I'm getting a little ahead of myself here, but my partner and I have
made an offer on a parcel of land that is about 1/2 of what was once
a small, 100 acre dairy farm in upstate NY. As near as I can
determine, it hasn't been active for twenty years, possibly much
more. Our eventual goal is to build a small strawbale/cob house and
design and 'develop' a portion of the property along permaculture
lines, seeking to eventually approach self-sustainability and maybe
even some surplus. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas what
kind of soil problems might be resultant from using land to raise
dairy cows? As it's been inactive for so long, my hope is that the
land has at least begun to repair it's self... I'm also assuming
that small dairy use would have been a little less impactful than
intensive row cropping. Still, information or experience from others
would be appreciated!
If we do end up with the property, I'll write up a fuller description
of it and our plans for feedback and will no doubt have many, many
questions as we go along!
Tom
[permaculture] Soil damage/restoration,
Thomas Gorman, 05/03/2006