Homesteadiing on 1 acre or less -- roll call

[mbcagle]

If you are homesteading (partial or completely), I would love to know.

1 -- How big is your yard?
2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
3 -- what do you raise, grow, collect, recycle ....?
4 -- What advice do you have for others?
5 -- where are you located?

Thanks!

[mbcagle]

1 -- 0.8 of an acre
2 -- neighborhood .... most do not care. I have not been approached by anyone who is unhappy. I suspect my neighbor behind me does not like it.
3 -- ND goats (5), Muscovy ducks, chickens (no rooster), quail, meat rabbits (new), and a lot of veges, fruits, blueberries
4 -- start slowly. .... add one new thing and perfect it first before adding something else. I learned this the hard way.
5 -- Huntsville, AL outside the city limits.

[ronbre]

well we own 7 acres but most of it is forested, so we only have our homestead basically on an acre or so of it..never really measured but the area with our house and pond and gardens not including woods and field is probably 125 ' wide by 400 to 500 feet deep.

yes we live in a neighborhood and our neighbors love it..our neighbors south and west are seasonal..but the ones to the west share with us and we share with them, the one to our east is our son and there are none to our north close as that is our woods.

We have food forest gardens and grow mostly permanent or perennial plants, trees, fruit and nut , bushes vines, perennial and annual and biennial vegetables and fruits..and a lot of wild plants we gather. We don't have a recyling system in our area but we can drive several miles to recycle, but we generally don't as we have a wood furnace that we heat with that we can burn our paper and cardboard (or use it as compost)..I shred most..and our son has garbage pick up so what little we have goes there..i do use food containers to start plants in in the spring..like yogurt containers and others.

we are in Central lower pen of Michigan, temperate climate where we get snow sometimes 6 months or more of the year, not this year, not typical.

We do not raise domestic animals but have wild animals on our property..we do have 2 cats that keep the rodent problems down.

my blog is in my signature

[where I want to]

I have a bigger place now but did quite a bit on a lot little more than a quarter acres. Neighbors were not an issue. I had 14 fruit trees, 13 raised beds, blueberry patch, green house, small barn and paddock although I never actually got around to using it.
Think about putting trees where they will not shade out rest of garden, look to where the suns hits at all times of the year, think varying hieghts- ie beds, then bushes then trees. Use edible landscaping- there is almost always something edible to replace an ornamental. And try everything- lots of plants did well way outside of their zone recommendations if placed right.
I lived in Eureka Ca which was zone 9ish. Good for growing most things but needed green house for heat lovers.

[CornerstoneAcre]

1 -- How big is your yard?
2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
3 -- what do you raise, grow, collect, recycle ....?
4 -- What advice do you have for others?
5 -- where are you located?

1 - total acres: 2.01 ( I know I'm not one acre or less, but I wanted to share that you can still do A LOT with very little if you use good management practices).
2 - we live in a very rural area and are surrounded by farmland with only two really close neighbors. So far no issues. We've never even met those two neighbors but we've met others around and all are "into it".
3 - 5 horses (2 are boarders and will be leaving in a few months); 20+ chickens; 12 Boer/Kiko goats (with plans on expanding further) and their two guardian dogs; 2 Asian Heirloom hogs (we breed them and raise their 4-5 of their young for the freezer and sell the rest); two house dogs, 2 house cats and two barn cats; 8 fruit trees (so far); raspberries and black berries; a large herb garden; an asparagus bed; a very large garden for fresh use, sales AND preserving; a couple of large comfrey patches; a small strawberry bed we started last year; we also have 3 small outbuildings (chicken coop/gardening shed, tractor garage, Goat birthing barn) 1 medium outbuilding (storage for quads, lawn tractors and snowmobiles and my milking parlor), one large outbuilding (horse barn w/hayloft, tack room and my husbands shop). We have 4 pastures - a dry lot for horses, our buck pasture, our does pasture and a decent "little" pasture that we let the horses graze most days in the summer. We still have a really good size yard and flower gardens all around the house.
4 - I'd have to copy the advice given by "mbcagle" as it is VERY true (BTDT) start slowly. .... add one new thing and perfect it first before adding something else. I learned this the hard way. also would like to add - if you have a chance to get more property than an acre - DO IT. If you are truly thinking you may want to even dabble in the homesteading lifestyle, go as big as you can for land size. We are hoping to purchase anywhere from 5-15 acres of adjoining farmland around us as soon as we can.
5- located in northern lower Michigan

Good luck with your endeavors.

Wanted to add: we amend our soil often with manure from our many critters as well as sell (or give away) some composted and semi composted. Otherwise I think the compost/manure pile would take over almost the entire two acres.

[bassmaster17327]

I rent an apartment in a house that is on 3/4 acre so I do not have use of all the land. All I can have is a 12x12 area for my chickens and a 10x10 shed that I keep 12 stacking rabbit cages in, I keep the chcikens for eggs since I really do not have room to raise any for meat. I raise the rabbits for meat but I also show them and sell them to other breeders, I have a rain barrel set up on the shed and that gives me all the water I need and a 100 watt solar panel for a light. My girlfriend rents a room in a farmhouse, last year they let us have a 20x30 garden there and this year they are letting us have a 20x70 garden

I would love to raise all my own meat but we do not have anywhere to do that right now, I am excited to see how much we can grow in the bigger garden

[madness]

1 -- 1.3 acres

2 -- Neighborhood. Many neighbors LOVE it (several other neighbors have goats and lots of people have chickens), there are a few who don't. One in particular has tried to call in every code violation he can think of on me. Only got one official citation when my grass got a touch too tall. Here's a picture of the evil code violating grass, clearly a sanitation hazard. I couldn't believe with all they investigated, this was the only thing I ever violated!



3 -- two beehives, have had 25 chickens in the past (will be getting them again soon, just took a hiatus) and a vegetable garden. This year we are building a raised bed garden as well as a "field crop" area for things like corn, potatoes, etc. It's 14 8'x3' raised beds and about 200'x50' of field crop area. Also have pecan trees on the property.

4 -- Just do it! But be sure to either follow the city code or have understanding neighbors. Roosters won't make you any friends either!

5 -- Austin, TX

[Belfrybat]

1 -- 3/4 acre -- on three levels divided by retaining walls
2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
I have neighbours on two sides, a mountain to the back and empty land on the other side. None of my neighbours mind, especially since I share the harvest.
3 -- general kitchen garden, had ducks a couple of years ago, and will get more this year, I "rent" a couple of goats after the garden is fully harvested to clear off the top portion of the property that I leave fallow. The reason I wait until after gardening time, is no matter how hard I try, they always find the garden area.
4 -- Follow city codes if there are any, check with close neighbours before bringing in farm type animals, make sure you have good fences -- I lost three ducks due to a hole in the fence I didn't catch, and keep the front of the house/ yard looking neat.
5 -- Small town, west central Texas

[Fourthistles]

I have 1/3 acre in town. We can have chickens so I currently have 5 laying hens, no rooster in a 6x6 henhouse with attached fenced run. I have a main garden for veggies, a separate tomatoe garden for a dozen plants, raised beds for asparagus and for strawberries, 3 cherry trees, 3 June berry bushes with 10 on order for April to make a hedge, a small greenhouse for starting plants and where I raise my herbs in pots, garlic goes in a half wine barrel and sweet potatoes in stacked truck tires. I hane a neighbor on one side only with streets on the other 3. I have two wire compost bins near the main garden and a tumbler as well. We also recycle newspapers and magazines, plastic bottles and jugs, tin/steel cans, glass and cardboard. I put out very little trash; kitchen waste (such as it is) goes to the chickens or into the compost. I save cooking fat, clarify it and make soap.

[Pony]

We started out on 1/3 acre in town. Chickens, rabbits, and huge garden with three nice compost bins.

Have you seen the BBC production from the 70's, "The Good Life"? It's about a couple who turn the suburban lot into a micro-farm. Absolutely fun, AND has some good ideas (though I don't think that was their intention...)

YouTube

[SarahMelisse]

We are still in our first year learning to homestead so we are still learning and adding projects to become more self-sufficient.
1 -- How big is your yard?
We rent a house on .22 acres.

2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
We live in a large housing development with a lot of rules. Our area has a few farms that raise grass-fed beef cattle (on the outskirts) and there is a turkey ranch nearby, so it's not completely weird to have small backyard livestock. Just uncommon.

3 -- what do you raise, grow, collect, recycle ....?
We are growing all sorts of veggies, melons, and herbs. We are also raising chickens for eggs, French angora rabbits for wool and soon for meat, and also have a honey bee hive.

4 -- What advice do you have for others?
We do a lot as renters! It's all in finding the right landlord and being the right tenant. You don't have to own land to start living the homesteading dream... Everyone starts somewhere and it's never perfect. It's really about the journey more than anything else right?!

5 -- where are you located?
The foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Yosemite. Sonora, California.

[Faith]

I own 3acres but basically only use one as two acres are woods.
I am zoned rural residential and have neighbors but none that I can see from my home.
No one bothers me, but no one can see into my property because I'm surrounded by woods. Right now I have 2paddocks that hold two horses. I have 2 dogs and will soon have chickens again. I have 10 different fruit bushes, 5 fruit trees and vegetable gardens. I am adding a large area of raised beds this year and what I don't can, dehydrate or freeze I will sell. In the past we had horses, cows, chickens, ducks, goats, and rabbits. I also sell eggs.
I have a fireplace and heat my house only with it. I also cook alot in it. I have an 8x12 greenhouse.
I am on a well and septic.
I would advise also to go slowly. Find out what is best suited to your land and what your purpose is. My intention is to live solely off my land selling what I need to pay necessary bills.
God bless

[Terri]

1. We have .9 acres we live on. We WERE going to move to 5 acres outside of town, but now probably not.

2. I never dared ask what the neigbors think, though one approves and one does not.

3. We have zoning restrictions as to numbers and types of critters, but we have 3 chickens, 2 cats, and a dog. We often have bees (right now they are on the 5 acres), the Christmas trees are getting too big and so what is left has to go, we have blackberries, apples, apricots, sour cherries, pears, and peaches, a garden, and a home made greenhouse.

4. Watch out for power easements. The cities need more power and so the power company is putting in heavier lines and poles: that means they will need to remove most of my fruit trees to run their trucks up there. They are paying us for the inconvenience but it is annoying to lose bearing trees. When they are out in a years time I might use that area for vegetables instead of fruit, as the lost vegetation of annuals is a lot faster to replace!

5. As for where we are? We drove a half hour from my husbands job along the big roads, and that is where we looked for a home. That got us as far from the city as possible while still giving him a shortish commute. We are in Kansas, west of the Kansas city kansas metro area.

[soulsurvivor]

We've lived here over 30 years. It's a 1.5 acre lot that lives bigger than it is due to being bordered by farms on 2 sides, south and east. North side is a one lane road and a few homes and west is a row of 4 homes going up the hill next to the county road. The only fencing is on the farms. Everything else is open. There's a small creek on the east side of our lot and our garden is located on a slope next to that. The small orchard is on the south, up from the garden. We lost all the trees in our yard to an icestorm in 09 and haven't replaced them, but luckily it didn't effect our fruit trees. The compost pile is located on the south side of the garden.

We don't raise animals due to having access to any fresh products we want from neighbors and local sources. We have an outside building that we used as a smokehouse until the cat moved in. She's our rodent killer and has taken care of our field mouse problem. We have a good crop of earthworms and nightcrawlers in our backyard. The dirt here is rich and easily tilled. We've always had a big garden space and grow everything at one time or another. If I had to claim a special crop it would be lima beans. We grow the pattypan squash too. We freeze most everything but DH does can tomato juice.

We used woodstove heat up until a few years ago. We still have it as a backup. That icestorm left us with no electric for 17 days and we stayed here and did ok. So did our neighbors. They have lived here as long as we have and everyone looks out for each other without invading each others privacy.

My husband and I recently remodeled our small house into a nursing home for our future healthcare. Neither of us want to live anywhere else. We have no collections now and have given all of the inheritance stuff to those that wanted it. It's made our life easier to maintain a nice clean home which is important to both of us. Our home has served us well and we hope that lasts until we draw our final breath.

We're located next to the exact geographic center of Ky in Marion County.

[ChristieAcres]

Our last property was 1 acre, had 18 fruit trees, 2 huge Kiwi Vines, Grapevines, Thornless Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, a dozen Blueberry Bushes, a great vegetable garden (plenty for us), and a garden cabin. You can do a lot with a smaller property, especially if you don't have to have a bunch of useless G R A S S. Now, we live on a larger property and have done a lot more with it, more fruit trees, more perennial varieties, much larger garden, 2 garden cabins, 1 small greenhouse, heat with wood (wood stove also heat all our hot water/heatilator dries clothing via suspended steel drying racks DH made). Since we move here, we have had chickens, rabbits, and pigs. Same zone, 8b, on the Olympic Peninsula, WA State.

[HappyYooper]

We have 2.9 acres but have 1 acre fenced in for our 2 horses..I had no idea you could so much on 1 acre of land! Idea's are starting

[DamnearaFarm]

Great idea for a post, OP. I have to say, it's not only been interesting but inspiring as well. Anyone feel up to doing a crude drawing of their setup? I would particularly like to see Cornerstone Acres' place.
We have a bit over three acres total and I've just started expanding the place in the last few years. We have: horse field, goat paddock, pig paddock, small animal area that holds two chicken houses and their runs, the run for a larger house and four rabbit hutches. Six stall barn. Medium sized garden with all the regular ol' garden things. One old apple tree. This year I intend to add berry bushes and a strawberry bed. Fruit trees will probably be next year's addition, along with sheep.
All the above occurs behind the house, leaving plenty of room for the garage, shed, pool, house and a large yard.

[jana1323]

I live on a quarter acre lot, in a neighborhood. I don't have any animals as it is against the law in our city to have "farm animals" within city limits. Mostly I grow a few vegetables and herbs in my container garden and I am thinking about geting a dwarf fruit tree to plant in the front yard this spring.

[WildernesFamily]

Well, we're on 5 acres now, but we started off on 1/2 an acre, so I thought I'd answer too

1 -- How big is your yard?
It was 1/2 acre, small front yard, huge backyard.

2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
We lived on a cul-de-sac and we were friends with all our neighbors. Our neighbors weren't all friends with each other though, so our code enforcement officer was kept very busy. My favorite of all time call was when he stopped to say that we had to trim our tree growing over the pedestrian sidewalk because it was 6 1/2 feet above the sidewalk and it had to be 8 feet above. Ah well. We provided our neighbors with gifts of veggies and canned goods. Our immediate two neighbors also got gifts of homemade bread and fresh eggs.

3 -- what do you raise, grow, collect, recycle ....?
We had a maximum of 6 civilly disobedient chickens, a herd of meat rabbits, two crab apple trees out front, a few kinds of berries and then 5 raised bed boxes for veggies, along with another area for veggies too. We used the rabbit poop for "compost tea" and our garden loved it! We had a nice compost pile too.

4 -- What advice do you have for others?
Start NOW! Even if you have plans to move somewhere bigger, you can do a lot where you are. You can start learning how to do things like can foods, dehydrate, bake bread, etc. Take advantage of the fact that you live in a busier area. Your Craigslist, free cycles and thrift stores are like GOLD MINES compared to those out in rural areas! Collect the things you will need later on. Do a lot of research. Have shrubs with berries on and don't know what they are? Find out! It may be that you have something edible growing like we did. We had a large amount of chokecherry shrubs/trees on our property, so we made chokecherry jelly.

Our beginnings were very humble.

2006: Our tomatoes (they really didn't do well in these containers!)


Our first small little square foot garden.


Small as it was, we got some produce from it, but the best part was that the spinach we planted that year absolutely THRIVED and that's what got my hubby on board with the whole growing your own food idea. He saw it as practically free food, and he loved that

2007 we added rabbits and expanded the garden a little:


The rabbit shed, most parts of the cages and the crates for the cages were CL freebies.





and in 2008 we added chickens and built 5 new raised bed boxes


Well hidden coop and attached dog pen for run:


5 -- where are you located?
We were within the Denver Metro area, our house backed to a busy 4 lane road and a popular mall was within view of our house.

Honestly, we didn't do as much as we could have with our property, but we always knew we would be moving somewhere bigger, so that kept us in check a bit. There is SO MUCH you can do on a smaller piece though, especially if you're rated for livestock.

Make the most of where you are!

[tojo66]

1 -- How big is your yard?
We are on 1 acre

2 -- Do you live in a neighborhood? What do your neighbors think?
We are rural. Neighbors are 1/3 mile in any direction. Haven't had any complaints, some like the free eggs we share with them

3 -- what do you raise, grow, collect, recycle ....?
We have chickens, guineas, ducks, goats, rabbits, 2 beagles, and 1 cat.
We have a veggie garden, blueberry and blackberry bushes, and some out of control fruit trees.
We collect dust.
We don't recycle, we do reuse.

4 -- What advice do you have for others?
Do what you are able to do wherever you are. Every small change in your lifestyle that makes you feel good about yourself is worth it!

5 -- where are you located?
We are in Southern Indiana.