Hi everyone!!

Hi I am glad to be here and look forward to getting to know you all. My wife and I moved to what we hope is our last home about 2 years ago. A 12 acre spot that is mostly second growth woodland, with some very abused and neglected cleared areas. There is less than 1 inch of top soil, and the ground is heavily compacted clay. So we are trying to rebuild the soil one garden plot at a time. I am using semi raised beds arranged on a hillside in a kind of terraced arrangement for most of my plots. I have been working in gardens for going on 40 years (dad started us out at around 4 years old) and have a good understanding of how to grow vegetables, both organically as well as traditional methods. Our plans for our near future include putting in a mixed fruit orchard consisting of apples, cherries, pears, plums, and grapes. I also plan to put in a root cellar, though I am not sure where I want it yet. For garden vegetables I prefer Heirloom seeds, I have a thing about some of the hybrids, and GMO's. I also hope to have a good home for some chickens (laying) in the next couple of years.

We do not subscribe to a total off the grid existence (I like having municiple power to run my lights) but do try to be as energy efficient as we can.

Hi 12acrehome and welcome to our little corner of the world. Sounds like you have a great plan in place. We only have 2 acres, but I was amazed at how much we are able to do here. I look forward to getting to know you better. Please don't hestitate to jump right in and start posting.

Thank you sonshine!! great site you've created here.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm praying for more life in it though. It took off really quick, but then I had bad surgery and a lot of the posters stopped posting. We've been working on getting it active again. You are a breath of fresh air. You seem very knowledgable with this lifestyle.

Welcome 12acrehome!

It is my belief that if you join a forum, you should be conversational. I also believe that if a person is going to post information it should be either a verifiable fact, or should be labeled as an opinion. Also when someone has the strength of character to ask for help or knowledge, they should be treated with respect and dignity, and at least pointed in the right direction.

oops forgot to say thank you for the welcome PATRICE IN IL.