how to lay out your homestead

[knuckledragger]

Hey,

I am kinda new to this. My wife an I have a contract on a house with 4 acres and a pond and we are wondering if there are any good resources out there that help you figure out how to make the best use of your land.

Short term, we will want a garden and some chickens. Long term, maybe some horses. We are open to other suggestions though. Remember, we are beginners and we live in West Tennessee. Our land is roughly rectangular. (slightly deeper than it is wide) It is fenced to the north. It is bordered on the west by a creek It has road frontage to the south and the house sits maybe 100 feet back off the road, 50 feet or so from the eastern border. The pond (which is between a quarter and a half acre in size) is situated between the house and the creek, also about 100-125 feet off the road. The property slopes slightly downward from east to west (in the direction of the creek) There is also a slab poured for a 30x30 out building maybe 100 feet behind the house, but it is not framed up yet. The northern half of the property is mostly cleared, (the area bordering the creek is wooded) but unused.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

[BlueberryChick]

Look at The Self-Sufficient Life by John Seymour. He has several homestead layout suggestions. It's a great resource for lots of homesteading tasks.

[firegirl969]

Carla Emery's book, The Encyclopedia of Country Living, and the Robinson's book, The Have More Plan are both helpful. The have more plan book has some excellent drawings that will help alot. I bought mine used on amazon.com. I think this question has been asked before so you may want to check the archives. I know I have read posts with other books listed also. Good luck and congrats on the new homestead, firegirl

Edited to add: consider raised-bed gardening, I use the Square Foot Gardening book by Mel Barthelomew as a reference, and consider rabbits. They not only provide meat, but some of the best manure for your gardens. It does not burn and is readily available when you have several rabbits. Also, what about fruits? You want to get them in the ground as soon as you can as they take several years to start producing.

[Razorback21]

Oh, the possibilities!!!! I agree on the raised garden idea and chickens are a great beginning homestead animal. I will tell you fencing supplies have really gone up in price the last three or four years, so fencing will cost you a little! The 30x30 slab sounds like a great opportunity if and when you want a good sized barn! Sounds like you all made a good pickup. Good luck with it!!!

[pheasantplucker]

Wow...I like what you described. There are lots of sources for you to read about wind direction, water run off, etc. Try looking through some old Mother Earth News mags. Also I just acquired a Reader's Digest book called Back to Basics, and it discusses how to "layout" the homestead to make most practical use of your resources. If the foundation is already in place for a 30x30 barn...that's where I'd build it. Keep in mind how the sun follows across the sky so when you put your garden or chickens in, you know how to position the hen house to make maximum use of the solar power. Don't want trees blocking your garden plot. Gotta keep in mind your water source too unless you don't mind toting heavy buckets of water every day. Good luck and post some pics.

[Yvonne's hubby]

Originally Posted by knuckledragger

Hey,

I am kinda new to this. My wife an I have a contract on a house with 4 acres and a pond and we are wondering if there are any good resources out there that help you figure out how to make the best use of your land.

Short term, we will want a garden and some chickens. Long term, maybe some horses. We are open to other suggestions though. Remember, we are beginners and we live in West Tennessee. Our land is roughly rectangular. (slightly deeper than it is wide) It is fenced to the north. It is bordered on the west by a creek It has road frontage to the south and the house sits maybe 100 feet back off the road, 50 feet or so from the eastern border. The pond (which is between a quarter and a half acre in size) is situated between the house and the creek, also about 100-125 feet off the road. The property slopes slightly downward from east to west (in the direction of the creek) There is also a slab poured for a 30x30 out building maybe 100 feet behind the house, but it is not framed up yet. The northern half of the property is mostly cleared, (the area bordering the creek is wooded) but unused.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jim

Ok, what I would recommend is that you go out and get some horses first. Fence the property and turn them in the lot. By the time you have learned your lesson and have those pipe dreams and wild notions of owning those silly beasts out of your system, the land should be pretty well fertilized with their poo, ready for gardening, pasture for calves or other sensible livestock. In the meantime be sure your medical insurance is top notch, and stay on really good terms with the vet in your area as well as the ambulance drivers, and be sure you have plenty of liability insurance too in order to pay for the neighbors broken legs, fingers being bitten off an the like.

[AlyCarm]

Originally Posted by Yvonne's hubby

Ok, what I would recommend is that you go out and get some horses first. Fence the property and turn them in the lot. By the time you have learned your lesson and have those pipe dreams and wild notions of owning those silly beasts out of your system, the land should be pretty well fertilized with their poo, ready for gardening, pasture for calves or other sensible livestock. In the meantime be sure your medical insurance is top notch, and stay on really good terms with the vet in your area as well as the ambulance drivers, and be sure you have plenty of liability insurance too in order to pay for the neighbors broken legs, fingers being bitten off an the like.

BOOOOO!!

LOL

[ldc]

There's a very old book by M. K. Gaines, Ten Acres and Independence, that has great layouts, for working places. ldc

[geo in mi]

Lay out your garden area so it will get full sun. Place your barn where the smell from the animals won't assault your nose, and where the manure won't run downhill and pollute your stream or pond. Pipe your water supply to the barn and garden before you plant trees and have to fight the roots.

[AnnieinBC]

Your place sounds really nice! Have fun with dreaming about what you can do with it all!

Here's a link (hope this works) to download the Have More Plan (Ed and Carolyn Robinson). There is some good info in there.

http://www.ki4u.com/webpal/b_recover..._more_plan.pdf

[Pony]

Originally Posted by ldc

There's a very old book by M. K. Gaines, Ten Acres and Independence, that has great layouts, for working places. ldc

Actually, that's FIVE Acres and Independence, and it sits on my night stand. Good recommendation! It helped us learn the right pattern for plowing a field.

I concur that John Seymour, Ed and Carolyn Robinson, and Carla Emery are also very good choices.

But Seymour's and Robinsons' books will give you very practical ideas on how to lay everything out. Mr Gaines' book is pretty technical at times, and Carla's book has a bit of something about everything.

All the best to you on your new 'stead!

[mtnest]

Think about accessibility too! Are winter weather conditions of the sort that you will wish you placed the chickens closer to the house so you didn't have to shlep through the snow/muck to take care of them twice a day? Same line of thinking for the other livestock you might be considering.

Full sun garden area is very nice but don't forget that lots of cool weather crops can be grown during the heat of the summer if they can receive afternoon shade.

Having a specific "orchard" area is a great idea but you can make those trees provide double duty by planting them to eventually provide shade in other areas of the property.

Even if you can't afford the piping and other materials right now, go ahead and dig your trenches for the waterlines you hope to put in down the road. It helps to visually "graph" your property so you can translate what you've drawn on paper into "reality" while you're outside working.

Your place sounds awesome! I wish you the best success Read all you can, research and ask tons of questions...

The best thing about hoemsteading your own place... you have the freedom to change your mind as you go and figure out what is working for you and what is not

[ldc]

Thanks for the correction Pony! I debated before I typed...and still chose incorrectly! Oh well, ldc

[mooman]

I have 3.3 acres (a little less than you) but I think you will find you have the same problem. Once you've read some books you learn about where certain things go and their proper directional orientation (gardens, orchards, livestock pens). At this point you will discover that you do not have that many choices about where to put stuff and when you do have a choice it's because you have to choose between the lesser of two evils.

In a nutshell:

Garden goes wherever the richest, sunniest soil is (floodplain maybe)
-I would not do raised beds. For small gardens on marginal soil they are ideal, but for your size homestead I would do.......well you guessed it...like mine!

Orchard goes on a hill (avoid frost pockets) preferably with a northern exposure.

Livestock goes where they will not cause watershed problems (btw don't you dare cut down those buffer trees next to the creek ) None of my business, but I wouldn't do horses either. My understanding is that you would have to turn more than half of your acre rage into pasture in order to do just two horses. Small holders like us should stick to poultry and rabbits. Again, just my opinion, and unsolicited at that

Finally. Before you start a project READ, READ, think about it, then read some more.

[Pony]

Originally Posted by ldc

Thanks for the correction Pony! I debated before I typed...and still chose incorrectly! Oh well, ldc

Hope it wasn't too harsh. Just didn't want anyone looking for the book and not being able to find it. It's a great resource.

[ronbre]

http://www.pricoldclimate.org/forums..._climate_forum
http://nmag.soton.ac.uk/tf/permaculture/
www.permies.com go to forums for quesitons and answers..

in the permaculture design there are zones that help you to decide where to place items in your property to make the best use of them.

In zone 1 which is the area directly around your home ..you place things intensively so that you can get to them to care for them easily..your fruit orchards and vegetable and perennial gardens, etc..where you can water, fertilize, care for and harvest them..

as you move out to zone 2 you put things that you will need to reach daily or often..such as your animal pens, compost piles..and garden areas that require less care such as berry bushes, larger area crops like corn, ..etc..then you set up your paths so you walk through your vegetable gardens on the way to the animal pens..where you take the weeds you picked on your way to feed the animals..then you toss the manure into the compost pile..toss finished compost on your garden and take supper back on the way back to the house..

your pond should be upslope from your home if possible to use gravity to feed water to your house and gardens..

all this information is available on several other permaculture sites too..it is a design in planning your new home..

[motdaugrnds]

You are getting many good suggestions. I would add the following:

1. Make sure your entire family has up-to-date tetanus shots

2. Visit your newly acquired land at different hours of the day to see how the sun travels

3. Dig about 18 inches at various area all over your acreage and scrape the sides off those holes so as to carry the samples to your agricultural agent in order to find out what type of soil you have and its nutrient value

4. Know your agricultural planting zone

5. Make sure your lifestock "housing" will be downhill from your well and that your chicken house will be on the side of your house that will not blow its smells into your living room.

6. think twice before building a "barn" over that concreted 30x30 as you just might want the housing for your larger animals to have a dirt floor. (If I had that, I would construct a green house there.)

7. walk over the acreage to see if you can find how the water runs. You might find ditches run-off water has made. By knowing how your water drains, you will know how to better control it for your purposes.

8. Take a good look at the base of the sloped area. Are you losing soil that way? If so, decide how you want to stop the loss. (We purchased "damaged" treated wood for terracing to stop this. We also have used a wall of rock to help stop the loss of soil.) Consider placing "raised gardening" beds (for root crops) for this purpose as well. If the ditch(s) are not too bad, bails of hay can be used to stop the soil loss.

9. If you're considering planting fruit trees, remember they need to be far enough away from other trees and "not" planted in an area where there is a "hard base". An orchard may grow well for a few years; then reach the hard pan and die! You might also consider feeding the birds mulberries so they will leave your fruit alone. Also a fruit orchard will do better on "sloped" areas due to the way cold air drops.

10. Know where your "frost line" is in your area and plan your embedded water pipes and water fountains accordingly so they will not freeze during bad spells.

11. As for animals: (This will tell you what kind of fencing you will need!)

a) fowl of all kinds are good. (Just don't mix turkey and chickens due to the disease factor.) As for "housing" fowl, know what predators you might be dealing with and construct in ways that keep them out. (We have black snakes we like to keep on the place; but they also like our eggs. We also have foxes. Thus, we embedded wire underground and curved up and out all around our pen and housing for fowl; also between rafters; and we used "utility" wire instead of chicken wire as it has smaller holes. We also put a wired top over the pen.) Geese serve as good watchdogs and don't need any special housing or food. Guineas are good to keep the "ticks" down.

b) Consider "meat" livestock that you and your family can handle. On only 4 acres, you might not want a cow because it requires a bull. We chose "dairy" goats for several reasons. (Goat milk leaves an alkaline ash in your stomach instead of an acidic ash and does "not" add high cholestral problems. Bucks are much easier handled than bulls, especially if bottle-fed from birth. Goat meat tastes better than beef!)

21. As for your pond, have an agricultural agent out to look at it and advise what would be best to put in it and how best to keep it healthy.

[knuckledragger]

thanks to all for your replies. There's alot to think about and process. When we close on the property, I'll try to post some pics.

Jim