More homestead talk... land

[Carrie12345]

If you've purchased land with the intent to homestead (as opposed to starting right where you happened to live), how did you balance realistic goals with ultimate fantasies?

 

When I browse land online, I'm completely torn between cute 2-5 acre lots ("Oh, I could probably make that work, as long as I give up dreams of growing wheat or raising a cow.") and gorgeous 20 acre+ lots ("Ooh, the possibilities are endless!")

Zoning also plays a factor. 2-5acre lots have many more restrictions. Of course, the larger ones cost more, restricting finances for getting things going.

 

And then there are the in between sizes, typically fully wooded, needing a lot of time and money for clearing and land prep.

 

I'm probably a long way off from making any actual decisions, but the thought of making the wrong choice terrifies me! Wherever we wind up, I want it to be permanent. Permanent is a long time!

[russiantwins]

If you've purchased land with the intent to homestead (as opposed to starting right where you happened to live), how did you balance realistic goals with ultimate fantasies?

 

When I browse land online, I'm completely torn between cute 2-5 acre lots ("Oh, I could probably make that work, as long as I give up dreams of growing wheat or raising a cow.") and gorgeous 20 acre+ lots ("Ooh, the possibilities are endless!")

Zoning also plays a factor. 2-5acre lots have many more restrictions. Of course, the larger ones cost more, restricting finances for getting things going.

 

And then there are the in between sizes, typically fully wooded, needing a lot of time and money for clearing and land prep.

 

I'm probably a long way off from making any actual decisions, but the thought of making the wrong choice terrifies me! Wherever we wind up, I want it to be permanent. Permanent is a long time!

 

We plan on nothing less than 20 acres, not that we will "utilize" it all, but so there is no shopping center or housing subdivision built just 2 acres away, if that is all we bought. Call it a buffer zone for privacy. That is our plan.

[Alyeska]

In choosing our current property, zoning was a bigger part of the decision than size of the lot. We ended up with 9 acres with no restrictions (except we can't have a dairy).

 

And I wish it were 5 acres or less because we won't be raising a steer or sheep for meat. It is a LOT of space to care for. Just weed control alone is big part of the work. We actually were contemplating selling it and getting a 3 or 4 acre lot, but we just love it out here in the wide open space and few neighbors.

 

So my advice would be to purchase 5 acres or less OR be willing to fence off and use part of a larger lot, while being okay with letting the rest of the acreage go until you find a use for it. We cannot let any of our acreage go because of fire danger. We have to keep the grass and brush down.

 

Don't forget to take into account: the cost of fence posts and fencing, a quad to get you to the furthest reaches of the farm, irrigation rights if you will be needing it, a small tractor with a mower attachment or riding mower that moves FAST, and a way to remove snow/maintain your own road if you end up in the boonies. Some of these things are issues that we didn't think about and the $$ add up fast. lol

[CalicoKat]

In choosing our current property, zoning was a bigger part of the decision than size of the lot. We ended up with 9 acres with no restrictions (except we can't have a dairy).

 

And I wish it were 5 acres or less because we won't be raising a steer or sheep for meat. It is a LOT of space to care for. Just weed control alone is big part of the work. We actually were contemplating selling it and getting a 3 or 4 acre lot, but we just love it out here in the wide open space and few neighbors.

 

So my advice would be to purchase 5 acres or less OR be willing to fence off and use part of a larger lot, while being okay with letting the rest of the acreage go until you find a use for it. We cannot let any of our acreage go because of fire danger. We have to keep the grass and brush down.

 

Don't forget to take into account: the cost of fence posts and fencing, a quad to get you to the furthest reaches of the farm, irrigation rights if you will be needing it, a small tractor with a mower attachment or riding mower that moves FAST, and a way to remove snow/maintain your own road if you end up in the boonies. Some of these things are issues that we didn't think about and the $$ add up fast. lol

You could rent out your hayfields & pasture land to a local farmer. We do. In fact when we moved in the local farmers who'd been renting stopped by to see if we wanted to continue that deal. Yup!

 

He cuts our hayfields. The rent is paid with hay bales, enough for our horses. The rest he keeps or sells. He brings us a loaded wagon that we unload into our barn. It's a win-win.

 

We're discussing renting him one of the bigger pastures for his cows next year. Again, rent will be bartered rather than $$$. Beef, milk or pork.

[LibraryLover]

I would buy as many acres it takes to not have restrictions on what you can raise. In my area, if you have 5 acres, you're free. Under that, and you have to make sure your neighbors are happy. If your animals are calm, cool, and collected, and don't smell too much, you're fine. If the pig starts stinking it up, and it wafts through your neighbors window, and you're on 4.5 acres, it has to go. That's just how it is.

 

I don't have 5 acres, and I have great neighbors who find my roosters 'charming'. But if they stop thinking that, I will get a knock on my door from animal control. I live in the country, and on my street, some folks have 20+ acres. Doesn't matter to those of us with under 5 acres. If the neighbors complain, you have to deal with it. With 5 acres, unless you are abusing animals or are otherwise breaking the law, there is nothing the neighbors can do but close their windows.

Edited September 25, 2012 by LibraryLover

[rwjx2khsmj]

You could rent out your hayfields & pasture land to a local farmer. We do. In fact when we moved in the local farmers who'd been renting stopped by to see if we wanted to continue that deal. Yup!

 

:iagree:This is what we do as well. We have 37 acres. 17 are being farmed on a soybean/corn rotation by another farmer. We have a five year plan to take some of those acres back for alfalfa and grain. We have 3-5 acres that we plan to turn into a vineyard and fruit orchard. That will require a bigger tractor and more machinery so it's down the road.

 

Currently we are using 2 acres for hay production and 2 acres for our cows. We still mow more lawn than I'd like. We have plans for increasing our cattle operation and our chicken and turkey production. As you said, with a bigger piece of property the options are as endless as your energy and income. We have a business plan for our farm that goes beyond 10 years. We won't be doing it all at once.

 

When we began looking at property we were looking for 5+ acres. We wanted something that had lots of possibilities. Honestly, we bought this place because of the house as much as the property. The house was fully renovated and move in ready. The property was more than we'd anticipated but we knew we were planning to grow into it. Being able to spend our time and energy on the farm rather than the house was a big draw for us.

[Rai B.]

I haven’t purchased property but until I was six, we lived on 5 acres with a couple cattle and Dad grew most of their hay and had a full time job, too. Now I live on land with about a half acre available for a garden and fruit trees, and that provides all the fruit and veggies we can eat, and then some. We aren’t getting any livestock since I’m a vegetarian.:D

 

In choosing our current property, zoning was a bigger part of the decision than size of the lot. We ended up with 9 acres with no restrictions (except we can't have a dairy).

 

And I wish it were 5 acres or less because we won't be raising a steer or sheep for meat. It is a LOT of space to care for. Just weed control alone is big part of the work. We actually were contemplating selling it and getting a 3 or 4 acre lot, but we just love it out here in the wide open space and few neighbors.

 

So my advice would be to purchase 5 acres or less OR be willing to fence off and use part of a larger lot, while being okay with letting the rest of the acreage go until you find a use for it. We cannot let any of our acreage go because of fire danger. We have to keep the grass and brush down.

 

Don't forget to take into account: the cost of fence posts and fencing, a quad to get you to the furthest reaches of the farm, irrigation rights if you will be needing it, a small tractor with a mower attachment or riding mower that moves FAST, and a way to remove snow/maintain your own road if you end up in the boonies. Some of these things are issues that we didn't think about and the $$ add up fast. lol

:iagree:My paternal grandparents (in their 90s) live on 12 acres, and my father spends a lot of time taking care of the property. It was an avocado grove until they (my grandparents) started getting too old to maintain it themselves.

[Alyeska]

You could rent out your hayfields & pasture land to a local farmer. We do. In fact when we moved in the local farmers who'd been renting stopped by to see if we wanted to continue that deal. Yup!

 

He cuts our hayfields. The rent is paid with hay bales, enough for our horses. The rest he keeps or sells. He brings us a loaded wagon that we unload into our barn. It's a win-win.

 

We're discussing renting him one of the bigger pastures for his cows next year. Again, rent will be bartered rather than $$$. Beef, milk or pork.

 

Our neighbors would probably be more than happy to use our land to graze their horses. That would work during the spring when there is rain and the pasture grass grows, but during the summer it would have to be irrigated...therein lies the problem. :) Our irrigation system is not up to par and it costs too much for an upgrade at this point. Even after the rains stopped and everything died off in the summer heat, the weeds somehow found a way to thrive and we have to keep them down.

 

I have heard about a lot of folks in this area renting/bartering their pasture.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Alyeska

[amy g.]

I shopped for this house with the intent to homestead.

 

I wanted no less than 10 acres. I looked for 18 months and ended up with 6.5 acres.

 

Here is what influenced our decision. It is close enough to downtown that my husband doesn't mind commuting.

 

It is on a dead end, and very quiet. It has mature trees, although we lost some in last year's drought.

 

The house is big enough that we are not all on top of each other. I was willing to give up sq footage for more acreage, but Dh said I'd get tired of a small house, and he was right.

 

It does have restrictions, which I did not like, but the restrictions are that "No one can have smells or sounds that a reasonable person would find offensive."

 

Our neighbor is largest land owner in the subdivision, and he said he will never let it get more restrictive because, "People don't move out here to be told what to do."

 

It works for us. We have a horses, cows, goats, turkeys, chickens, sometimes a pig or two and a large garden.

 

With only 6.5 acres, we have to buy a lot of feed and hay. Fortunately, dd's company has been able to pay for it, so it has been nothing but a benefit for the family.

 

We are l

[jar7709]

I think it depends a great deal the area you are looking at and what you want to do with the land. Homesteading looks different in different locations. We are on 10 acres, but 9 of those are wooded and in perpetual forest land. We can harvest the odd tree once in a while and clear out dead ones for firewood, but we can't clear it without major back tax penalties. This is fine with us; DH grew up on a farm and I had horses growing up and we know serious farming efforts are difficult in our climate and are not how we want to be spending our time. Still, we have lots of privacy and wildlife, the kids have a super cool treehouse and forest to adventure in, and our cleared 1 acre is big enough for a good-size garden, several fruit trees, a flock of chickens, and maybe down the road someday a few goats or a horse or something.

 

As a major plus, because ours is a rural area, even though we don't grow hay or wheat or cows, some of my neighbors with larger parcels do, and they are very happy to let me visit and buy their product! :)

Edited September 25, 2012 by jar7709

[carina]

 

THIS is an old book, but a good one about organizing a homestead. You can have all you need on less acres if you organize it properly. :)

[somo_chickenlady]

We have 5 acres, and we have zero restrictions for what we can do with our own property. We live VERY rural, though, and we are about 45 minutes to an hour from shopping. DH's work is 45 min away. If we could choose to do it over again (we moved here 18 months ago), though, we would probably prefer a property more around under 2 acres b/c we just don't use most of our property now and it feels like it is a waste. Kwim? We currently mow about 1.5 acres, and even that seems too big. The soil here is terrible for gardening, so growing a garden isn't really an option unless I want to spend a huge amount of money on fertilizer and such to keep it in good shape. I would have loved to eventually get a cow, but that would require cross fencing our pasture (it is fenced on 3 sides) and I don't see us ever being able to afford to do that.

[Carrie12345]

THIS is an old book, but a good one about organizing a homestead. You can have all you need on less acres if you organize it properly. :)

 

I do have several books that detail close-quarters homesteading but, the truth is, that's mainly for people who live in fortunate utopias, lol. Most of the townships and villages I'm snooping around require X amount of space for Y number of Z types of animals, with most requiring a minimum of 2 or 5 acres for even a single non-house-pet animal.

 

I'm on a very private, secluded 1+ acre right now (no livestock allowed at all), but even my gardening is restricted between soil expense (we're on a bed of red rock) and fencing rules.

 

Lots of great food for thought here, though. Thanks, all! I guess I'm glad to have time to consider all angles, even if I do still wish I could just jump up and get started! :D