We are delighted to announce that we bought land in Nevada City and we will be building our future home. We are feeling honored and grateful to have over a couple acres close to town and the possibilities feel endless.
The land is lovely and about 40% of it was cleared a long time ago, so there is a nice sunny area to build a home. But that lovely greenish ground cover you see here is about an acre of 6 foot high blackberries:
John and I spent lots of time thinking about the best way to clear the blackberries without causing much harm to the land. Our ideal choice would be a herd of goats, but we do not have water on site yet and we were pressed for time, as the septic engineer needs to be able to walk onto the property asap. Walking was not possible, as you can see from this picture showing a truck parked in the brambles:
We decided to hire a local fellow with a brush mower attached to the back of his tractor. Thank you Lyn from A1 Tractor, for braving the weather and getting so much done in one morning!
Sadly, the blackberries proved to be a formidable opponent for even the Kubota, which ended up getting a flat tire after a couple hours of driving over the brambles. But quite a bit of blackberry was mowed, and we got to see the ground for the first time on our land. The mulched brambles look brown, but the soil underneath is dark and fluffy!
We can now move ahead to the next steps . . . figuring out the site plan, the septic, and the well!
Developing raw land is a new adventure for us. Over the last few years we renovated several Nevada County homes. Some were major fixers—distressed properties in need of extensive repair, while others were Nevada City homes that just needed some upgrading. Each property had its unique challenges, but by the time the work was done they were all comfortable, clean, and ready to be someone’s home once again.