Let’s say you find some land and you’re ready to move out and on to self-sufficiency and full-time preparedness. Where do you start? What do you hope to accomplish?
Now, I realize not everyone can do this—there money and time and ability involved. But let’s say all of this is covered; what do you do first?
Comment below:
Size and type of land
Kind of house/cabin and outbuildings
Crops, livestock, etc.
How do you envision each day after the big move?
Check back tomorrow for what’s happening now!
Robin Writes 
Size and type of land 160 acres, half forested, partially cleared, some fields and meadows, preferably some flowing water, or small lake, big ponds.
First priority–there is no option here– is to find your potable water source. Dig or drill a well–everything in your future layout and design depends on the location of your well and source of water.
Shelter: Kind of house/cabin and outbuildings
Life-appropriate size –a mid-life couple doesn’t need a castle, just comfort including a glassed-in sun space and a small greenhouse. A 1,000 square foot home is more than big enough. A full basement is desirable for additional shelter and reduced heating costs–it’s also a storage area.
For a small barn, 10×16 with dirt floor is fine, and a secure enclosure fence enclosure to pasture and protect poultry is a good start. A well-insulated root cellar structure built into the ground is a good idea for storage of potatoes,carrots, turnips etc.
Crops, livestock, etc.
Whatever type you prefer. Poultry– chickens and geese, or Guinea fowl, and a couple of hogs or sheep would be a good start. Crops, fields, start with cultivation, first year plow in immature buckwheat for a green manure crop to revive old or depleted fields. Plant a garden, potatoes, root crops particularly for storage.
How do you envision each day after the big move?
Idyllic hippy visions “suggest” a half day’s work building the place and the rest “quality time” …haha, too funny. Cut firewood in the fall and winter for the next year’s supply.
Reality suggests 10+ hrs. of work to start and the rest “quality time” which will be mostly resting.
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If we’re talking homestead – 300 acres with 40 cleared. House goes in uncleared area. Water – pond, stream, river. Etc.
House – Below ground cellar / root cellar for food storage.
Main floor of about 900 – 1200 sq feet. Big kitchen, living room, bedroom. TWO bathrooms. Yes Two. Because girls. Uh huh. Attic designed for storage with exterior half walls that support the roof, accessible by regular stairway. 12/12 roof pitch (45 degrees). Airtight wood stove. Off-grid energy system including wind, solar, propane.
Outbuildings – small barn / large shed. Machine shed. Tool shed/workshop. Woodshed (4-6 cord capacity in Northern Wisconsin), Power Shed.
A later priority would include a building for preserving food – canning, freezing, drying, with commercial range tops, commercial-grade sub-zero freezer. A kitchen for cooking meals and one for food preservation are entirely different. If you’re going self-sufficient, the second kitchen will be well worth the effort. I would probably choose wood-fueled ranges.
Garden for vegetables and livestock feed. Size – I’m not sure. You need to grow a two year’s supply three out of five years (to guard against crop failure), and that includes supporting your livestock.
Livestock. Goats, poultry. Possibly 3-5 cows, 1 bull, but only if it is possible to permanently pasture them. Pigs – 2 boars 2 sows.
Each day – (I think Raymond is very optimistic at 10 hours) 12 to 16 hours of work. 8 hours of sleep. Plan on four meals. Of course, the hippy ideal is… nice, but not very realistic.
Order of priority – water, sanitation, fuel, power. Then garden, livestock…
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Have to say, you guys are both rather ambitious! We’re going to be just slightly, maybe a tad, less so – I know I said no money worries, but maybe I should have been more specific, lol! Since we’re about to do this, for real, we do have to watch that part. Plus, with little income to keep going. Check back tomorrow for more details!
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Ambitious indeed. I’m not sure I’m up to it.
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I won’t lie – I wonder the same thing about me!
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Most definitely I was being overly optimistic at 10 hrs./day, as you have pointed out, Mike, in fact when we built our own place here, we probably worked more than 16 hrs /day most of the time, and we did not have electricity either, for the whole first year… We were both powerhouses at that time, but to do it again now would certainly require a lot more judicious allotment of energy and time… LOL Interestingly, we also learned to work a lot SMARTER. It makes a huge difference, I had to clear land, build a half mile of road, build the house, full basement, 1600 sq. feet, from footings to roof including plumbing/electric, finishing, build a barn, hay shed, and get it all done in one summer including cutting 10 cords of firewood. The following year we had to build a half mile of hydro line. Non-top, exhausting work. Do it again? No problem. haha!
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So, Raymond, you’re coming for a visit, right? 😉
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First chance I get, Robin, haha, I want to see how smart people do all that work “:D There is actually nothing you cannot do if you take your time, learn what is required, and have an endless supply of $ to get stuff when you actually need it “:)
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Awesome! I’ll let you know when! 😉 Smart people, where?? Oh, yeah, well – more like “slave driver,” but whatever, lol!
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haha, nothing like a good slave driver to keep projects moving along on schedule “:)
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