We are landowners who "lease" land to a neighbor farmer who needs more land for hay and field corn. This is very common in our area of New England. We have a hand shake agreement. The farmer gets all the produce from the land and is responsible for all fertilizing etc. In return, our land is in good use. The corn field is popular with deer and wild turkeys providing us with a nice view. I believe the former farmer leased the land for $100 a year from the former owner. This was a token amount. The corn field on a slope was having serious erosion problems. A second field required travel over a culvert which was breaking down. When my husband told the former farmer it would be necessary for him to replace the culver, the farmer balked and said it was too expensive, etc. Since his equipment was the only equipment traveling over this culvert with the exception of an occasional passenger vehicle, it was his fault the culvert needed to be replaced. My husband decided it was time to end the relationship and gave the farmer notice that it was his last year. After 2 or 3 years, my husband was approached by another farmer to use this land with the agreement that the farmer would be fully responsible for restoring the fields to proper condition and to restore another field that had been fallow for decades. The farmer is also a professional logger and had the crew and equipment to remove trees and bushes that had encroached on the fields. This was an enormous amount of work but also generated some good pine lumber and chips. It was agreed that the farmer deserved to keep and re-sell the lumber and chips since he and his crew had done all the work. Keep in mind that if the farmer isn't taking care of the acreage, the landowner has to. (i.e. brush hogging, field mowing) If handshake agreements weren't customary in our area, I would fully advise a written agreement that defined the responsibility for soil fertility and general maintenance of the property. It should also specify what kind of pesticides are allowed and, yes, who gets the fruits and vegetables. Attention should be given to who is allowed to pick. My sweet young granddaughter does damage to sugar snap pea vines when she picks pea pods to snack on. If the landowner has pets, this should also be considered. A friend's dog tore down his sweet corn, not raccoons. A family pet might be a serious nuisance.

Thanks Rick! I'm pretty happy with my floral children :-D My Bunnings flower is so different this time. Im sure the flowers were bigger when I first got it.... not that im complaining though, I love the ruffled edges with the slightly different colour. I'm going to find the photos I took of the last round of flowers and compare them. Sandy is such a lovely lady, and you should see her back yard!!! OH MY GOODNESS! Her grafted plants are the most magnificent sculptures I have ever seen! Not to mention the 100's of different plants she has, so many colours! Hi Heather! Thank you, I'm pretty proud of this lot :-) Sorry, didn't mean to brag about the weather :-P

I'm glad one of the packages finally made it. The elf is not done for the year however! I still have plenty of seeds to go around. More to come after the Thanksgiving Holidays! Teresa

"They are willing to settle but for more than I would like to pay but whatevs" One of the problems dealing with creditors is that they come in varying degrees of sophistication. You should attempt to buy a lien release rather than settle the debt. If the creditor is knowledgeable and experienced they will sell you the lien release cheaper than settlement of the debt. Again, that is because they maintain the right to collect the full amount from the debtor. Alternately, you can offer to buy the debt rather than settle or satisfy it, this transfers the lien to you. If the property was subdivided, this means that when the debtor sells the balance of the property they will have to pay you. That is a pretty sketchy thing to do to someone who gifted you property, but I really don't know the details, so... Either of the above options are going to require a somewhat sophisticated creditor. A mom and pop place simply may not be familiar with other options.