What to do with an empty plot?

[supernova]

I haven't posted to this group before but there are so many knowledgeable people here I thought I'd get your input.

I live in a semi-rural area. It used to be rural, but the suburbs have come to me. :-) So, while I do have neighbors, we aren't staring into each others' bathrooms.

I have a plot of land (6 acres) that is now empty (separate from my house plot, but nearby). Right now it's just woods, which is OK. I'm too far out in the county for city water and sewage services. However, I am still trying to think of things to do with that plot that will produce an income in the coming years.

I've wondered about all sorts of things:

-Small vineyard for boutique winemaking
-Renting out small DIY garden plots for city dwellers who want to play country on the weekend.
- Wind turbine farm for generating electricity
- Growing truffles or another "gourmet" food. (I have access to all kinds of flea markets and farmers markets, but don't have a clue about distributors/wholesalers.

I"m kinda thinking the DIY plots and the wind farm would be too much commotion for my neighbors, but that's not definite. (Years ago, my next door neighbor used to run a weekend disco and no one complained. There hasn't been that much turn over in the community since then.

What would you suggest for $$ schemes? I am willing to do the work and put up any initial investment, obviously. So no idea is out of the question at this point.

[fenriswolf]

1. if you dont post to this group

how did you get 1000 posts?

[supernova]

2. Hee Hee!

I'm normally a Loungie/GD and sometimes LBN person. :D

[MADem]

3. Rent it out to a cellphone company for a tower?

Wood lot? Tree farm?

[supernova]

4. I have sold the timber before

But that takes about 20 years. ;-)

edit: The cell phone companies have to rent the land their towers are on?

[MADem]

12. Churches make money renting out their steeples!

http://ask.metafilter.com/47806/Renting-property-for-a-cell-phone-tower

A link with some scoop!

[supernova]

14. Thanks for that!

I'll certainly check it out and consider it.

I have no idea what the zoning laws are in this neck of the woods. :-)

I do know that one neighbor has had a massage therapy practice out of her home, and the aforementioned disco (but it was part time thing.)

[MADem]

17. I know in places where they don't want to ruin the landscape, they put the towers

in "fake" trees--they pretty much blend right in....

Good luck! Give poor Skinner a few bux if you hit paydirt!

:hi:

[supernova]

15. Holy Shit!

That's some serious moulah. From that metafilter link:

If they want to put a tower up in your neck of the woods, they'll contact you. Cell phone tower placement is dictated by maximum coverage for minimum number of towers. If there are large pieces of relatively undeveloped land where planners determine a tower should go, it doesn't take long for them to research who owns the land and get in touch. Happened to my Dad last year; Sprint sent him a letter out of the blue to ask if they could put a tower on some worthless swamp that he owns; they've since built the tower, paid for over $10,000 in improvements to the trails and roads on the land, and are now paying him $2,000 a month rent, for a minimum of the next 5 years.
posted by saladin at 11:41 AM on October 3

[Warpy]

5. Truck gardens and vineyards are labor intensive

and depend entirely on your ability to irrigate when Ma Nature is being uncooperative. 6 acres are certainly enough for a wind farm, but you'd have to get permits from all sorts of people who don't want their views screwed up, object to noise, etc. You can log out some of the trees.

Truffles grow where they want to, which is why they still use pet pigs to hunt for them.

You could rent the land to a single aspiring farmer, something that would be a little more doable than renting it to absentee city gardeners.

Subdividing it might have been an option three years ago, but that ship has sailed.

[supernova]

9. What do you mean re: subdividing?

Do you mean before the housing bust?

[Warpy]

16. Yep, that's it

You could have had 6 new neighbors in obscenely ostentatious houses on an acre each and made a killing.

Of course, that would mean a great deal of uglification plus lost farmland, but who's counting?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. If it was me... I would save some trees, plant a huge garden, and put up a turbine.

But I'm more focused on self-sufficiency than most people. :shrug:

[supernova]

8. Turbines

I'm very interested in getting off the grid as much as is practicable. I don't like those huge helecopter things. They don't do the landscape any favors. plus I would think the sound would be deafening. I"m more inclined to this design:

http://www.turby.nl/

[LiberalFighter]

7. Build bomb bunkers for weekenders. They can pretend the world is over.

[supernova]

11. Yeah, that's who I want

out here every weekend. City folk who need to encourage their survivalist paranoia. Just my luck I'd wind up with this guy:

[LiberalFighter]

13. Make sure his is a padded bunker

Wouldn't you want their money so they couldn't spend on Republican things?

[MercutioATC]

10. Wind turbines have certain wind requirements...

...research their needs before you go too far down that path. There are also zoning and permit considerations as well as the infrastructure (wiring, inverter, batteries, etc.) to make a turbine useful.

[Kolesar]

22. You need sustainable winds >15mph, and you don't find that much in the south

The land is flat and you have ground clutter. The Bermuda High off the Atlantic coast means sunny days but the jet stream is far to the north. No jet stream, no storms, no wind.

[plantwomyn]

18. Campground or rv park.

Lots of Chitown own little rvs they come to in Indiana and pretend they're country folk for the weekend. Dig a well and septic, run electric and set up lots for them to park there trailers on year round. One person living on the land for up keep. At least this would help you pay the taxes. You lease out lots for however long you want. There are quite a few of these around the Chicago area and most are gated communities. No concrete or asphalt needed. The more rustic the better. Let them plant there little tomato patch in the "country".

[kestrel91316]

19. Cross-fence it off into 1 acre plots and rotate crops - alfalfa for hay,

field corn, potatoes/other veggies. Use it to grow food for your chickens and goats.

You DO keep chickens and goats, right???

Oh, and while waiting for the fencing to arrive, read up on all of Gene Logsdon's stuff - Contrary Farmer, Practical Skills, Homesteading - timeless classics on how to use land the way it was meant to be used.

I'll just get off my damned soapbox now, ok.

[hippywife]

20. All of your ideas

and some of the others are worth considering. If it's fenced, you could always lease it out to someone with horses, mules, goats, etc.

[Ramonna Villota]

21. Nature

Let nature reclaim it

[Wcross]

23. Ever consider growing ginseng?

It takes seven years to fully mature but once you get that first crop it is continuous.

http://dfcurran.com/Ginseng/Growing.html

[patriotvoice]

24. Depending upon the amount of hands-on you want to do...

... and your location, there are several agricultural options. My family has and is working with the following cash crops to turn our Agricultural land into dollars:

Shittake and Mitake mushrooms
These are about as low maintenance as you can get. After preparing the substrate, you let Nature take her course. Harvest mushrooms when available. Sell for enormous profit.

Honey and other bee products
It certainly takes more work to manage hives, but honey is a popular and profitable product. Your local agricultural extension undoubtedly offers courses in beekeeping (in NC, for example, there is a state-wide certification program administered in each county in conjunction with NC State University), and I can attest that hobbyist beekeeping is both fun and rewarding, though physically demanding at peak harvest.

Vineyards
While we are just now building our vineyard, the profit potential is considerable. We have several blocks planted of Niagra (an all-purpose grape, with white and red varieties) that offer channel-sell potential in wine, jelly, and table grapes. Check with your local state university -- they may have a viticulturist on faculty. For harvesting, it's very easy to hire summer help to pick, wash, and box these crops. We estimate we will net 4 times cost with each harvest.

Hoop housed lettuce
Gourmet lettuce is another cash crop, and one that balances out well owing to its winter harvest. We grow varieties suitable for mesclun, which we sell to local high-end restaurants (the $20 salad places). These are grown in hoop houses, which are a very affordable green-house solution. The lettuce crop alone has paid for the investment in the hoop houses.

Regional cash crop - Okra
Definitely more work to plant and harvest, but okra is a regional cash crop that is worth the investment. Per bushel, compared with other stock crops like potatoes and corn, it brings in the largest profit. Our circumstance is particular, in that our region has a high-demand for okra and it is difficult to grow effectively in this region. Thus, we can command a higher price, making this a lucrative venture. Check in your area for popular produce that are also not abundant, and see if you can fill that niche.

Agri-tourism
If you do any of the above, you can also supplement your exposure or your profit by hosting tours of your property. Students, curious adults, and even creative vacationers like to sample local flavor -- and tastes -- so don't hesitate to offer pick your own days, sampler days, and so on.


Good luck!