You Want To Homestead! Part One!
So you want to start a homestead. Here are some things you might want to ask yourself first. This is the introduction post for what we have learned so far from our journey to start a homestead. I will be going into other things as this goes along. If I was to put it on one post there would be too much information at one time, so I will break it into parts until we get to the point where we are in the process. I just wanted to share it with everyone, so if the are thinking about this they will have some ideas. It can be a process to knowing and understanding everything.
How much land do I need?
It all depends on what you plan to do, if you want livestock like goats and cows, you will need about an acre per cow of good grass to keep it feed. Goats will eat everything and are good at helping clean a piece of property but most of the time they eat what you do not want them to. Understand that a large plot of land will require some upkeep and you will need some equipment to keep it all up. A tractor with a loader and some implements, a bush hog, a box blade among other things. You will need to know how to take care of the equipment and also maintain that equipment. Are you just wanting some chickens and some land to plant for gardens? Have a fruit orchard? How many houses will be on the property? Will you have septic tanks or compost toilets and a well? They have to be a distance from each other and the well will have to be away from any livestock you have. Figure out what you want to do first and then go from there. No need to look for and buy 20 acres of you only need 5 acres.
Buying Raw Land or Pasture Land?
Do you want to start with raw land or land that has been cleared already as pasture? Raw land has it advantages like you will be able to have some bigger trees already on the property you will be able to keep for shade for your animals and to shade your houses when you get them built. To make the pasture or your gardens you will have to clear and root all that area to be able to plant your garden or get your grass started for your animals. You will have to have some experience with clearing land like the operation of heavy equipment and equipment or the ability to pay someone to do it for you. With pasture land, you will most likely, have no trees on the property and will have to plant trees and wait the years it takes for them to grow. you will have the grass for your animals, more than likely, to start grazing and not have the time of waiting on the grass to get seeded in and growing. You can start fruit trees growing and have your garden going fairly quick.
Land Ready To Start?
Do you find a place that has already been set up as a homestead and go from there? It will have its advantages but then you have to make someone else's dream your own. You will have to have the knowledge to remodel and make it want you want or the cash to pay someone to do the work for you. Have fruit trees already growing and producing fruit, hopefully, the tress you want on the property, the barns and everything you need. This can come at a high cost in the beginning but everything is already set up for you to just start your journey.
We started with raw land and it is a challenge but it as been a good journey so far. The reason we started with raw land was the fact that we wanted to make it our own and not have to make another person's vision of a homestead fit our idea of our homestead.
My husband thinks MORE land is better but me on the other hand... think smaller is better in this case.
I loved on acres and it was a lot of upkeep; which he doesn't realize. Right now we have 1/3 of an acre and by judging what we want in the future... 3 acres would be precisely the right size; but try telling him that.
Definitely a few things on this list that I didn't consider. Hopefully my next property will already be a homestead so I can just take it over. But those have been pretty hard to find so far :/
Yes. those are hard to find but if that is what you want be patient and keep looking it will come along. Do not get in a hurry.
That is what our plan is now. We tried to rush it once and it didn't work so we figured we will plan it out better and try again in a few years. Time is the one thing I do have :)
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I like the raw land angle...gives you more options in the long run. Then again everything has its ups and downs!
We liked to idea of raw land as we wanted to make what we wanted and not make someone's dream ours, so to speak. There are ups and downs in everything we do no matter what it may be, we just try to make them work for us.
To me, there is no better choice for homesteading than unimproved land that has a mixture of forested land and open spaces. You shape it to fit your plans and you make your plans to fit the land. It becomes yours and you become part of it. You don't have to undo what someone else has done and you don't waste energy blaming the land for being what is. Things will be the way you want them to be and that is the best motivation on earth to get up before sunrise every day.
The best memories I have of my adventure are of the hours and days spent on the tractor with the bush hog, creating my version of the perfect place to live.
That is the reason we bought raw land is we wanted to make it our own. If mistakes are made then we made them and we will fix them. Nothing makes me madder than fixing someone else's mistakes. If you think about it to them it may not have been a mistake and that is the way they wanted it.
For me, starting on raw, forested land was like starting a new life relationship with no baggage or bad habits left over from a previous one. I had a new world that was all mine and it could become whatever I wanted. Starting with a blank slate made every day so ething to look forward to. I did a lot of walking and getting a feel for the land and let it tell me what was suited for where. Really nice memories of a beginning!
We plan on owning a plot of land in the near future. I'd like to think I'd be a good homesteader, but the truth is I may have lived in the city for too long now!
Never say never! Get started and just have fun! Growing your own food is hard work but there is nothing better than eating vegetables that you have grown.
great pointers and definitely things i'm keeping in mind, if ONLY i could find the dang land ... eek
thank you for the great confirmation and i hope you are well. we haven't chatted for awhile, maybe you just prefer vets and homesteaders. :(
Keep looking for the land you want, never give up if you really want something. I have not really been around much the last few days. I am getting back around now and will be around more at night. Had something that threw me for a loop and getting my head back on straight.
@basicstoliving i will definitely keep looking. no worries about not being around, it happens. we have to take a break sometimes. being online 24/7 is not healthy. :) hope all is well, hugs.
Thanks for the shout out! Wish we had opted to buy more rather than less when we first moved here. Land has gotten very difficult to find. We have chosen to do a half clear and half woods kind of place. Hacking away a little at a time. Maybe a couple of goats would be a good idea. Great post on first options. There are builders now that realize people want a larger sized lot with solar and other amenities. Not a lot of privacy, but one could still garden. 🐓🐓
You are welcome! Keep making good posts and showing us new things. We have almost 12 acres and we semi-cleared part of it, as the guy that cleared it for us did not root it very well and it is growing back. I think that is another post. LOL. Goats are a great option just remember they will eat anything and everything so keep them in the area you want to be cleared, pigs are another option after goats they will get most of the roots for you. Yes, many people choose the pasture land if they are doing solar as it is cleared of trees and just like a set them and go. I will be doing more of this conversation in future parts of these posts.
There's a lot of factors that go into choosing land. It's hard to find the perfect spot within your budget. I can't complain where I'm at but in the future I think we'd be looking for something different. Its hard to find much land when someone in the family is working in the city, as land is very expensive in town.
Yes, it is! We found our land and it is over thirty miles to a big town in all 4 directions but that does not outweigh the good parts for me. It was luck that we found the piece of land we did and it was right for us. It took us several months of looking to find this land but patience is what it takes lots of the time.
I bought 10 acres of land back in 1979 and lived on it for the next 21 years. It was half open and half woods with no buildings when we bought it. We built a basement and then never got enough money to build a house on it, so we lived in the basement for 20 years. We had at least 1 horse for most of the time we lived there. We raised pigs a couple of times, had milk goats for probably about 10 years, always had chickens and rabbits, and had turkeys for several years. It was a lot of work. I drove the 17 miles to town for my job 5 days a week for all of the time we lived there, except when I was between jobs and going to college for a couple of years at the beginning of the "adventure".
At this point in my life, I'd be pretty happy if I could find an acre or 2 to live on. I don't have the ambition or the energy anymore to do the full homesteading thing. A garden and some chickens would be about all I'd want to do now. I have a garden in town where I live now, but I'd be happy to have more space to grow things that take a lot of space like potatoes and corn.
Just getting what you need to do what you want to do is the idea. Many people will go buy 20 acres then think I can do this and that and they get overwhelmed with it all and never do anything with the land it keeping up just a big piece of property is a lot of work. As my grandfather got older he only had two acres with the house on it and his garden fed the whole neighborhood.