what i've learned about farming/buying land/homesteading/etc.

[Guest guest]

ok, several people mentioned they want to hear it, so here it is, in no

particular order:

- you need far less land than you think. i thought i needed 200 acres, and

i " settled " for 150. granted, i come originally from texas, so that may

explain it somewhat. (for what it's worth, i'm quite grateful that i am NOT

in texas now.) if you're just an average family who wants to be

self-sufficient and not a full-time farmer, 1-5 (mostly open) acres will be

more than sufficient to raise some animals and plenty of vegetables. with 5

acres, you can raise enough animals to cover your costs (ie, one cow for

you, one cow to sell...). on 1 acre, you can expect to raise all your

vegetables, and enough chickens to get a family of four through the year,

especially if you raise them in staggered groups (ie, an early spring group

and a midsummer group). one 1 acre, you could also expect to raise two

lambs to butcher weight or one milking goat. you would expect to have every

bit of that acre in productive use, though that doesn't mean you can't also

have a swing set. it just means that the kids will have to share a playyard

with animals. on 5 acres, you can expect two or three large animals (which

i'd expect to be cows, unless you also want a pony.) if you choose a dairy

breed of cow, such as a jersey or guernsey, you can most easily get them

bred (on 5 acres, you will likely have to do AI) for cheap (expect $30 per

breeding), and you can manage to stagger their breeding so that you have

milk year around. alternately, you can just buy steer calves and raise them

over the summer to market weight. on these 5 acres, you can also have 2-5

lambs and a couple of pigs, as well as the chickens and a large productive

garden, again, expecting to use all the land you have.

- you don't need a barn for your animals - a shed will do just fine, and

can be built out of scrap materials.

- you don't need a lot of machinery for your small steading: the sheep will

mow your lawn, the cows will mow the rest of it, the chickens will eat the

bugs, and you can barter for a neighbor to plow your driveway. you don't

need a tiller, because it's far better to permaculture your garden than to

till the whole darn thing up - just carefully dig out 6 " rows for planting,

and let the grass continue to grow in between the rows. this will help keep

moisture in the ground, it will maintain the soil food web, and best of

all, will be a lot less work for you!

- on a small steading, you will need to purchase hay for any animals that

are going to be overwintered. in our area, decent hay is about $2/bale, and

you can estimate about a bale a day for a lactating/pregnant cow, between a

bale and a half bale for a not-lactating/not-pregnant cow, and considerably

less for sheep/goats.

- you will need water, and a way to keep it from freezing (there are pretty

cheap methods for doing this at www.jeffers.com) a lactating/pregnant cow

will drink 20-50 gallons per day, a sheep will have less than a gallon a

day. animals drink more on colder days.

- if you wish to be somewhat isolated, you can still do this on even just

one acre, if you choose your acre wisely - look for land that's near state

parks, other farms, public land, etc. you take a risk that way, since you

don't control what's around you, but it's often the case you can find a

place that's pretty low-risk.

- the further away from " civilization " you get, the cheaper the land

prices. consider moving to the boonies. we live a 2-3 hour drive from

boston, which is a completely reasonable trip to make once or twice a

month, but the prices here are completely reasonable. also, make sure you

shop in a wide area - about 40 minutes south the land prices are much

higher, because there are some quaint little trendy towns. don't be afraid

to shop on the " wrong side of the tracks "

- don't be afraid to let the sheep nap on your front porch.

- avoid the mistake of planning for the future with the constraints of the

present. when we moved here, i assumed i would keep working from home as a

software engineer, except, i *hate* being a software engineer. it never

occurred to me to get a smaller place and just quit my job. (hopefully i

won't have to be much more than another year - the farm is nearly

self-sufficient now) my advice is to think about what you WANT, and then

achieve it: ie, if you want to stay home with the kids, then just plan your

finances around that, and only get what you can afford.

- you need a LOT less living space than you think. we designed a really

beautiful house for a family of 4 that was only 30x30, that could be built

by the family in a summer with minimal contracting. again, with the future

plans vs. current constraints: you probably don't need everything you have.

- one thing to hang on to is clothing: if you have too many clothes, only

keep out a small number of them, and pack the rest away. then, when you're

sick of your clothes or things wear out, unpack the boxes and trade! this

will go a long way to helping you control your spending, and achieve more

on less $. in particular, because if you don't go out to buy more clothes,

you're also not impulse buying a new pair of shoes and a necklace and a

basketball.

- keep a family sketchbook of your plan. write down or draw all the things

you want, and anything you think of that will help you achieve it, and

anything you feel you need to remember. keep all your research there too

(ie, solar energy, water reclamation, whatever). refer to this book often,

and spend family time going through it regularly. this will keep you

focused on your goal so that it doesn't stall out.

- a book worth buying right now is Basic Country Skills from storey books.

- when you set your mind to living on nearly no money, you can. we

regularly instate the " summer of free " (or fall, or winter...) in which we

spend no money that isn't essential (ya know, like paying the mortgage).

which doesn't mean that we can't do things: you'd be amazed how much you

can do with scrap materials. and you'd be amazed how much scrap material

you can find. whatever it is you want, ie lumber, floor tiles,

fabric...just go to the stores that sell that in your area and tell them

you are looking for free/cheap scraps. they might have pallets they will

give you (wood AND nails!), or tiles in their sample bin from last year's

styles, etc that they're willing to give you. some of my best mosaic work

was done with free tile from a flooring store, and we build a small but

delightfully functional front porch with found scrap wood from a rebuilt

bridge...

- and for motivation: with no money in the bank, we decided november 11,

1999 that we wanted to buy a farm. on november 11, 2000, we closed on this

property. admittedly, i had never expected we could move that fast, but we

were really committed, and everything just fwooooshed.

this isn't everything, but it's what i can think of now. if you have

questions or want help on a specific issue, holler and i'll try to help!

-katja