what do you think i can do with a 1/2 acre

[Frontier_oaks]

We might be buying a 1/2 acre of land with a single wide moblie home
This is the closest I have come to a homestead ( though small it will be a start )
What do you think i caould have on it

A garden ( a must )
A few chickens ( a big dream of mine)

My husband doesnt like goats milk and i am allergic to bees so those are out what else
Any ideas would be helpfull

[Montana Mom]

I think that would be the perfect size. You could use fruit trees and fruit bushes to landscape.

I have a small lot and have it divided (by fence) into 4 parts. In the front of the house I have a pretty yard with grass, flowers, and ornamental vegetables. Behind the pretty yard is the play yard for kids & toys. Behind that is my vegetable garden. On the side of the house is the dog run and parking.

Of course, the children really are allowed in all parts of the yard, just have to keep their toys in the play yard.

[MorrisonCorner]

I agree... I was just thinking "blueberries around the foundation" and a couple of apple trees... nice big garden... you could create a real paradise on a half acre.

Where I think you might find yourself challenged is in food storage. You're not going to have a lot of space for food storage. So I would do everything I could to minimize the amount of food I'd have to store by working with cloches, hot beds, etc to raise fresh greens and vegetables as far into year 'round as I could.

[moonwolf]

Garden, for sure. You can grow cukes or small melons growing up a fence on the north edge of the garden.

Rabbits, a small shed and keep some coturnix (japanese) quail for meat and eggs or bantams. Pigeons if that's your fancy. baby doll sheep for natural lawn mowing and wool.......

[Frontier_oaks]

Originally Posted by MorrisonCorner

I agree... I was just thinking "blueberries around the foundation" and a couple of apple trees... nice big garden... you could create a real paradise on a half acre.

Where I think you might find yourself challenged is in food storage. You're not going to have a lot of space for food storage. So I would do everything I could to minimize the amount of food I'd have to store by working with cloches, hot beds, etc to raise fresh greens and vegetables as far into year 'round as I could.

I did think of food storage at first but we live in florida so we have a long growing season and i like to make the most of it
The place we are looking at is a 2 bed room with an addition added on that was used as a computer room the house needs some work so that will be our first priority. There basicly is no kitchen so i get to make the kitchen however i want ( thats a good thing) and either the "computer room" or the other bed room i was going to make into a pantry There is only 2 of us but a few friends and realitives do enjoy fresh produce. but every year i always have to much

my husband is a vary picky eater ( he blames his grandmother i think he is just stubborn ) so i am really the only one who eats right out of the garden

trees dont intrest me much as i can barter or even buy from someone local cheaper then i use not much just around hoiday baking time
same with barries
see this is why i need all the help i can get
from what my dreams are and what i really need or use
thanks everybody for your help

[Freeholder]

http://www.f4.ca/text/possumliving.htm is the link to Dolly Freed's book Possum Living. She and her father lived well on half an acre and a couple thousand dollars a year (of course it's been a few years since she wrote the book).

I wouldn't give up on goats yet, if the property is where you can keep them. I'd like to know what goat milk your husband drank that he didn't like it? I've done taste tests over the years, with different people and different breeds of goats, and none of them were able to tell which was the goat milk and which was the cow milk except that the goat milk was usually discernibly richer than the store-bought cow milk! The smaller breeds of goats, such as Kinders, are perfect for small families on small places.

Now, as to what else you can do: plant berries and fruit trees (maybe a couple of nut trees, too) around the perimeter. Berry bushes do make good foundation plantings, too, as someone mentioned. Rabbits only need a little space in a shed for their cages and provide a lot of meat. You could maybe even put in a pond or large fish tank (a barrel) and raise fish. However, if you live near good fishing, it might be easier and more fun to catch your fish that way rather than raising them. If you have close neighbors who may object to a rooster crowing, consider having ducks for eggs. You can do a LOT with half an acre!

Kathleen

[Alex]

We tried to subdivide and put our house on only forty acres.

The zoning would not allow it.

Are we ever glad, we are blessed with one Quarter Section (the minimum lot size). And now we agree, and love it, 160 acres is good.

So, we are very fortunate, yet one-half acre would be fine for us too, no worries.

Alex

[jackie c]

Well if you have some background in farming, then I would say these other responses are great. I had turkeys this year, they were pretty easy, don't require alot of room, and its a nice change from chicken. I've never had ducks, they might be another option. I don't think I would get more than one pig, might get kinda smelly and keep that one as far from people as possible. Don't know how close your neighbours are, but they might not appreicate the smell of pigs. And make sure it never gets out, you won't have any garden left! If you have close neighbours I wouldn't recommend getting a rooster, noisy at times, usually the wrong times too. I don't think you could get anything like a cow, not qiute enough room. Thats about all I can think of.

[Terri]

My MIL in California had a large, spreading avacado tree. Under the tree she had rabbit hutches on stilts. Under the rabbit hutches she had compost made from the avacado leaves and rabbit droppings. A few potatos grew in the sunnier patches of the compost.

You are only limited by your inventiveness and the zoning laws.

With half an acre to mess with, you will have enough ground to take you a few years to fill up.

[Terri]

My parents in California had fresh tomatos for 9 months out of the year. They planted them where they got afternoon shade, which meant that the plants bore even in the heat of the summer. It got up to 112 degrees in the summer.

Artichokes did well for them, and in some areas of the yard peppers and cukes bore all summer long.

[Mudwoman]

Don't forget some herbs in the garden. Maybe a pecan tree along with the fruit trees and bushes. In Florida, couldn't you have a lemon tree? Yum. You might check into some of the dwarf varieties of fruit trees.

[Frontier_oaks]

thank you guys for all your help
I just cant wait i get so gitty just thinking about it

Thanks