9.7 acres
USDA NAIP aerial photograph with the boundary drawn for this read.
Over the USDA NAIP aerial photograph. Growing ground: under 15% slope, not north-facing, soil mapped well or moderately well drained. Wet: the wettest tenth by wetness index, or soil mapped poorly drained. Wet in spring: somewhat poorly drained; mound trees, raise beds. Cold air pools: the lowest, flattest tenth; wet ground there counts as wet. Steep: 30% and over. Rules of thumb: walk it before planting.
| Map unit | Share | Drainage | Runoff | Bedrock | Water table | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F137B Normanna-Canosia-Hermantown complex, 0 to 8 percent slopes | 100% · 9.7 ac | Moderately well drained | C/D | deeper than 5 ft | at the surface |
| Map unit | Septic: trench | Septic: at-grade | Septic: mound | House with basement | House, no basement | Rain garden |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F137B100% of site | Extremely limitedsoil saturation | Very limitedsoil saturation | Slightly limitedsoil saturation | Very limiteddepth to saturated zone | Somewhat limiteddepth to saturated zone | Severely limitedwetness |
These are the soil survey’s ratings for the map unit, not a perc test or a site evaluation. Rain garden is its rating for shallow infiltration; trench, at-grade and mound are Minnesota’s three kinds of septic drainfield.
USDA hardiness zone 3b (official map, by zip code). NASA's data for the last ten winters computes 4b. In a typical year the last spring frost comes around May 27, and one year in ten as late as Jun 10. The first fall frost comes around Sep 23, one year in ten as early as Sep 7.
33.6 in of precipitation in a typical year (15.2 in of it between the frosts), and about 94 in of snow. Months shaded tan lose more water to evaporation than they get as rain: May, Jun, Jul and Aug. Those are the months stored water and mulch pay for themselves.
Source: NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals for Two Harbors 7NW, MN (USC00218421), 8 miles from the site. Years of record: frost dates 22 of 30, precipitation 18–23, temperatures 20–23. The frost-date, precipitation and temperature normals fall short of NOAA's standard of 24 years; NOAA filled their missing years from nearby stations. Averages at the station, not your thermometer: hollows run colder, slopes and shores milder. The site sits about 320 ft higher than the station; a standard lapse rate puts it roughly 1 °F cooler on average. Evaporation is estimated from the station's temperatures (Hargreaves method).
At noon on the shortest day the sun stands 19.3° above the southern horizon, so a 30 ft tree casts an 86 ft shadow. Anything that needs winter light (a greenhouse, a south window, early beds) wants that much clear ground on its sunny side.
In midsummer the sun rises at 53°, sets at 307° and gives 15.9 hours of daylight, so east and west walls take direct sun morning and evening. In midwinter the useful light comes from a narrow wedge, 8.5 hours long.
Winter wind comes mostly from the NW, WNW, W; summer wind from the WNW, NW, ENE. A windbreak for the house, garden and animals belongs on the northwest side. A dense row of trees shelters ground for roughly ten times its height downwind, so a 30 ft row covers about 300 ft.
Of the sloping ground: 14% faces south, 8% east, 37% west and 41% north; 14% of the site is too flat to face anywhere. South and east faces warm first in spring; north faces hold snow and bloom later, which can save early-flowering fruit from a late frost.
| Day | Sunrise bearing | Sunset bearing | Sun at noon | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter solstice (Dec 21) | 125° | 235° | 19.3° | 8.5 h |
| Spring equinox (Mar 20) | 90° | 270° | 42.3° | 12.1 h |
| Summer solstice (Jun 21) | 53° | 307° | 66.2° | 15.9 h |
| Fall equinox (Sep 22) | 88° | 272° | 43.4° | 12.3 h |
Bearings are compass degrees (90° east, 180° south, 270° west). Times here are solar time. Solar noon at this longitude falls roughly 7 minutes after clock noon in the nearest zone (before daylight saving), give or take the equation of time (up to 16 min).
114 of the 150 plants in the Land Assay library are hardy here. These are the most useful of them for a start, chosen for how many jobs each one does, with the ones that take this site's medium-moisture soil listed first.
Plant the ones you will eat; most need a second variety nearby to fruit.
The fastest food from perennials, usually two to four years to a crop.
Nitrogen fixers: grow them beside the fruit and cut them back to feed it.
Small flowers and strong scents that keep helpful insects on site.
Plants that take wet feet, for where water gathers.
MN marks the 13 of the 35 plants on this page that are native to Minnesota, going by Minnesota Wildflowers, the Bell Museum's state flora checklist and the MN DNR. The status is statewide: some grow wild only in part of the state (shagbark hickory in the southeast); Minnesota Wildflowers maps each one's counties. Pollinator-friendly native plantings in home yards can qualify for cost-share from programs like Minnesota's Lawns to Legumes (Board of Water and Soil Resources).
One fruit tree with the plants that feed, guard and cover it, laid out about 23 ft across, all hardy in zone 3b.
The 3 goals you ticked, read against this land's own numbers.
64% of the site, about 6.2 acres, sorts as good growing ground (map 2): the place for the first beds and fruit, raised. Part of the soil across the site (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and 10% sorts wet or wet in spring: mound the fruit trees and raise the beds. The season gives about 117 frost-free days and 1,558 growing degree days, and 114 of the library's 150 plants are hardy in zone 3b. Beds need water in May, Jun, Jul and Aug, when evaporation outruns rain.
Almost no runoff arrives from off the property, so every gallon kept has to be caught on site. It gathers first toward the southeast side (spot 1 on the water map), fed by about 0.28 acres. No spot on the site both gathers the runoff of half an acre or more and sits above the site's lowest tenth, so a pond here would be dug and fed (from a roof or a diversion drain). 70% of the ground sits on 3–15% slopes, where swales are practical, and every 1,000 sq ft of roof sheds about 20,900 gallons a year. Store it before May: evaporation outruns rain in May, Jun, Jul and Aug.
Water draws wildlife first: spot 1, toward the southeast side, is the likeliest place for a wet meadow. No spot on the site both gathers the runoff of half an acre or more and sits above the site's lowest tenth, so a pond here would be dug and fed (from a roof or a diversion drain). Of the site, 10% sorts wet; left that way it is habitat already. Part of the site is mapped as wetland soil. A windbreak on the northwest side, planted as a mixed hedgerow, shelters birds as well as the house.
Elements: 1 to fix · 11 to check · 5 placed well, each by its worst finding. Fix: likely a real problem, move or change it. Check: worth a second look. Good: placed by the principle. The numbers match the map.
CheckHigh water table: raise the floor. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and 100% of the footprint lies on it: keep basements out, or raise the floor and drain around it.Basements take water where the seasonal water table rises high; raise the floor or drain around it (USDA soil survey, depth to water table).
GoodIn its place. On average 38 ft from the nearest building.Place things by how often you visit them: daily work near the house, occasional work farther out (Mollison, Introduction to Permaculture).
CheckHigh water table: raise the beds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and 100% of the bed lies on it. Roots below the water table drown in spring; raise the beds or build them on mounds.Roots below the seasonal water table drown in spring; raised beds keep them above it (USDA soil survey, depth to water table).
GoodGravity feed to the beds. It stands 4.3 ft above the highest bed near it (Kitchen bed): about 1.9 psi there before pipe losses, at 0.433 psi per foot of head.Water pressure rises 0.433 psi for every foot of head, before pipe losses.
GoodPlaced by the principle. Not uphill of water, off the runoff paths and on drained ground, 16 ft from Kitchen bed.Keep compost off slopes draining to water, and 50–100 ft from wells (NC State HIL-8100; Leckie, Other Homes and Garbage, p. 301).
GoodPlaced by the principle. Runoff from it reaches no pond or bed; 0% steep, 29% wet ground; 69 ft from Cabin.Animals you tend daily (poultry) belong in zones 1–2; grazing can run in zones 3–4.
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and Apple wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.All fruits need well-drained soil, or raised beds; poorly drained soil lowers winter survival (Cornell Guide to Growing Fruit at Home, pp. 2, 4).
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and American hybrid plum wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.
CheckWater may collect here. The spot is in the wettest tenth of the site by the wetness index: water collects here after rain, and Crabapple doesn't take wet feet. Watch it in a hard rain first.The wetness index marks where water from the slope above collects; it shows the pattern, not every square yard, so check the spot in rain.
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and American plum wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.
FixNot hardy here. Peach is rated hardy in zones 5–8; this site is zone 3b by the zip map, 4b by the last ten winters. Choose a hardier species, or a variety a local nursery vouches for.Hardiness zones come from the average coldest night of the winter; plants rated for warmer zones die back or die (USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map).
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and Peach wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and Haskap (honeyberry) wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.
CheckHigh water table: plant on mounds. Part of this soil (F137B) has a water table that can rise to the surface, and Haskap (honeyberry) wants drained ground. Plant it on a mound, or where the ground drains.
GoodSuits the spot. Aronia (black chokeberry): hardy in zones 3–8 (this site: 3b by the zip map, 4b by the last ten winters) and suited to the soil here (F137B, moderately well drained).Right plant, right place: hardy in the zone and suited to the soil it stands in (USDA hardiness zones; USDA soil survey).
CheckRuns along the wind. It lines up with the winter wind in NASA's regional record (from the northwest, 0° off its line). Confirm on site: snow drifts, bent trees. If the wind runs along it, turn it across.Plant windbreaks perpendicular to the prevailing wind (Knott's Handbook for Vegetable Growers; Encyclopedia of Water Science).
CheckNot on the windward side. Winter wind here comes mostly from the northwest (NW, WNW, W in the NASA POWER record), but it stands to the southwest of Chicken run. It gives that side little shelter.Shelter forms downwind of a barrier, out to 10–15 times its height (US Army TM 5-803-13, p. 2-10).
CheckSmall catchment. About 7,000 sq ft drains to it, only 5.5 times its 1,280 sq ft. It will struggle to stay full in dry weather; feed it from a roof or a diversion drain (the Diversion drain tool).A pond wants 6–20 times its area in watershed, 10–15 in the humid Midwest (Foster, Approved Practices, p. 205; Ohio Pond Management Handbook).
CheckSoil may leak. 100% of it sits on F137B, whose subsoil the soil survey rates very limited for seepage under a pond. Dig a test hole: without a clay layer it needs compacting or a liner.The soil survey rates soils for ponds: subsoil seepage under a pond held by a wall, water-table depth for a dug one (USDA NRCS).
CheckSteep stretches. About a third of its 113 ft (33%) is steeper than a 10% grade; its steepest 38 ft stretch is 11%. Steep stretches become gullies; run it on contour or switchback. Carts manage about 8%.Keep walks and drives under a 10% grade; tracks on contour don't erode (Step By Step Landscaping; Doherty, Keyline course notes).
CheckNo nitrogen fixer. The plan has 8 fruit and nut plants but no nitrogen fixer. Two or three beside each tree (Blue false indigo, Northern bayberry and Speckled alder), cut back each season, feed them.Nitrogen fixers planted with fruit trees and cut back each season feed them (Jacke, Edible Forest Gardens v2).
CheckNeeds with thin support. Served by fewer than two elements: shade & microclimate (0), fuel & biomass (0) and access & work (1). Each important need should be met in more than one way.Each element should serve many functions, and each important function be served by many elements (Mollison, Introduction to Permaculture).
CheckElements with few functions. Serving fewer than three needs: Kitchen bed, Rain tank, Compost, American plum, Peach and 4 more. Mark what each does (Design tab), or give it more jobs.Each element should serve at least three functions, the PDC rule of thumb for Mollison's principle (Lancaster, Rainwater Harvesting v2).
Ready for a design or a build? We can recommend you to a designer in your area: hello@landassay.com
Elevation. USGS 3D Elevation Program, via the 3DEP ImageServer. Read on 4.9 ft cells. Public domain.
Soils. USDA NRCS Soil Survey (SSURGO), via Soil Data Access. Wetlands. USFWS National Wetlands Inventory. Public domain.
Climate. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, station USC00218421 (Two Harbors 7NW, MN). Public domain. Evaporation: Hargreaves equation (FAO-56). Wind. NASA POWER, NASA POWER daily 2016–2025 (API v2.10.0). CC BY 4.0.
Hardiness zone. USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (2023), by zip code via phzmapi.org.
Sun. NOAA solar position equations. Aerial photograph. USDA National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP), via USGS The National Map. Public domain.
Address. OpenStreetMap contributors, via Nominatim. ODbL.
Plants. The Land Assay plant library: reference values from horticultural and extension sources. Data pulled 2026-10-21 at 11:30.