# What can I do with an acre of land? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 10, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768 "2006-03-10T00:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/41 "2006-03-14T13:22:24Z")
How far is it to the nearest river/lake?stream/ocean? Think: _Fishing Cabin_. Even if _you **don’t** _ fish. Because they can be rented out. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/42 "2006-03-14T15:09:56Z")
I really wanted to have a bubblegum factory when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2006, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/43 "2006-03-14T15:58:50Z")
> [@Yeah](#): > > I don’t know about Michigan, but I think that in most of the U.S. there are very few desirable fruit or nut trees that do not require a lot of care (regular skillful pruning, weeding, proper fertilization, fungicides, insecticides, antibiotics, netting to protect fruits and nuts from squirrels, birds, etc.). I like the “valuable hardwood” idea or, if you are up for more of a challenge, you could cultivate mushrooms. Well, depending on the definition of valuable, okay, my def: Walnut and Cherry are both valuable hardwoods and nut and fruit trees. Two birds with one gorgeously figured stone. ---
**Author:** ![Viridiana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Viridiana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Viridiana)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/44 "2006-03-17T00:01:27Z")
Have you seen The Cell? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/45 "2006-03-17T02:25:32Z")
> [@Ignatz](#): > > But seriously, what you can legally do on it depends in large part on the local zoning regulations. Check with the planning department for the area’s governmental entity. Good advice. Were this acre located in my town, building a house would not be allowed. You need to have at least 2 acres to build a house here according to town ordinances. If its on a nice fairly open area without a great many towering trees, you might be able to rent it to a cell phone company for placement of a cell phone tower. One of my friends at work gets asked permission for that every year or so. I think they offered him 300-400/mo. ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/46 "2006-03-17T02:58:14Z")
According to [this site](http://www.irishclans.com/articles/greatfamine.html), you can grow enough potatoes to feed an average Irish peasant family for one year. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/47 "2006-03-17T03:01:19Z")
Things you could do with it… You could build a [garden monorail](http://www.monorails.org/tMspages/Niles.html) or [UFO landing pad](http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-1-69-725-4396/life_society/ufos/clip2). If it’s in a watercourse downhill from agricultural land, you could put in a swale and some marsh plants and perform tertiary wastewater remediation. What’s the land like? What are the neighbours and their land like? > [@elfkin4767](#): > > Were this acre located in my town, building a house would not be allowed. You need to have at least 2 acres to build a house here according to town ordinances. :eek: That’s… mind-boggling. My friends live on 1.78 acres and their house is quite large, to say nothing of the surroundings. The front yard is vast, the back yard is a bit smaller, but then there’s a fence, and _an entire additional pasture_ that also belongs to them. You could quite comfortably raise livestock there. Which is part of the reason they bought it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/48 "2006-03-17T03:47:13Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Good advice. Were this acre located in my town, building a house would not be allowed. You need to have at least 2 acres to build a house here according to town ordinances. In Calgary, you need about 30’x50’. I wish I were kidding. > [@](#): > > If its on a nice fairly open area without a great many towering trees, you might be able to rent it to a cell phone company for placement of a cell phone tower. One of my friends at work gets asked permission for that every year or so. I think they offered him 300-400/mo. You know, we’ve already got a honking big electrical pole plus guywires in our back yard; we should totally find out if we can get a cell tower, too. At least _that_ would be worth the inconvenience. I like the tree farm ideas. You could also grow pot or ginseng. ---
**Author:** ![tiltypig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dbc845/32.png) [@tiltypig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiltypig)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2006, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/49 "2006-03-17T20:27:20Z")
If I were you, I’d build a little straw bale house and plant a permaculture [food forest](http://www.helpfulgardener.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1094)? The basic principle is that they are sustainable and are supposed to require very little work. That way you’ll have someplace to retreat to after we run out of oil and the economy collapses 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/50 "2006-03-18T05:43:20Z")
Build an opulent lodge and an enclosure fenced with 12’ razor-wire. Invite some homeless people over on the pretext of a free meal, splitting firewood, crack, whatever. Give bored millionaires crossbows, intone sonorusly “Der hunt begins”, and have a bum safari. Charge indecently for the privilege. {This can also double as a corporate team-building exercise or the venue for a Republican Party convention - just don’t let Dick Cheney in} ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/51 "2006-03-18T06:32:32Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > If it were me, I’d plant it over in valuable hardwoods. The thing is, most valuable hardwoods start out as weeds, so you can get going for nothing. The wait may be a little long, but what the heck. If there are trees there already, thin out the ones that aren’t standing straight, or are deformed. Sell those for firewood. There you, silviculture 101. My husband has a little over 44 acres of scrubland. He’s planting half a dozen hardwoods each year. His first planting was 100 trees that he got from the county extension service, things like osage oranges…basically, they bear fruit, but it’s not fruit that people want to eat. However, they’re easy to grow, and wildlife love them. So he’s planting some trees for the wildlife, and to keep erosion down, and then he plants hardwoods, so that when our daughter inherits it, she’ll be able to sell off the mature trees. I keep bugging him to plant pecan and walnut trees…I love nuts. My husband uses this land mostly as a retreat and hunting area. More trouble than it’s worth, if you ask me, but it gives him something to do on weekends, and he’s always wanted a little farm of his own. I just want him to look at the long term, and plant a few good trees each year. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2006, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768/52 "2006-03-18T21:26:55Z")
That’s a great idea, **Lynn**. If you’re planning for the long term anyway, make it a good end result. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-i-do-with-an-acre-of-land/347768.md?page=2)