Searching for Drought Tolerant Trees

Trees to Experiment With

Dove Ranch doesn’t get much rain. In fact, the Salt Lake Valley gets twice as much rain as Park Valley where the ranch is located. That doesn’t mean trees can’t grow at the ranch, but it does mean they need help getting started. A lot of trees can survive up there as long as they get extra water until they are established. There are a lot of trees that can handle low water environments, but fewer that can handle winters, too. So, my search for Park Valley friendly trees has been slow. Still, I’m having some success. Here is a list of some interesting drought tolerant trees I’ve been researching for possible planting on Dove Ranch.

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Buying the Land

We got the land!

My wife and I signed for it, and the county recorded it. We’re the proud owners of 79 point something acres of dirt and sagebrush.  It’s actually closer to 80 acres, so I’ll probably call it 80 instead of 79 acres most of the time.

Funny, I was looking for just over one acre to grow some fruit trees, and all we could afford was 80 acres. All the 1+ acre parcels we looked at were four to ten times more expensive than this 80 acre parcel. Life works out that way sometimes.

Ranch Outer Dimensions
The ranch measures 1/2 mile by 1/4 mile. It totals nearly 80 acres. It’s a real fixer upper.

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Finding the Farm

I’ve been dreaming of buying my own chunk of dirt for almost 20 years. You’d think that growing up in a rural community I’d be thinking, “Hey! Why don’t I start a farm?” But really, I just wanted somewhere to stretch out and have a few apple trees.

Originally, I was thinking of buying a piece of land back in my home state of New York. I watched real estate there in the mid 1990’s. I found several multi-acre chunks of land for very reasonable prices. I fantasized about purchasing one, then I watched land prices inflate beyond my ability to purchase more than a small bit of an acre.

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