Starting a Homestead From Scratch!

We are doing this. We bought 37 acres last May. planted some fruit trees right away. got a small trailer moved up here and started living here in July. We plan on building a house as we go. It's a lot of work especially seeing as we just had child number 4. wouldn't trade it for the world though. The kids can run and play anywhere they want. We own the end of a dirt road. We have great neighbors also.

Zoning, property lines, and plant fruit/nut trees first [they take many years to mature], then have fun

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http://www.mofga.org/

http://www.mofga.org/Programs/FarmAp...2/Default.aspx

Make sure there is legal access to any property you buy, not just somebody's permission to cross their land. Very important!

Make sure you can drill a well and get ample good quality drinking water. In fact, if you are serious about buying a particular property, drill a well (and pay for it) before you buy the land. If the well doesn't come in good, then you are out that cost. But you're not stuck with waterless land.

Look at the surrounding community. Look at the neighborhood. Talk to the cops about crime in the area. You don't want to buy a place that is surrounded by gangs and meth cookers and thieves.

How far away is a paved road? Avoid buying property that will be hard to get into in bad weather. Avoid property whose access is via a north facing hill (think ice, snow, mud). Plan on spending the necessary money to have a good driveway built into the place before you build anything else.

How far away is electrical power? If you find property you like that doesn't have power already where you want it, make an appointment with the power company and find out what it will cost to bring power in.

good water, good soil, no bad plants, good neighbors, reliable power, no flooding, no tornado belt or hurricane areas, be careful of some really bad neighbors..otherwise just use some common sense when buying.

If you are buying an already house, have it inspected, it is worth it.

think about what you will be doing with the land..put in your fruit and nut trees first and your perennial plants like berries and vines

you'll get a lot of good advice here

read Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway to get some good solid info

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

You know, I started with a modest cabin 16 by24. It is too close to the property line, and it is still not quite finished after a year. I recently added an 8 by 12 shed, and had this brainstorm: would have been a good idea to build the shed first, finish it fast, find the property line, and then build the big house and finish it at my leisure while NOT living in it.
Hope you can learn from my mistake.

FoxGardener93, welcome to the forum. You are wise to be asking about homesteading now; and as is usual here, you're getting some great information.

I will give my 2 cents to create even more for you to consider.

The bottom line for me was to know the area you're moving into. By that I mean knowing what rules will govern the establishment of your homestead. You can find this out by talking with that county's agricultural center as well as visiting people who are already living in that area.

The next thing I found important was to know my land; and you can find this out "before" you purchase it.

1. Does it have its own water or will you need to dig a water well? (Talk with neighbors to find out what kind of water they get from their well and how far down they had to go to get it.)

2. Does the Health Department say it "perks"? If one of your county rules is to create a septic system, your soil must be able to deal with it.

3. What zone is it in? Ours is "agriculturally zoned", which means we can have animals, even sell from it.

4. What type of soil is it (clay, sandy loam, rock) as this will determine what you can do with it.

5. Is it in a "flood zone"? (I cannot count the number of realtors who tried to sell me and my mother acreage that was in a flood zone.) Know what you're getting.

6. How does the water fun over it? This will tell you what you can do and where to do it.

7. Know how the weather affects the land you're considering, i.e. from which direction do the worse storms come from? Any existing wind breaks?

8. What are your neighbors like and how close are they?

9. How close will your place be to the nearest shopping area, medical center, even hospital?

These are just the basics of what I learned was important in purchasing the land we homestead.

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I am what I am! Acknowledging this is the beginning; and my growth is yet to end. http://motdaugrnds.com/farmsales ~~~~~ http://motdaugrnds.com