Young guys and some questions about homesteading

You can do it all on 10 good acres. Don't just buy land 'willie-nillie', you have to look into what makes land good. Check county soil survey maps, get soil tests done. Stay away from low swampy land ( unless you want that ).

If you can get 10 fairly level, wooded but with some meadows, no bedrock, hardpan, or too gravelly soil...you'll have it made. I never wanted to clear land, that can be very expensive and time consuming, you want some clearing done for you. You can do with less, but if you want to heat with your own wood ( a massive savings ), you need some woodlot.

I can only chime in to reiterate what the others have said. MAKE SURE she shares the same values and goals or you will be a lonely homesteader, no matter how much land you plan to survive on.

We do bees (15 hives). Rabbits (a breeding pair and offspring). And this summer raised 5 feeder hogs. Less than an hour a day. Rabbits fed and wateresd is quick. Bees once you get the basics down are only a few hours a year. Our biggest time suck is the garden. The pigs took up a lot of time but that was mostly because the kids had them as nearly pets, they got played with as they were fed. My oldest taught them to play fetch.

sure, you can do it..there is a lot of forclosed property avail too at cheap

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Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your service!

When searching for land, you need to remember that prices vary in proportion to the local economy. In areas with abundant jobs, land prices will be higher than they are in areas with little/no employment opportunities. Since you will be working off farm, you will probably need to pay more per acre, but that extra price can be recovered by the fact that you are near a prosperous community that will be willing to pay higher prices for whatever surplus you sell.

In a poor county, where most of your neighbors raise chickens, you might be lucky to sell eggs for $1 per dozen. Near a prosperous community, those same farm fresh eggs would bring 2-3 times that amount.

Good luck, and semper fi