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Hello, I have 8 acres in Northern Minnesota, and recently purchased 5 more Acres connected to it.
I want to plant something on the 5 acres. right now there are woods, and brush. this is filled with wood ticks, daddy long leg spiders, and other unpleasant bugs.
I want to grow something, but don't know what.
I can only be up there once a week MAX, prefferably every other weekend. so If it's something that needs to be tended to every few days, it won't work..
What is something I can plant, then just forget about it, then harvest in a few months ?
Tomatoes ? Hay ? ( is that easy to grow, that would be my preferance ) or ... ..
I basically want to transform my 13 acres of woods, into 13 acres of "Farm" with a cabin...
I have a few spots already cleared, one spot with a camper, another 90X90ft wide open ,, ,
You'll lose a lot of privacy if you clear it and the ticks could get worse if raspberries and other brush take hold more. What sort of soil do you have? It may not be good for growing much other than trees. The web soil survey is helpful as a starting place: Web Soil Survey - Home
well, the original plan, is to clear the land, except a 20ft thick of trees all the way around the boarder in every direction. so i will have 20ft of trees as my "privacy fence"
then grass in the middle.
I don't really care for grass, and my ATV's will tear it all up anyway.. .
I can try just dirt, then nothing absorbs the water, leaving it a muddy mess .. ... .
I recommend contacting your county extension office. They can help you in so many ways. From how best to clear the land, if it is desirable to clear it (it may have more worth wooded). Soil testing. Education on planting, growing, and harvesting crops if you decide you want to do that. Budgeting for the project. Record keeping. And dozens of other things.
You can lease the land to a farmer after clearing it. The farmer takes care of planting, nuturing, harvesting, and you get some rent.
In northern Minnesota? IIRC, that area has always been timber and mining country which says that the soil and growing season is probably not conducive to farming, so my guess is that leasing the land isn't likely to happen. Agriculture has traditionally been important in Minnesota, but mostly in the southern and central parts of the state.
OP, personally, I would never cut down all the trees in a 13 acre area with only a 20 foot border on land that I wanted for recreation. That's probably 12 acres of grass/hay/weedy field you're going to have to mow at least 2 or 3 times a summer, and don't think you won't get ticks in that, too, especially if it gets high. If you don't mow it, then you'll get brush growing back within a few years. Mowing that much acreage, even with a tractor with a 60-inch brush hog/mower is going to take awhile. Furthermore, if you plant it in hay, you'll have to not only mow it, but rake it, and if you want to sell it, you'll have to bale it, too. Maybe you can sell it as standing hay, but as I said, I'm not sure how much agriculture there is in northern Minnesota.
What I would do is clear trails for the ATVs through the woods, cutting back the brush. I would only clear a couple of acres for the cabin and leave the rest unless/until there was a specific reason to clear more, like to put in a pond or something. I might also clear a few meadow areas in the woods, maybe an acre or two in size just to relieve the monotony of the wooded landscape. This would also be a good way to increase the wildlife on your property as most species like "edge" environments where woods and meadow meet. Keep in mind, though, that you'll probably have to mow those meadows occasionally, too.
If you aren't sure what you're doing, my suggestion is to do a lot of research before you start cutting trees and planting stuff. As others have said, talk to the county extension agent. Also, you can see if Minnesota has any programs to assist small woodlot owners manage their woods. If not, then you should probably start reading up on woodlot management, too.
If nothing else, you need to identify what kind of trees you have because you don't want to cut down all the hardwoods like maples, oaks, and cherries which are valuable and leave scrub softwoods like poplars. You should decide where you want to put your cabin, too, and check out the trees nearby since you'll probably want some shade around/near it.
OP.......the small amount of land you have is not worth doing much at all........just enjoy it.
That would be my "plan". I think the OP will be very sorry if he clears all his land and then has to spend his time maintaining the cleared area.
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