New house for homesteading

[CHenry]

TR, I think you talked me into a couple bred heifers. If you happen across a deal that you dont want yourself, would you mind giving me a heads up?
Thanks for the help.

 

[turkeyrun]

Will do. Glad to help.

 

[furlong222]

first step on the 5 acres is to sit down with your wife - pencil and paper - sketch your land and the trees you want to keep...locate garden, compost bin...everything...then prioritize and begin...wish I had that problem...

 

[John64]

Buy some neighboring land if available.

 

[gldnflash23]

first step on the 5 acres is to sit down with your wife - pencil and paper - sketch your land and the trees you want to keep...locate garden, compost bin...everything...then prioritize and begin...wish I had that problem...

We did this exact think. I got 3'x5' print out of google earth of the new place. We sketched out plans in pencil and outlined our "final" in sharpie. This so far has been super valuable. We have relocated some future hardscapes and hard structures due to this aerial.
We are moving a carport adding 4 sides and moving it to the south side of the fenced off garden to keep some gardening tools in.
We have decided to cut all cedars. Thin out approx. 10% of all blackjack in short to medium range of the house
Add a front fence with a gate. It is pretty remote and dark out there even for an old country boy (I love it).

It is pretty rocky and even some boulders (truck bed size) anyone has a recommendation on a water well out there? I would not run my house on it just something for the garden/animals. I would like to use it in case of an emergency. I have seen many videos of the pvc and water pressure but I am doubtful with all the rocks. thoughts?

 

[securitysix]

Somewhere, I have a book that talks about homesteading on 5 acres. I'm wanting to say it was one of the Storey's guide type books, but damned if I can remember the title right now. If I can turn it up, I'll let you know what the title is.

In the mean time, you've got plenty of room for chickens (and/or ducks, geese and guineas), rabbits, goats, a small orchard and a sizeable vegetable garden. If you want stuff that's easy to grow, tomatoes and peppers are your friends.

Putting out a food plot to help encourage the deer and other critters probably isn't a bad idea, either.

Edited to add: there are also several books on Amazon about small scale homesteading.

OK, I found it. Sorry it took so long.

The book I saw the information in is "Storey's Basic Country Skills". They actually reference another book as the source of the information I saw. On Page 5 (yes, it's that early in the book), they show an illustration of the 2.5 acre Robinson homestead as shown in the book "The 'Have More' Plan" by Ed and Carolyn Robinson.

On that 2.5 acres, they have fruit trees, a fair sized vegetable garden, pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, lambs, goats, at least 1 cow, rabbits, a field they alternate between raising hay and corn, a pasture for their livestock, and a small wood lot. There is a note in the sidebar mentioning that they could do with less lawn and that if they had 3-5 acres with a similar layout, they could grow 75% of their own food and a significant portion of the roughage they need for their livestock.

 

[1krr]

How's the planning going? Did you close on the property yet?

 

[gldnflash23]

How's the planning going? Did you close on the property yet?

No, this process takes a lot longer than it did in 2007. They are still in underwriting and we are still waiting on the abstract from Pawnee county. The sad thing about the whole deal is the offer on the house was excepted on 11/18/2014. Gotta love paperwork