Blackfoot was a quaint, semi-rural town in my estimation. The town was inviting. It had farming as its economic foundation, but had supporting economic input from the neighboring cities of Pocatello and Idaho Falls. I imagined I could find meaningful, gainful employment between the two cities.
In southeast Idaho, Blackfoot may very well be known for being the home of the Idaho Potato Muesum. Potato farming is big business in Idaho, with the foundation of that business being the volcanic soils and low humidity, coupled with adequate irrigation water. If you live in the western United States and have eaten potatoes, you have probably eaten Idaho potatoes.
To me, five acres, with irrigation was just about perfect. With five acres, one could have a nice sized yard, grow a garden, have an orchard and berry patch, have pasture for two or three cows, raise pigs, chickens, and turkeys, maybe even a little fast growing firewood. The thought of growing a small amount of feed corn also crossed my mind. Five acres would also be big enough for a wood shop and a place to chop, stack, and store firewood.
Irrigation water rights was essential in Blackfoot. Property without irrigation water was basically desert. If you stretched your imagination, you may be able to use it as range for cattle, but the typical acreage of range required to support one cow in the region was between 20 and 40 acres. While five acres may not be trivial in the scheme of feeding one cow, the fact remained that you could not even feed one cow of five unirrigated acres in Blackfoot.
This five acres had water rights on a ditch that ran on one side of the property. There would be enough water to provide the property with water. The total amount alotted for the year was roughly 2 1/2 acre feet per acre. If all put on at one time, it would amount to 2 1/2 feet deep water on the whole property. Of course, you would only put on the amount that would equal approximately two inches per week. From the ditch, flood irrigation was possible with the gently sloped land. It would also have been possible to use a pump and pressurize irrigation lines. I imagined eventually installing a fixed underground irrigation structure so irrigation could have been done largely on a semi-automated basis.
The volcanic soils were generally quite well mineralized. Blackfoot, essentially being in the ancestral river bottom of Blackfoot River had also accumulated a fair amount of silt. Additionally, for being in the desert it had accumulated a modest amount of organic matter as well. In my mind, the soils had great potential, particularly if the organic matter were to be built up over time and minor adjustments made to the soil mineral structure. I was quite optimistic.
I recall talking to Kelly about doing green manure crops to help build the soil organic matter. One of the problems was that I was not there. I couldn't participate in the processes and observe and interact with the environment. While I appreciated having the property, I longed to be there and actually be involved with the property and with the work on the property.
We had purchased the property and were making payments. Those payments were quite significant to us. We purchased the property knowing that while we hoped to move their and build our house and future, there was a very real possibility that we might not. We figured real estate was generally a good investment. If we could make it work, it would be nice to be located next to my sister in a town that we had generally positive feelings about. Time would tell....
