How much property?

[thestartupman]

How much property do you have now, and how much property do you plan to have in the future? I will start this out. I currently have 5 acres, but plan to have 80 acres. Might settle on 40 if I have too.

[pheasantplucker]

I currently have 14.5. Adjacent to me there are three parcels. One is 12 one is 10 and one is 6. I would be delighted if I could acquire any one of them. The ten acre parcel is all woods. The 12 acre piece is half woods/brush and half meadow. The 6 acre piece is mostly woods.

[uncle Will in In.]

We got 179 acres and a burial lot. I plan on letting my wife take the 179, and I'll take the plot.

[davel745]

It isn’t about the acres. We have about 17 acres. But how much wood for heating in the future. A house needs minimum of 10 acres wooded to be self sustaining. And you will need a good size piece for a garden. We have about 10 acres of wood lot all red oak and 3 acres of good bottom for a garden. No pasture land but there is a 30 acre piece next door for sale and there is a lot of pasture available. I am trying to get a burial plot too, that is a good idea Uncle.

[MushCreek]

The amount of wood needed for heating varies with the climate. Obviously, someone in Florida needs a lot less wood than someone in Wisconsin! It depends on the size and efficiency of the house, too. In a temperate hardwood forest, it is said that you can sustainably harvest one cord of wood per acre. Every house and owner will have different annual needs.

We have 7 acres, with about 5 remaining as woods. I don't see us buying any more unless we hit the lottery. There is an adjacent lot with a derelict mobile home on it which have tried unsuccessfully to buy for the last 5 years. HUD keeps auctioning it off, only to have it not close, but nobody is able to tell us why. Apparently, one bank owns the land; one owns the mobile home, and one of the two parties doesn't want to settle.

[idigbeets]

104 acres, mostly woods, 15 or so open. Will be moving within a few years, ideally to 300+ acres.

[Micheal]

Currently own 57.xx acres (more or less as stated in the deed).
Figure I'll be owning it untill either I die or get to old and can't maintain the +450' driveway come wintertime. If I get to be that old and/or feeble then I'd be looking for a gnd floor apt with niceities and utilities included...........

[fishhead]

I want at least 100 acres.

[homesteadforty]

I currently have 20 acres of my own. There are 9 acres in mixed hardwoods, 2 acres pasture, 1 acre gardens, the buildings take up about 1 acre and the remainder is in hay. I also have use of the neighboring 7 acre hay field and 13 acre woodlot (for d/d/d wood).

I can see the neighbors trailer this time of year (when the leaves are off), so I'd like to have that 10 acres (with pond). There is a 70 acre parcel (all wooded) to the southwest and a 50 acre (again wooded) piece to the southeast.

I'm working on buying up any of the neighboring properties I can.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I can tell you that the 100 acres of south Texas coastal plain is just about totally useless right now.

[big rockpile]

I started out with 100 acres,went to 20 acres,now have 5 and feel we have too much.

We can cut all our Firewood on Government Land,all our meat in the way of Game and Fish come off Government Land.All we have to worry about is Vegatables and Fruit.

big rockpile

[Rita]

We have 66, plan to sell house and 7 acres and move onto son's acreage to be closer to town and to him in our old age.

[sisterpine]

I agree with you big rockpile. It seems the older I get the less land I wish to care for. I would now like enough for a nice flower vegetable garden and a couple more fruit trees and that would serve me well. Of course if the carp flies then I will have no water as I live in a desert with 6 million other people!

[Mutti]

120 acres...80 in oak/black walnut/pine/sycamore forest...the rest fenced and cross fenced pasture with two ponds. Enough so we've been able to do selective logging for added income and never have to cut a live tree for firewood. Plus son building house with wood from property left past recent logging.

[Waiting Falcon]

I have 4.13 acres with about 2 1/2 being woods. Keeping those woods clean- dead, dying , wind,snow, ice, damage would easily keep this house in warmth for many years. I think the winters here are about an average of 30 degrees.

With age and health I would prefer more like 1/2 acre

[goatsareus]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

I started out with 100 acres,went to 20 acres,now have 5 and feel we have too much.

We can cut all our Firewood on Government Land,all our meat in the way of Game and Fish come off Government Land.All we have to worry about is Vegatables and Fruit.

big rockpile

my sentiments exactly. I have owned 70 acres for 27 years; 20 acres of it are cultivated, mostly hay, and 50 acres are in newer forest growth. We found we need about one acre to suppy us with our firewood needs; heating a 3600 sf superinsulated home with a wood burning furnace. Basically we have done nothing with the back 50 acres in woods, just harvesting standing dead trees close to the house. I am tired of paying taxes on land I never see or use. I plan to sell it all and buy a lot somewhere in a rural town.

[pinfeather]

We have 62 acres of wooded property with a cabin 1/2 hour outside town and 3/4 acre with a small house in town. The woods supply both places with heat.

[highlands]

Not enough. We only have about 1,000 acres. As more becomes available I buy it. They don't make more land. Not until we start tearing down the cities and replanting the parking lots...

[ArmyDoc]

188 acres. When we build, we plan to put the house on 10 acres about half of which will be tended/worked, and the other half left in forest. The rest is planted pine. As time goes on, I'd like to transition to silvopasture, and have some cattle. As I get older, will probably transition back, as it does't take much work to let the trees grow.

[jwal10]

I have almost 6 all together but in 3 parcels, 4+ acres farm with nice fishing pond, 1 acre with off grid cabin and a small lot with a small cottage. Perfect for us at this stage....James