Getting a Small Homestead- Advice?

[jessepona]

Hi all!

So we're finally getting a homestead, its a bit smaller than I would prefer, only two acres but its surrounded on all size by ag. field, so there is the possibility of acquiring more land in the future. It is literally out in the middle of nowhere, about 1.5 hours from the nearest sizable town, twenty minutes from the nearest settlement.

It has a small farm house on it that is absolutely gorgeous, with a nice fireplace, wood floors and paneling and a new kitchen. The people that own it now added a new roof, furnace, electric, pluming and really fixed the house up nice. The yard is a total mess though but we can handle that no problem. I wanted to buy a house that needed work and do it ourselves, but this one is a real good price and all the houses we've seen that need work need more than we can handle at this point.

There are some questions I have though and I can't think of a better place to ask them, so here goes:

1. there are two old wire corn cribs with concrete bases on the property, one in decent shape the other missing a roof. Do any of you have old corncribs, and if so what did you do with them? Did you remove them or use them for a chicken coop etc...

2. I would love to keep some livestock, what breeds do you recommend for small farms (2 acres) I am particularly interested in goats and sheep. But a cow would be nice... I'm thinking kinder goats, but would pigmy be better? I really like icelandic sheep but I think I may start off with a more affordable breed, that way if I make a mistake it isn't quite so costly... what do you think?

3. The house is built a top a sand hill and the soil is not particularly amenable to growing veggies. What regime of soil amendments would you recommend to help this? I will be getting chickens this spring so we'll have chicken manure, I know from my old farm days that it makes a good soil amendment.

4. I'd like to have a small orchard, what fruit trees would you recommend for sandy soil in Northern Indiana climate (zone 5)?

5. Any other advice for a small homestead?


I'm so excited YAY! I'm glad that my DH's line of work requires him to be out in the country, houses are so cheap here because there are not really very many jobs so we got a great deal. Another great thing, my husband's work lets him have all the firewood he can handle so we won't want for a fuel source at least.

Thanks for all you're help!

Jessica

[uncle Will in In.]

Hi neighbor. What part of Indiana do you live in. Here in northern Indiana, an hour and a half drive would put you into another state if you went the right direction. The wire cribs make great places to store firewood, house birds that fly, Protect your animals from preditors. Wraped with clear plastic they would make a good place to start plants early, or protect your chickens from bab weather. Vineing crops planted around the outside would do fine going up the sides. Things like cucumbers, mushmelons, pole beans, tomatoes tied to the wire, morning glories, gourds. Need to seperate vineing vegtables because many will cross breed. Sweet potatoes.
You could plant a row of non vineing vegtables around the outside of the vineing ones. The crib roof would water the ground around the crib. Sandy ground dries very fast.
Your pasture will not grow durnng dry weather as well as clay loam soil. For that reason you should start slow adding animals that need pasture. Milk goats make friendlier pets than pigmys. More milk also if you want to go that route. Just don't go overboard with anything until you have the ins and outs of the venture down pat.

[Jan Doling]

Do raised bed gardening and Square Foot gardening and you won't have to worry about the sandy soil this year. Meanwhile, do sheet composting or lasagna gardening and let that prepare future sites for you. Compost, compost, compost and within a few years you will have different soil, but it is like sobriety....you will have to compost for life and never let your guard down or everything reverts!

[Hammer4]

I agree, do raised bed gardens and build your own soil composition that you like.

If you have most any livestock at all you will be feeding hay year round as you won't have enough grassy areas, most will get killed off to overgrazing/overtraffic so I would think you would end up with a big sandy pasture. Maybe concentrate on some chickens and gardens until you can buy a few more acres sometime.

[jessepona]

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

Hi neighbor. What part of Indiana do you live in. Here in northern Indiana, an hour and a half drive would put you into another state if you went the right direction.

Now that I think about it, I suppose its actually an hour and a half from Mishawaka, and only an hour away from South Bend. We drove there after dropping our daughter off at my sis's and I was thinking "OMG, an hour an a half away from a major town!" So its no so far as I thought I guess. I've heard the schools aren't great but we might home school or we might move by the time our baby is school aged.


I love the ideas for the corn cribs, thank you so much! One is really beat up, so I think we'll use it for vining plants. I think the other would be great for chickens. There are two decrepit buildings that we can salvage from for a coop and an old outhouse (not in use for a long time, not over a hole) that we're going to reclaim for a potting shed.

I think this year we'll just do chickens and next year we'll start thinking about other animals.

Thanks for the advice thus far everybody

Jessica

[jessepona]

Jan Wrote: Do raised bed gardening and Square Foot gardening and you won't have to worry about the sandy soil this year. Meanwhile, do sheet composting or lasagna gardening and let that prepare future sites for you.

Originally Posted by Hammer4

I agree, do raised bed gardens and build your own soil composition that you like.

Maybe concentrate on some chickens and gardens until you can buy a few more acres sometime.

Those are good points... I do have that Lasagna garden book. I think I'll dig it out and go through it again.

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

I have Hoosier roots.

Corn,strawberries, and apples probably are a sure bet.

You need to add organic matter such as manure or compost.


RF

[Maura]

I would be concerned about the ag property surrounding the homestead. Chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and chemical herbicides.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Originally Posted by jessepona

houses are so cheap here because there are not really very many jobs so we got a great deal. Jessica

please tell me where you are that houses are so cheap? I have been looking for something cheap, out of town for almost 9 months now, but absolutely no luck. I am in indianapolis currently, but need to be in the country. please, do tell!

[swampgirl]

I recommend you might raise a few rabbits. If you don't eat rabbits, don't breed them. Use them for the best manure you can get. Unlike chicken & other manure, it can go directly to your garden & won't burn your plants. I once lived on just two acres & made the mistake of getting too many animals. I fell in love with every baby born on the place, including & especially the baby pigmy goats. Soon, turkeys, chickens, pigs, goats & rabbits were taking over the place & I was overwhelmed. So, take it easy with getting animals to start & learn to cull or sell excess.

[jessepona]

Originally Posted by lonelyfarmgirl

please tell me where you are that houses are so cheap? I have been looking for something cheap, out of town for almost 9 months now, but absolutely no luck. I am in indianapolis currently, but need to be in the country. please, do tell!

Starke county is about the cheapest place I've found around because, 1. the schools are supposedly not very good (I don't know from personal experience) and 2. much of it is sand hills and so not very good for farming (though people do intensively farm much of it anyway ).

But if your far enough to rule out a reasonable commute from South Bend, W. Laffyete or Indy quite a lot of counties are pretty cheep here it seems

ETA: Houses and land in Jasper and Pulaski seem to be pretty inexpensive as well. I've found fixer-uppers with five acres for about 80K, but they're always snatched up before we even have a chance to look at them! If you have a lot of time to look, you could get a really good deal up here. We used www.easyhomesearch.com to search quite a bit.

[jessepona]

Originally Posted by Maura

I would be concerned about the ag property surrounding the homestead. Chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides, and chemical herbicides.

That's also a good point and definitely something we thought about before putting the offer in, but the problem is that every house with land we have looked at is adjacent, or very close to an ag field. That's the main use for land in the part of Indiana we're looking at, corn and soybeans LOL The entire aquifer is probably chocked full of pesticides and chemical fertilizers

I think regardless we'll be getting a really good filter for the water and using bottled for the baby for a while!

[uncle Will in In.]

Jess, North Judson and Knox aren't big cities but they do have factories and stores. They are a short distance from most of Starke county. An hour and a half would put you at the south end of Chicago. The place in Stark county to visit is Toto. It's been well know as the factory outlet bargain center of the world, or at least the middle of No-Where for 80 years. You will find Baileys Bargain Barn between North Judson and Bass Lake on the north side os St Rd 10. Straight north of Baileys big store 3 miles is the village of Toto. Theres about a half dozen discount stores there. Don't spend too much on your place until you check out Baileys. 30 minutes south on 35 will put you in Winamac. Several factories there plus many other places that employ several people. The type of job you are looking for might be a hold back in the area. The pay scale around there isn't fantastic, but there are many smaller places that each have a few employees within 30 minutes of anywhere in Stark County.

[jessepona]

Originally Posted by uncle Will in In.

Jess, North Judson and Knox aren't big cities but they do have factories and stores. They are a short distance from most of Starke county. An hour and a half would put you at the south end of Chicago. The place in Stark county to visit is Toto. It's been well know as the factory outlet bargain center of the world, or at least the middle of No-Where for 80 years. You will find Baileys Bargain Barn between North Judson and Bass Lake on the north side os St Rd 10. Straight north of Baileys big store 3 miles is the village of Toto. Theres about a half dozen discount stores there. Don't spend too much on your place until you check out Baileys. 30 minutes south on 35 will put you in Winamac. Several factories there plus many other places that employ several people. The type of job you are looking for might be a hold back in the area. The pay scale around there isn't fantastic, but there are many smaller places that each have a few employees within 30 minutes of anywhere in Stark County.

Ah, thanks! I was a bit worried about having to drive so far to the store, though we don't go more than once a week in any case. I didn't even think about driving west, sigh... I think I'm too South Bend centric. I must have lived there too long for my own good; that place is like a black hole - hard to escape!

[turtlehead]

I think your area is going to be too small for a cow or sheep. Dunno about a pygmy goat though.

I think chickens would be okay, and rabbits.

You can grow dwarf fruit trees. We're in zone 5b/6a and you can grow: cherries, apples, plums, peaches (some varieties), apricots, grapes, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, gooseberries, walnuts, chestnuts, and *maybe* pecan if you're careful with the variety.

[jessepona]

Yeah, I think you're right. Chickens are good for now I just found out the ag. field around us is in CRP so at least there's no pesticides, maybe I'll be able to buy an acre or two from them eventually.

[vallyfarm]

WATER!!! Anything else can pretty much be fixed or added. Having no/bad/flooding water will determine how you live. Have it checked py a pro. If you want a garden you will need to water it. A 1.5/hour well won't do it. Poor soil can be fixed. Poor house can be fixed. Poor water can ruin your day. Mike

[minnikin1]

I suggest you look for the book's by Paul Heiny and John Seymour.
They both have excellent descriptions of what you can accomplish on
small holdings. Way more than you'd think! Maybe someone who owns the books could copy the pages that describe 1 and 2 acre farms for you...

Nigerian Dwarf Goats have a very good reputation, or they can be crossed with whatever dairy breed you favor to bring the size down.

Congratulations!

[sammyd]

I would always vote cow over goat.
We have a bit over 2 acres and decided on a cow. We figured since we have 3 kids we needed more milk than a goat or two would give.
We set aside 1/2 an acre as per the above mentioned John Seymour (if anyone wants to look at "The Self Sufficient Life and how to Live it" I have the book and might be able to scan a page or two for you) and also tether her anywhere the grass grows for her summer and buy in hay for winter.

I have a tractor and sickle mower and cut ditches up and down the road for bedding and if someone has some small acreage of hay they don't want to mess with I can borrow a baler and do that.

Buying hay and grain isn't a problem, I just look at it as buying in fertilizer.

[uncle Will in In.]

Jess, Starke and northern Pulaski (pronounced SKY ) County has bunches of small homesteader type places. Some of these people have been there since Heck was a pup. Many are escapees from Chicago from years back. Make friends with a few of the older ones, and what they can't teach or show you about making the best of a small farm isn't real important. Some may still have a south Chicago accent, but they are first class Americans. And do check out Baileys on Sunday afternoon. They sell everything and cheaper than most.