Priorities

[nosedirt]

Assuming a person buys a small homestead and the house is livable and does not need attention so all or most energies could be spent on homesteading. Also understanding that each piece of land is different, needing woods cleared or not, already has a barn or not. How would each of you prioritize getting the homestead up and running. Concentrate on crops? Livestock? Buildings? Tools and equipment? Picking out the best place for a deer stand? haha Wondering what all of you think.

[Alder]

I'd say, plan and plant your fruit trees and get fencing up to protect them.

[geo in mi]

Your soil will become your bank account. The productive "equity" of the land you buy, in todays' world, will probably be cashed out--depleted--by the previous owner. You will have to concentrate on that first and foremost, before you can start growing anything. Sick soil equals sick homestead. Won't matter about house, barn, trees, and fences if the soil can't produce--and in most instances, you'll have to rehab it.......

Water will be your "liquid asset". Secure it. Today's climate situation, whether you're pro or anti climate change, demands it.

Welcome to the forum, and buy yourself a good pair of gloves.

geo

[DLMKA]

1) House and buildings secure and not leaking
2) Vegetable garden
3) Fruit trees and berries started
4) Fences in good repair (if keeping livestock)

[rags57078]

since you talk about deer stands tells me that some of your meat supply will be game meat . I would make sure I had some cover and food plots to hold wild game

[nosedirt]

Good thoughts from all. Looks like DLMKA summed up what everyone else has said. Personally, my first priority would be a room in the house to park my motorcycle or at least a heated garage for her. lol
So it looks like a person would want to divide priorities into long and short term. Long term, improving the soil, fruit trees and so on. Short term, vegetable garden and such.
Thanks for the replies, would like to hear more.

[nosedirt]

Rags, I was joking about deer hunting as a priority but I think you really make a good point. We don't want to rely solely on what we raise. I love to hunt but have always thought of it as recreational. You put it into a different light, not recreational but something I would work at in order to feed my family. Thanks for that idea. Top of the list it goes.

[jassytoo]

What DLMKA said, although I would make sure the veg.,berries and fruit trees had a good fence around them. They wouldn't last long around here without one.

[nosedirt]

Good point. Nothing like putting a lot into raising something for the wildlife to eat.

[wogglebug]

1. Make sure the house, if it exists and you're going to keep it, is sound, and weather- and intruder-proof.
2. Make sure any other buildings you're going to keep are sound. Upgrading them can wait. This doesn't take long - you won't necessarily use them yet, but you just want to make sure that the lack of a ha'penny-worth of tar won't cost you a $10,000 shed tonight.
3. Make sure your domestic water supply is in order, secure, and healthy.
4. Make sure your livestock water supply is in order, secure, and healthy.
5. Make sure your garden and orchard water supply is in order, secure, and healthy.
6. Make sure any pre-existing fences you're going to keep are sound and intruder-proof. This is particularly to fence dogs and poultry in, to fence hungry mouths out of orchards and gardens, and to protect your livestock from predators.
7. Make sure your boundary fences are accurately placed, and sound. Make sure any necessary "No Trespassing" signs are in place, in order, and inarguable - VERY VISIBLE.

That's about enough for now. You can go on with fixing up the sheds and the internal fences; repairing any machinery that needs it; upgrading your water supplies; planting new fruit-trees, bushes, and vines; planting your garden; planting crops; and getting new livestock.
Remember, though, that YOU have to do all the work for crops (unless you can set up a U-Pick, and even then you do most of it).
Livestock, on the other hand, do most of the work for you.
This can be important if you depend on the income from your homestead.

Then... you can fix up the house.
Then... you can take a weekend's holiday.
Well, Saturday and Sunday afternoon - Saturday morning is market, and Sunday morning is Church.
Unless you use Satidee arvo to fix stuff.
Sundee arvo is always your 1/6th of a day of rest, and you do really REALLY need it. You can use it to go fishing or hunting, or pick wild food - like blackberries or mushrooms - while you're walking around checking on your water supplies. Are we seeing some priority patterns here yet? HINT: count "water supply" as a proportion of numbered paragraphs.
Unless there's an emergency or an urgency, then there goes your Sundee.
Oh, and remember, if your hunting is successful, you'll need to dress the carcass before milking 4.30am Monday.
Remember to schedule time to dress the buckskin, too - that'll be before next weekend.

[bergere]

If you are going to have livestock and or live in a high deer area....

Good fencing first. This will keep your livestock safe and the deer out of out garden or orchard.
Good fencing means... you are not running out in the middle of the night in your night clothes and a shot gun, to protect your animals.

I am using Cattle panels with Hot wire, Hot wire is off set by 6 inches, so the Deer think it is a double fence.
They are less likely to jump a double fence.

Frost free water lines out to your future garden or livestock pastures.
I wish I had done that the first year I was here. Winter here, is very cold..
running from -18* to 20*, which freezes my livestock tanks like popcycles.
Is a pain in the backside getting water to the pastures and keeping the tanks from freezing. Right now I have to use heavy duty outside extension cords, to use a stock tank heater.

I planted some Leyland Murray cypress as wind breaks the first year I was here. I could only afford seedlings.. but they are in, and growing.
Get orchard trees in, as soon as you can.

Have been at this place, 3 summers now, and plant a few fruit trees every spring, as I can afford.

Learning the hard way,,, the winter wind is very cold and dry here. Lost lots of lot of my plants because of it.
I need to plant more wind breaks, added some Rugsa Roses, to use as hedges. Need to find other types of hedge type plants that are safe around livestock.
What normal roses, grape vines and such I have left, I will have to protect with burlap stuffed with dry leaves.
Need to get that done soon.

If you are going to do Livestock, they will need at least a 3 sided shelter. Water of course.

For poultry,, make sure you have a lockable solid hen house. Everything in the world loves poultry.
I bought an on sale demo shed with 1' plywood flooring, painted that for ease of cleaning.. put in perches and next boxes.
They free range during the day, and safe in their hen house at night.
My fencing is pretty tight... and they just free range around the house and the pastures near the house. They keep the ticks at bay,,, as there are a lot of them here.

Unless you have a lot of money. It takes time. My DH and I, get things done as we can afford and have time for.

[nosedirt]

Starting to sound like riding my motorcycle is getting lower and lower on the priority list. Since I'm telling my wife that the homestead will be good for my mental health, I can't use the excuse of mental health to ride my motorcycle. hmmm

[nosedirt]

Wogglebug, I like the common denominator of water supply in your post. No water means no livestock, no gardening or fruit trees, and of course people need it too. I'm using everyone's list of priorities to help chose a piece of land. With your ideas, springs, creek, water wells, and ponds will be on the list of things we will be looking for in a homestead property. City water will not be part of the decision as we would happily use it but not rely solely on something so important being supplied by someone else. Thanks

[nosedirt]

Bergere, I do agree with your thoughts on fencing but my Dad had me skinning locust posts so much as a kid that I have some pretty strong feelings about it. haha I do picture putting in various combinations depending what animals are in what fields but overall I see the outer edges of the property having two strands of barbed on the bottom then woven and then two strands of barbed on top. Probably some type of electric for inner fencing in most areas. What are your thoughts on types of fencing for various types of livestock. We plan on a couple beef calves a year, a half dozen goats, and at least a hundred chickens between meat birds and layers. Also would like to raise an occasional hog. I've never had goats before but are they more like sheep? Thanks

[bergere]

Find, unless you have a very large place.... Barb wire doesn't do much... other than cause you Vet bills.

You could do woven field fence and Hot wire. Get a predator rated charger.

This is what I had in Oregon... it was just the night pasture fencing, but my husband and I made it to keep out cougars, bears, packs of coyotes... which we had a lot of.
And they were always trying to find a way to get in.
Most the 250lb blk male bear did, was slight bend the top of one of the heavy duty T posts near a camel back. This photo is before we put the top hot wire on.



And because gates are a weak link.... Put sweeps bottom and top.
Along with hot wire... was tall enough could walk under without taking it off.


Here in VA, because it is faster to put up, we are mostly using cattle panels... can take packs of hunting dogs hitting it, where as the woven field fence would have issues.
Also using hot wire.
(rather deal with cougars and bears... than rude people and packs of dogs)

Goats will challenge fencing a lot more than most sheep. Goats are known for being escape artists.
How we ended up with the two goats we have now. One of them could jump from a stand still... a 6' tall fence.
He tried it here with the fencing I have... he did it maybe.. twice... but didn't like getting zapped by the thick hot wire I run along the top... add a properly grounded predator rated charger..... its going to smart.

[simi-steading]

Originally Posted by nosedirt

Starting to sound like riding my motorcycle is getting lower and lower on the priority list. Since I'm telling my wife that the homestead will be good for my mental health, I can't use the excuse of mental health to ride my motorcycle. hmmm

I've had my bike out one time since we moved... Been too busy with firewood, an Ox roast, and other around the home chores to even think about riding the bike.... Yep.. your priorities change when you start to look at your homestead as a place that is going to provide part of your sustainment. It's a full time job... Working around here does provide a lot of the mental health relief.. but still not as much as riding does..

[Trainwrek]

I found that because my climate is cold and summer was waning, cutting and putting up wood was my very first priority when I got here. I had no livestock and it was too late to plant a garden. I built a good woodshed then felled, cut, split, and stacked about 6 cords. The house only has wood heat so it was a priority.

Next I set about getting me some venison in the freezer which I did second day of hunting season. Skinned, gutted and butchered after letting it hang 3 days.

By that time it was Oct, and getting cold so I just "hunkered down". I went for alot of hikes with my dog to see the lay of the land. Went into town alot to see what kind of peoples were around. Spent alot of time online trying to figure what kind of livestock etc I'd want to keep.

Come spring I built a coop and ordered 25 chicks from Murry Mcmurry. New Hampshire reds they were. Good birds. Then I tilled over a section for garden. I planted potatoes and beans that year, an enormous quantity. I also built raised beds in a section that was too wet to till or plow. I think I planted some herbs and didnt have much luck with some other things I tried. No deer that year but caught alot of fish.

The third year I doubled the garden, built a barn, built some fence and got some sheep. Thats about where I stopped as far as building outbuildings and etc. But every year I've been increasing my herds, getting more equipment, etc.

These days I tend my herd, garden about 1/2 acre of mixed veggies, cut a lot of wood, and cut hay. My wife keeps rabbits. I haven't hunted since that first year, I really dont see the need as my freezer is packed full of lamb ( which i love ), chicken, rabbit and veggies every year.

[nosedirt]

Geo, thanks for the welcome. We are going to Kentucky so we most likely will have land that was once a tobacco farm. I don't know anything about tobacco but I've heard it is hard on the soil. Any recommendations for improving the soil? Should I get it tested?

[nosedirt]

Bergere, is that your homestead or Fort Knox. lol Impressive.

[nosedirt]

Trainwrek, you bring up an interesting point. The time of year that we get settled in will determine some of my short term priorities. If it's winter, I could still work on fencing, buildings, soil improvement, but won't tending a garden. Guess I could get a greenhouse built.