Umm Where do I start??

[KeepingItAtHome]

No seriously, I don't know where to begin! We are in the process of buying 26 acres, mostly flat with a small pond. It has a mobile home on it that we'll live in until our city house sells and we can build a more appropriately sized house.
We know we need chickens (not sure how many yet, 8 kids at home, currently go through 18 eggs a day sometimes 24) We know at some point we want a couple cows for milk and beef. We know we want a garden and to compost. We want fruit trees. I know absolutely nothing about any of this (I've never even had a backyard garden) I don't know where to focus my efforts. There is SOOO much to learn and wading through the information is quite overwhelming. We can't afford to make a bunch of mistakes so we need to be educated and plan carefully but oy vay! There's just sooo much!

[simi-steading]

Get out on the land and start living on it first.. Things that need to be taken care of first will show their head real fast... Get done what needs to be done.

Learn how the light plays on the land, learn how the water runs, and it will show you where to plant, or raise animals..

GO SLOW.... take your time and don't get in over your head to start..

You will find that no matter what you planned, something else will happen, and you'll be dealing with that instead of what you thought you would be.

[motdaugrnds]

Simi has it right!

Get to know your land, i.e. from which direction do the major storms come; how does the rain water run; what type of soil do you have; what type of predators are in the area are just a few of the thing you need to know before planning too much.

Since your land is mostly flat, you're going to need some type of trees for a variety of reasons, i.e. wind breaks for one. Any of it in a "flood zone"? You'll need your house and animals shelters on the higher parts of your land, preferable your house the highest. You'll need to make sure your driveway will not be full of mud, etc.

Since you're wanting a garden and orchard, ask your local agricultural agent to meet you out there and talk with you about what grows best in that area and make sure you get that soil tested to know what you'll need to add to it.

Since you've got a pond, find out what is already in it, making sure it is not something that you will need to worry about later, i.e. poisonous snakes? How deep is it and what will it be used for? (You'll want to think about how to protect it.)

Talk with your neighbors and find out what is working for them in that area....what type of animals they have....any animals that feel they can come onto your place whenever?

I know you're feeling overwhelmed and getting information here will contribute to that to a degree. The bottom line is learning all you can about the place before you start setting up any type of permanent structure.

Whenever you start feeling overwhelmed, stop what you're doing, take a few deep breaths, let yourself feel good about what you've already done, then go back to what you were doing. And do keep us informed. We love hearing how others create their homesteads.....

[Ernie]

I agree mostly with the previous posters. There are a few things I would do this year just to get them going. Chickens are one ... build a cheap and small coop that you can either move or tear down later if you figure out it's not appropriately located. I wouldn't wait a year to get chickens, but I wouldn't put in a whole lot of infrastructure for it either.

Especially considering you don't have your permanent home there.

Also, this would be a good year to plant a few fruit trees. You can never go wrong with planting fruit trees. A garden as well, but I wouldn't put in any permanent infrastructure for it. Anything you till today and abandon later on for a better spot will simply fill back in with grass eventually.

[Rose1317]

See if there's a way to build a root cellar, or make some kind of provision for a storm shelter, being as you're in Oklahoma.
Make sure the chickens are well fenced in, and predators can't get to them (there are some
nice electro-net fences that are moveable, and lots of plans for movable chicken coops online). There's a backyard poultry site online too, with lots of helpful info there.
I agree to plant your fruit trees and berry bushes and maybe get a strawberry bed going,
it's nice to see those start bearing fruit as you move on to more adventures on your place.
And ask the neighbors what works for them, you might find a good mentor in the area.

[KeepingItAtHome]

Thanks everyone!
Thankfully there is already a shelter on the property. I'd have a real struggling living in a tin can in tornado alley without one LOL.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by KeepingItAtHome

Thanks everyone!
Thankfully there is already a shelter on the property. I'd have a real struggling living in a tin can in tornado alley without one LOL.

Settlers before just dug a hole and didn't worry so much about the rest.

[FarmboyBill]

Settlers lived in holes out here. Dug outs into the sides of banks made dirt cabins. Ive seen pictures of cows grazeing on the roof of such a house/cabin.. Your in Okla. Where at? It makes a BIG difference. I live between Bristow, Beggs and Kellyville. I don't get near the rain that my kids get at Collinsville/Talala.
Find out which direction the winds the worst, and plant your outbuildings accordingly.

You will need at least an acre of garden to take care of that big a family. You need to get a well drilled as soon as possible so as to be able to water a garden. IF your anywhere around me, I will be glad to witch one for you.
Chickens. Find where theres poultry farms. Call them to see if and when they get rid of their old stock. They will be a year old, but they will be layers. They will likely go into a molt when you get them, BUT they will come out of it in a month. They eggs will be white, as the chickens will be White Leghorns, ot Austra Whites. They should run around a buck each. That's better and cheaper than fighting raising baby chicks if you've never had the experience. Get a doz babies next spring early and have that experience with them then. you want eggs NOW.
IF you are by Inola, theres a sale out on hwy 412 around 30 miles E of Tulsa. First Sat of the month. Starts at 8. Get there by 7. Its HUGE. They have/sell any kind of bird and rabbits, PLUS guns, ammo, Cars/trucks, tractors, implements, tools, bldg. supplies, and everything in between for house and farm
You want milk cows. I found Tulsa Craigslist has a few consistently. BUY ONLY JERSEY, GURNSEY, OR BROWN SWISS COWS, OR any cross thereof.

Don't look for much help from your neighbors in Okla. They gave up farming and gardening 50yrs ago. I SELDOM see a farmstead milk cow. IF I see any, they will be out on the range in a herd of beeves.

BUILD YOUR CHICKENHOUSE at least 10ft wide. and likely 30ft long. Divide it into 2 sections, 3 if you want to raise roosters. one section for roosting, and one for nesting with nests. With 3 doz hens, 10 nests will be plenty. With 2 doz, 8, and with 1 doz 5 nests.
To work an acre garden, you are going to need 4 hoes, 3 rakes, a push plow for everybody who can push one. A couple sprinkling cans, hand garden tools. you will either have to hire it plowed and disced, and good luck on that. OR you are going to have to buy a tractor, disc, and harrow. Its too late now to do a garden, and do it right, so forget about it, and get the tools/implements to do it right for EARLY next year.
You will likely want to make your own hay for your cows. You will have LITTLE luck getting somebody to bale a few acres for you. A minimum of 10 at least is necessary before youll get a nibble, UNLESS there are several little places that do a little hay and one bailer does them all. GOOD LUCK getting a bailer to come in when YOU want him to come in. AND, IF he has yours and a few other small fields down, plus a hundred acre field that hes being doing for years, and it looks like rain. Guess which field is going to get bailed.
IF you find a RESTORED 1940s/50s IHC Model C or H, OR John Deere, Model A or B, 40 or 50, or Allis Chalmers model WC, WD, WD-45, Buy it. It will be in perfect running order, AND IF and when your done with it, IF you've taken care of it, it will be worth as much, OR MORE, not less, than you paid for it. You should be able to find them for around $2000. A pull type, rope trip, or cylinder lift plow ought to run around $100. MAKE SURE its all there, and in good shape. Any make will do. Same with a pull type harrow. With a disc, make sure the discs are all there and in good shape, and not floppy. Many Okies run their discs on rock, and have destroyed the discs blades. you will need a sickle mower, IF your a good mechanic, a simi mount tractor mower will work fine. Even a horse mower will work IF you can find a good one. I have 2 that are in perfect working shape, plus a IHC simi mount sickle mower. The horse mowers are 6ft, the tractor mower is 7. A steel wheel side rake, if it is in good shape will work fine. That's what I use. I have 2 and just got another for parts, but I think I will fix it up instead in case my boy ever gets off his glass and gets out of town on a place. A mower should run around $100/$150. A rake, from $50, to $200. you will need a hay rack to load the bales on. IF you can find a running gear, you can make the flat bed, It should be around 8 X 16.
SPEND YOUR MONEY ON A GOOD BAILER. They are what makes or breaks a pleasant haying experience, A good bailer, square, should run around $2000.

Check out U TUBES about every aspect of your interests. Gardening, with push plows, ect. Raised beds, with tractors,, with 2 wheel walk behind garden tractors, ect.
Check out haying, mowing, raking, bailing. Also check out (stacking hay with oxen) to give you an idea. What you see can be done with square bales also.
Check out, raising chickens, turkeys, ect.
Check out canning, storing vegetables, anything. Good Luck, and Welcome

[Ernie]

Most of all I'd ask ... what did you want to do when you bought 26 acres out in a rural area?

Surely you put SOME thought into why you wanted to be there?

When I got to my first farm, I wanted to do everything I'd ever thought about doing and I wanted to do it in the first month.

If I'd have slowed down a little bit I would have done things more correctly and spent less money, but on the other hand ... I know people that have been on their farm for years now and are still looking through designs to build their first chicken coop.

[FarmboyBill]

Yup, and as to your last, There will come a day when they'll say, well, weve lived alright this long without chickens why bother with them at our age.

[Raymond James]

If the tornado shelter and the trailer works for you then I would take my time on the house. Get moving on a chicken coop and go with the older chickens as FarmboyBill suggest.
Then I would focus on fencing, planting some fruit trees, Shade trees (for where you need them when the new house is done/built) and getting ready for next years garden or if you like cabbage/ kale/collards a fall garden. Start that garden at a third of an acre or smaller . After the first year think about making it bigger- better to start small and increase the size, diversity of crops as you go.

If your fences, pastures and water for cattle are good to go look around/ask around and find some young weaned calves to buy. Try not to go thru the sale barn. Buy them at the price that the farmer would get from the sale barn without him having to pay commission he makes more money that way and you get the pick of the heard and can have him deliver the cattle to your farm. Raise two one to sell one to put in the freezer. No pets. Increase the number of cattle the following year. Continue to buy weaned calves for a few years then if you want your own heard buy some Heifers and raise them up to breeding age. Do the same with a bull. Gently train to halter lead if possible but again no pets.

Now if you got lots of money just go buy a herd bred cows with calves from the auction barn. But I think starting small and learning as you go is a better way to do it.


The first year try and learn canning, freezing, drying with purchased vegetables, the years after that put up your own produce from your garden.

This living in the country is not a vacation and can be a lot of work. You need to work up to it, learning and getting bigger more diverse as you go. Do not take on more than what you can handle in anyone season. Give each child chores that they can handle even if a small child's chore is to watch the oldest they are learning by watching. Better than watching TV/video games.

Last year we wanted to take a big western vacation for 3 1/2 months so we did not plant much of a garden, didn't raise any pigs and sold off our chickens as the house sitter really did not like chickens. I know a man who would really like to take his wife to New Orleans for Carnival as she has always wanted to go but that is when his cows calve and he has never found someone he trust to check on his cows who are normally starting to calve about then. He has been working on finding /training help and is moving his breeding dates in order to have later calves enabling him to take his wife to New Orleans and get back before the birthing season. He has to make this decision a year out.

[motdaugrnds]

If you're going to plant some fruit trees/bushes, I suggest you build a "double" fence (first being about 2 feet from whip with the 2nd 2 ft from that one) around each to keep the deer from killing them. As they grow, you can remove that fencing and just wrap some mesh wire around the trunks a few times to keep the deer from killing them.

[Rose1317]

Oh, and teach your kids to do chores out there, it helps them to learn to be capable from an early age and they can be a huge help (there will be a learning curve, but everyone makes mistakes). Besides they'll be gaining skills right along with you and can be proud of helping build a productive homestead.

[Ernie]

Originally Posted by Rose1317

Oh, and teach your kids to do chores out there, it helps them to learn to be capable from an early age and they can be a huge help (there will be a learning curve, but everyone makes mistakes). Besides they'll be gaining skills right along with you and can be proud of helping build a productive homestead.

Oh heck yeah! I second this one.

In addition, design structures and processes so that children CAN do them. Make sure nest boxes can be reached, rabbit hutches are low enough to the ground, etc. so that the shorter people in your household can do those tasks.

I've learned a painful lesson in this regard ... in that any task which is so difficult or complicated that it takes an adult to do ... will only ever get done by me.

[FarmboyBill]

Don't put your nests so low that when you get old and the kids are gone, that its a pain to bend over to get the eggs, as with mine. I have 2 rows of nests. The chickens only lay in the lower ones.
Don't put your rabbit nests too low for the same reason, making it hard to water and feed them. ALSO, if they are outside, making it easier for varmits like neighbors dogs to get in them. I made mine thereabouts navel high, and never regretted it.

[FarmboyBill]

IF you build a brooder house, and intend to use a hover, build the walls 8ft in the back, and 10 in the front, and have it at least 12ft wide. That way you can raise the hover high enough to get under it, and wide enough to be able to walk around it. BOTBH these are mistakes ive lived with for the last 30 yrs.

[MO_cows]

Congratulations. Some good advice given here.

Another vote here to get chickens. And a suggestion to educate your kids about snakes, so they can identify venomous and non-venomous. Walk your property thoroughly and look for old wells, barb wire fencing hidden in overgrowth, dropoffs, hornets nests, any hazards, and make your kids aware of them. If they have only been exposed to back yards and city parks as the "great outdoors", they will need a little education in self-preservation and safety.

[KeepingItAtHome]

Originally Posted by Rose1317

Oh, and teach your kids to do chores out there, it helps them to learn to be capable from an early age and they can be a huge help (there will be a learning curve, but everyone makes mistakes). Besides they'll be gaining skills right along with you and can be proud of helping build a productive homestead.

Oh yes!! The skills they'll learn is one of the reasons we're doing this. We homeschool and they already do the majority of the household chores. I'm actually going to have the older ones help me with research. This is definitely a family learning project!

[KeepingItAtHome]

Originally Posted by Raymond James

If the tornado shelter and the trailer works for you then I would take my time on the house. Get moving on a chicken coop and go with the older chickens as FarmboyBill suggest.
Then I would focus on fencing, planting some fruit trees, Shade trees (for where you need them when the new house is done/built) and getting ready for next years garden or if you like cabbage/ kale/collards a fall garden. Start that garden at a third of an acre or smaller . After the first year think about making it bigger- better to start small and increase the size, diversity of crops as you go.

We're expecting a year before we can even start on the house, and then at least a year to build it since we intend to do most of the manual labor ourselves. It's a good thing I've got 7 young men to help!!

Originally Posted by Raymond James

No pets.

No pets is a concern with the kids. I know they're all going to just love the animals and not sure how to deal with this other than the harsh reality of a "pet" being dinner.

Originally Posted by Raymond James

Now if you got lots of money

haha! yeah, no... this is going to be a struggle for us.

Originally Posted by Raymond James

He has to make this decision a year out.

I'm a midwife, I already have to plan things a year out, but I know what you're saying. We were just discussing the hard work involved in this and how we're going to get it all done while still working a "real" job. No idea, but it's the only way to get where we want to be.

[Bret]

Some of your most brilliant achievements will be due to mistakes. If you don't say anything, someone will assume that you are just remarkably gifted. I see that you have already set 4 posts.