What do you do with a high desert parcel?

[Xtina]

I've been dreaming of owning land for so long! But I'm not rich by any stretch. Land in Western Oregon costs like $20k to $40k PER ACRE, making it completely out of any price range I could afford. But if you look out in Eastern Oregon, you could suddenly get land for $2k an acre. But it's high desert land, with scrubby little bushes and spindly pine trees. My husband says better to buy land you really want that is productive and closer to home so you can visit it more. And I totally agree. But just for the sake of argument, if I owned 20 acres of marginal land three hours from my house, what would I do with it? What do people do with their high desert plots to make them worth owning?

 

[Cindiloohoo]

For that kind of price difference you could buy 2 acres Eastward and haul in topsoil to make it how you want. Sheeeesh 40K an acre!!! My HOUSE & LAND is only worth 2.5 acres out there!

 

[Xtina]

EXACTLY! It's a problem of scarcity of good land and so many people in the metro area who want the good land. In the Plains area, there's nothing to stop people from spreading out and claiming all the good land, but here, the cascade range stops the rainfall, making the eastern 3/4 of the state pretty much worthless unless you have a gold plot. And I don't mean to knock anyone who lives out there by using the word "worthless." I'm sure it's quite worthwhile in some non-traditional farming/gardening kind of way. And yeah, I could truck in topsoil, if the soil out here were any good or the soil out there were bad. But it's the opposite. We get too much rainfall on this site, which has leached the soil over the millenia and they get no rainfall over there, so their soil is good, but without water, what can you do with it? It's cold and dry out there so I can't put plants on it, and if I don't live there, then I can't put livestock like goats on it either. Seems like a losing proposition unless I were an ATV enthusiast who just wanted to run around on machines all weekend, every weekend.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

If you do buy something, make sure you visit that part of the state during each of the seasons. I was interested in moving to another part of Wash. State, and visited it twice. The second time, the air was so filled with biting bugs that my family couldn't even leave the RV.

 

[Xtina]

Oh man, I forgot about that. Yes, that happened to us two summers ago when we were going camping out east of Eugene. It was awful.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

well Xtina, you're always welcome here in Tennessee

We have land for 2K an acre, and it's just because it is cheap land, nothing wrong with it. I sit on 1.5 acres with a 3BR 2Bath 1300 square foot home, and it appraises around 100K before the bottome fell out...probably lost about 20K or so during this depression, but it'll go back up. Buy it while it's cheap!! We looked at a place not too long back, 55 acres and a house...they only wanted 175K for that, and it was loaded with standing timber and 4 ponds, 2 barns, etc. etc. So...move on out here

 

[Xtina]

Don't think I haven't thunk that before! I have looked long and hard at Tennessee, Kentucky (where my grandma was from), North Carolina, Georgia (where my parents live), and Alabama (where I grew up). It's a possibility, for sure, but for right now, Oregon is working out for us for several reasons that are not really very interesting to enumerate here

. But I do think that part of the country is fantastic, and wish I could have those prices out here. Sigh. No place is ever totally perfect, is it?

 

[PineappleMama]

Well I suppose that hydroponics and/or aquaponics are possible?

Just because the soil isn't great doesn't mean you couldn't plop down a greenhouse.

Do you suppose there's enough bushes and such to support a goat or two?
I have no idea, but heard they like 'browse' as opposed to grass so maybe an idea?

 

[Xtina]

Well, you've made several points there. First, the soil is probably great out there. It's the cold year-round temps and the lack of natural rainfall that are a problem. Sunlight, from what I hear, is abundant out there, so a greenhouse would really only be for keeping things at a higher temp...but you know? That might not be a bad idea. And yes, if I were to live out there, then I could certainly do goats. But I'm staying in Portland and wanting a parcel of land for weekend use, so that kind of rules out livestock, sadly. I would sure love to have goats!

Thanks for the greenhouse idea.

 

[debilorrah]

I live in the high desert in SoCal, and the soil is perfect for growing all kinds of trees. Pistachio, peach, almonds, cherries, lemons all grow really well here.