Hi all.
This is just a crazy idea that came into my head and I figured I would see if anyone wanted to talk me out of it, talk me into it, or just talk about stuff relating to it. I don't know how serious I am about it yet but it seems like a cool project in my head.
So I see some relatively cheap land listed on websites in the Hollywood hills and similar places from time to time. With road access but too small of a lot and/or too extreme of a slope to put much of a house on. Some such properties can come with additional fees not accounted for on those websites, but are basically cheap land as far as LA goes, because they are not very desirable for development.
My idea is to try to get a cheap piece of infill land like that, in a fairly urban setting (just cuz that's close to where I live) and plant some kind of mixed grove with under story plants. Something very well adapted to the area (but non-invasive) that will produce usable crop with very minimal effort. Something like a permaculture food forest, but also a little haven for wildlife. I can lightly terrace some areas maybe. Or cut steps.
I think I can predict some of the challenges that would be involved:
-City approval stuff/zoning stuff: I don't know if/where this kind of thing is even allowed so I would have to look into all that as a starting point.
-Neighborhood opposition: I think there may be ways of buying their favor.
-Wildlife/scavenging issues: This is something that concerns me more. Because the plan is to neglect the spot for periods of time, but I wouldn't want rodents coming in and causing issues with the neighborhood. But I imagine there are ways this problem could be mitigated.
-Produce theft: I'm not too worried about this. I would put up some barriers but also provide some free goodies around the perimeter to maybe keep people semi placated. But additionally, many of the plants would not be easily recognizable to the average person as being edible of useful, and I might not even actually care too much if people help themselves to some degree, just so long as they can't trip over a vine and successfully sue me.
I'm a youngish dude still so I think it might be cool to start building some soil somewhere. The land would likely increase in value and I can have a source of garden work and produce and all that for myself and my friends. 900 sq foot houses with minimal land to grow on in my area go for like a million bucks sometimes, so it might be a little while longer before I can swing something like that, but in the meantime I can have a little plot nearby to play around with. Maybe other people would think it was cool too and do something similar. And that would be neat.
Anyway, I try to daydream big stuff and then occasionally I will actually do it. So just hit me with anything you all have. This is my first post. So thanks for reading.
This is just a crazy idea that came into my head and I figured I would see if anyone wanted to talk me out of it, talk me into it, or just talk about stuff relating to it. I don't know how serious I am about it yet but it seems like a cool project in my head.
So I see some relatively cheap land listed on websites in the Hollywood hills and similar places from time to time. With road access but too small of a lot and/or too extreme of a slope to put much of a house on. Some such properties can come with additional fees not accounted for on those websites, but are basically cheap land as far as LA goes, because they are not very desirable for development.
My idea is to try to get a cheap piece of infill land like that, in a fairly urban setting (just cuz that's close to where I live) and plant some kind of mixed grove with under story plants. Something very well adapted to the area (but non-invasive) that will produce usable crop with very minimal effort. Something like a permaculture food forest, but also a little haven for wildlife. I can lightly terrace some areas maybe. Or cut steps.
I think I can predict some of the challenges that would be involved:
-City approval stuff/zoning stuff: I don't know if/where this kind of thing is even allowed so I would have to look into all that as a starting point.
-Neighborhood opposition: I think there may be ways of buying their favor.
-Wildlife/scavenging issues: This is something that concerns me more. Because the plan is to neglect the spot for periods of time, but I wouldn't want rodents coming in and causing issues with the neighborhood. But I imagine there are ways this problem could be mitigated.
-Produce theft: I'm not too worried about this. I would put up some barriers but also provide some free goodies around the perimeter to maybe keep people semi placated. But additionally, many of the plants would not be easily recognizable to the average person as being edible of useful, and I might not even actually care too much if people help themselves to some degree, just so long as they can't trip over a vine and successfully sue me.
I'm a youngish dude still so I think it might be cool to start building some soil somewhere. The land would likely increase in value and I can have a source of garden work and produce and all that for myself and my friends. 900 sq foot houses with minimal land to grow on in my area go for like a million bucks sometimes, so it might be a little while longer before I can swing something like that, but in the meantime I can have a little plot nearby to play around with. Maybe other people would think it was cool too and do something similar. And that would be neat.
Anyway, I try to daydream big stuff and then occasionally I will actually do it. So just hit me with anything you all have. This is my first post. So thanks for reading.