally less critical for livestock production than for fruit and vegetable crops. Thus, the evaluation of climatic factors for the mini-farm is similar to that of the residence-gardening option.