Base Mapping

By Shawn Lynch

Beginnings

I wish I could draw like the picture on the opening slide, but I am what most

would call “artistically challenged”. My property is a 2 by 2, four acre

square of empty farmland. There is currently nothing but stubble on the

ground and it is as flat as can be.

I initially went the Google Earth route, but there really isn’t anything to show.

There are no trees, ditches – really anything to mention whatsoever. This

posed a challenge on how best to “map” something so plain.

I decided, despite my lack of skill, to forge ahead with a the hand drawn

map. Because the site is lacking many elements, I focused on Sectors.

The next slide is a basic first attempt….

Base Map – phase 1

SectorsI wanted to focus most of my effort on understanding how various natural forces willpossibly effect the site. The most relevant for my land are:

Wind – I used Windfinder.com to learn that most of the time the wind is coming from the South. But in central Michigan, it blows really from all over the place. The summer mainly has the wind coming from the north, with the other seasons predominantly southern winds.

Water – My water table is around 20 feet or so, and there is plenty of water in Michigan. This is excellent news because I plan on having an underground greenhouse (walipini) and a high water table can be problematic.

Sun – Michigan is “fairly” sunny, with more than enough sunshine to grow whatever I want. The good thing about the site is that there aren’t any obstructions.

Views – The area has a ton of oil wells. In every patch of farmland you’ll find at least one if not multiple oil wells. There is one to the east of the property that I would like to “screen”. The well also has me thinking of environmental issues.

Sectors, cont.

Environmental– The oil wells are a concern. There hasn’t been any issues (that we are aware of), but they do give off a gas. An explosion (they have blown up in the past) or leakage could spell certain doom for the property.

The other concern is the heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers by the surrounding farmers. They love their chemicals and my concern is that they will find their way into the water and be blown onto my site.

A possible solution is to work with the farmers to understand when they are spraying so that I may be able to mitigate the risk/damage.

Additions Because I have such a “plain” lot, I wanted to go ahead and try and plan

where some of my future elements will be. I decided to add in the main Home,

future tree line, septic tank, walipini, and drive way.

My thoughts were to at least “plan” what I want to have on the property so

that the execution of the project will hopefully one day be smooth – or at least

smoother. I envision more than a couple iterations of this map before all is said

done.

The next slide shows the additions to my map…

Base Map – phase 2

Layout I like the manner in which the property is set up. It is very much an empty canvas. The road is to the north, and I want to have my Home toward that side of the property. This allow most of the vegetation and plant life to exist “south” and able to make the most out of the southern sun.

This is very important for the greenhouse, which will have unimpeded views of the southern sky. This allows for maximum availability and helps with winter heating. I will also be able to ensure that trees or other obstructions are avoided.

The greenhouse also has its long side running east-west, which should maximize capturing the suns rays.

All in all, I like the property I have because it allows me to start from

scratch. That will also be the challenge, as everything will be new – from

the construction to plant growth.

The process of completing the base map is quite fun and allows me to

dream of great and wonderful things. As with the Emerging Patterns

exercise, I believe I will go through different iterations of this Base Map.

The big difference here is that the elements won’t change. The wind, rain,

and sun are going to remain as constant as they ever have been.

I’m looking forward to our next phase…..

Some final thoughts…