An Interesting Land Lease Opportunity...

For the past several days I have been reviewing properties online and over the phone with various folks. I came across an interesting prospect for a land lease but I have some research that I need to do. It is ideal timing as my preference for a four year term is acceptable.

 

The property is 2.6 acres and has some character. It has some rolling hills and a tree line on one side. There are a couple of fenced pastures which is also nice. The dilemma I am having is that when I looked at the property on the County website I discovered that it is surrounded by active crop fields / farmland on three sides. The fields are abutted right up against the property lines with no buffer.

 

I am concerned about airborne pesticides when the wind is blowing and the crops are being sprayed. Is that silly? I was planning on having rain water runoff, but I'm uncertain if the pesticides will blow upon the roof when it is windy and be washed into our water supply. We would be drinking bottled water but still the thought of bathing in pesticide laden water doesn't sound like a good idea.

 

I'll ask around the university to see if anyone is knowledgeable in this regard. If any readers know of any resources or have any information regarding this topic please feel free to comment below. I can use all of the help I can get on this one.

Excuses, Excuses...

Wow, what a winter in Iowa this year. I can not believe that it's been since October since I've updated the blog, but the reality is that not too much has happened over the winter.

 

My grand plan of getting buttoned up and in before the snow flies actually flew out the window in October. Shortly after my last post I tore some ligaments in my right elbow. I actually attempted to work with the injury as I was not aware of how bad it was.

 

Needless to say I was in physical therapy all winter. I only have one more session and I think I will be good to go. But it has become obvious to me that I will need to get some help with some of the heavy lifting as I can not afford to get another injury like this last one.

 

So, my plans for living in the tiny house with the kids through the winter did not come to fruition. My land lease is up in June so my thought is rather than finish building it on site where it is now I should move it to where it will be residing for the foreseeable future, then finish it.

 

So I am in the market again for the perfect tiny house parking space. It can not be within city limits as the minimum footprint required by local ordinance/zoning is 1,000 sq. ft. in Fairfield. Luckily there are a few options here as there are some tiny house communities cropping up around the outlying areas. I have made some phone calls and had some conversations and believe that a solution will present itself within the next few weeks by the time we get the thaw we have all been looking for!