Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Climate and Growing Season
Another area where bending the ear of your potential neighbors will be crucial is in understanding
the climate foibles where you live. Sidney's grandmother used to say, “Never plant your tomatoes
before Easter,” which gives a strong clue as to the average last frost date on the old family home-
stead. Because we live just a few miles down the road, we tend to follow her folk wisdom.
Find out about potential microclimates in your prospective neighborhood. Your growing zone helps
you determine which plants will survive in your area and are very general numbers, while microcli-
mates are specific climate pockets that vary from area to area even within a single homestead. Are
you looking in a low-lying area? Expect longer-lasting frosts and cold pockets. Are you looking on
the south side of a hill? Expect longer hours of sunshine and increase your zone by another half. Is
there a large lake near you? That will change the climate in your neighborhood in a way that will
be different from your regional zone set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for your
entire area (see Chapter 6 for more about zones).
As a backyard farmer, pay close attention to things such as water and land quality. While it might
be enough for most people to just have a pretty view, that won't work at all for you! If your land
has a good well, or small pond or creek, you'll be much better off in the long term.
Different areas (even different states) will give you better growing seasons than others. While
intensive and hands-on techniques will allow you to baby your desired plants a little bit, it makes
sense to plant what grows best in your area. For example, I will never have a maple syrup stand and
create homemade, delicious maple syrup in my warmer region. But pecans grow very well here. So
if I absolutely had my heart set on maple syrup, I should not live here in Oklahoma!
Be sure you find out the length of the growing season. If you have your heart set on specializing in
heirloom watermelons, for example, but you move to an area with only a 90-day growing season,
you'll be out of luck.
Of course you can cheat some climate issues by using greenhouses and cold frames. These things
can all extend the growing season and make it possible to bring items from other growing zones.
But sometimes it's not worth the extra hassle when you can grow other items so much easier.
Buying Developed Land with the House
If you decide not to build your own home, you can buy a homestead ready to go. Just recently we
toured two different home-with-acreage listings. One had a gorgeous home and wooded land that
we would need to clear off as we planted. The other had the perfect land setup, but a home that
our family has already outgrown. What to do, what to do. There's a lot to consider when you're
looking at a move to full-time backyard farming.
