[Shiny]

We bought an "undeveloped" (polite term for overgrown, weed-infested, alkaline mess) 5-acres with a nice house when we retired in 2019. Having only lived as suburbanites, we were clueless but ended up with a very nice place after a lot of work.

The best resource by far was the Colorado State University Agricultural Extension. They had fantastic online info on weed control, pest control, plants, and soil. They had experts available for free consultation on soils, pastures, irrigation, water quality, etc. They even had a local agent that specifically supported small acreage landowners. She made site visits with recommendations on weed control, grass selection, irrigation, maintenance, etc. - all tailored to our own soil, vision, and "wants".

Best return on our tax dollars and kid's tuition we ever experienced. I suspect you may have access to similar resources.

Mike

[jamesq]

Originally Posted by Shiny

We bought an "undeveloped" (polite term for overgrown, weed-infested, alkaline mess) 5-acres with a nice house when we retired in 2019. Having only lived as suburbanites, we were clueless but ended up with a very nice place after a lot of work.

The best resource by far was the Colorado State University Agricultural Extension. They had fantastic online info on weed control, pest control, plants, and soil. They had experts available for free consultation on soils, pastures, irrigation, water quality, etc. They even had a local agent that specifically supported small acreage landowners. She made site visits with recommendations on weed control, grass selection, irrigation, maintenance, etc. - all tailored to our own soil, vision, and "wants".

Best return on our tax dollars and kid's tuition we ever experienced. I suspect you may have access to similar res


Mike

I second this, my wife is Louisiana Master Gardener and the LSU Ag center is her best source for information tailored to our climate and soil.

I am sure TN has an equally useful ag center site!

James Q

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by dataway

We have UT Martin only about 30 minutes away, I hear they have a large AG deppartment. I've been meaning to get in touch with them about a tree we have. It's a Sweetgum about 92' tall and 75' spread ... if it's twin trunks could be counted as one it would be the largest Sweetgum tree in the state (yes there is a website for that). Anyway ... it needs a large branch trimmed and I wanted advice on that and the general health of the tree.

So I'm guessing their AG department could help me with the land too, they have a HUGE ag testing facility close by too.

I can access the GT forum for probably some more real world solutions as far as retail products and such I can use.

If they are the state Ag school, they should have a county extension office. Don't assume they are there just for commercial farmers. They are not.

Be cautious about "real-world" solutions. Every acre can have different soil, ground water, plant history, weeds, etc. We made a lot of mistakes by listening to advice from locals that meant well, but recommended stuff that didn't work. A great example was the grass seed. Landscapers familiar with the golf course a half mile away told us to seed with a blend that failed miserably. We had a high water table that kept the salt high on our lot and after a lot of research and help from the CSU Extension, we found grass seed that would work. Cost of seed is high enough you don't want to buy it 3 or 4 times like we had to do. Seed companies have a lot of online resources too. Check them out.

Similarly, we had weeds that did not respond to the "typical" chemicals recommended by neighbors, seed store, farm stores, etc. When the CSU small acreage agent came out, she ID'd the weeds, explained why they didn't die, and told us how to manage it. Was not simple!

We also learned about invasive weeds that were so problematic for local farmers and ranchers they were topics of ag seminars and state-sponsored research. All great technical info not easily found outside the academic world.

Originally Posted by jamesq

I second this, my wife is Louisiana Master Gardener and the LSU Ag center is her best source for information tailored to our climate and soil.

I am sure TN has an equally useful ag center site!

James Q

That's awesome your wife invested in that and helps others. We had several Master Gardeners out to help us with plants, pests, and weed control. They were very generous with their time and helped a lot.

Mike