Our little farm is located about a mile from Tannehill State Park and the geographic terminus of the Appalachian mountains, in the valley between McAshan Mountain and Sand Mountain (about where the red dot is here in this 1840 map). Our place sits atop a 200 ft hill above the valley; we have a few acres in north and south-facing slopes and rich bottomland. Our upland is primarily Tupelo silt loam and the bottoms are Sullivan-Ketona complex, a "loamy alluvium derived from sedimentary rock". Thankfully, we have a generous amount of topsoil that's in good condition. Previous farmers on this property raised livestock or kept horses; we're not setting out to rebuild soil that's been worn out from 100 years of cotton.

You can read the history of Birmingham in the rocks here: iron ore and limestone are everywhere. You can also read the region's present and near future in the rampant development in the area: the suburbs are coming. It gives us a sense of satisfaction to know that we are stewards of this land. One less subdivision!