The Natural Life - Chapter 1 - Where To Start

Hello, welcome to the Natural Life. I’m glad you could join me. I’m sure you’ve noticed the amount of blogs, youtube channels, and social media accounts there are out there related to homesteading. The amount of information even multiplies when you take into account books and publications. I’m not going to get too far down in the weeds concerning science, climate, geographic locations, specific situations, etc. I’m going to try to give you a fly over view of what this country boy thinks. Also, opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one, so just keep it to yourself if you think I’m wrong about something, go start a YouTube channel. Lol

A little background, my small farm is 3 acres on the edge of a 200 acre tract of old family land just inside the city limits of a small town. It was deeded to me by my late grandmother, it was passed down to her. I spent alot of my childhood exploring, camping, riding fourwheelers all over this land. Later in life I decided, since no one else in my family seemed interested, to build a small house out there, it’s turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve made. Luckily MissBowTiedFarmer likes the outdoors and the Natural Life so she made the decision alot easier.

You animals seem interested in what to look for when picking a spot for a homestead. So here are my thoughts…

THE GOOD

1. At least 2-3 acres, you can make do with a small lot, but animals are going to require at least an acre. More is always better in my opinion but it gets expensive, and you can do a lot more than you would think on a few acres.

2. Existing Fruit trees/bushes. Existing irrigation system for livestock or plant nurseries. Existing barns or greenhouses. Obviously anything existing that fits in with your dream is a plus, just remember it could be an issue if you don’t research and check everything before you move forward.

3. Well drained. The land needs to be able to drain fairly quick, you don’t want an area at the bottom of a hill or near a creek that floods, however, creeks can be a good thing, as a source of water, or for fishing.

4. Semi Cleared. If you are going to build a house, you will need a spot cleared. Clearing land of trees costs money, so if you can find land that has a spot cleared that would make a good house location (high spot) this is a plus. You are also going to want some cleared land for activities, like a barn, or a green house, a garden will require sunlight, crop planting will need land without stumps or rocks, obviously.

5. Woods, I love woods, It would be ideal to find land with woods and a cleared pasture, this way you could have an area to work with animals or crops and you could still cut some trails to ride fourwheelers in the woods. Trees are a good source of fire wood, obviously, and it’s nice to have trees around for shade. I don’t like trees by my house because they fall in storms and they make messes.

6. Fences. Fences are important to keep animals in and Humans out. If you are planning to keep animals on your land, a place that already has fences will save you a lot of time and money. This is also good because the fence layout will already be set up and it will be easy to build on whats already there. If you’re putting fences up, land with shit ton of brush and trees will need to be cleared before you build the fences so the cash register dollar signs are just spinning now.

7. Water source. A pond is a big plus. Ponds are good to have especially if you can fence it in and incorporate it for animal water source. Ponds are a good source of food as you can stock it with catfish (mmmm mmm), bream, bass, etc. good eating in a high inflation, super market cleared dystopia. Ponds also hold water for you to water your crops or drink yourself if the shit hits the fan.

8. Privacy- you want your house to be off a major road or highway, the further the better. It’s no fun burying your pets and worrying about your toddlers if they go in the front yard. Also you don’t want a people/police driving up, all up in your biznass! What is natural about that?

   Of course there are thousands of other “pluses” a piece of land could have. Oil rights, river access, lake access, timber farm already planted, a water well, natural springs, windmill, solar farm, rocket pad, deer stand sitting next to a huge cornfield feeding all of the deer into monsters every year, so please dyor before you buy anything

THE BAD

1. Bad Fences - Some fences aren’t any good. It will cost even more money to fix them than it would to start new, keep an eye out for severe rust, sagging, falling down posts, etc. None of this is a deal breaker, but keep it on the list and knock the asking price down accordingly

2. Neighbors - You don’t want neighbors that are going to be bothered by your homesteading endeavors. You never know, one day you might need to store several old trailers full of cow shit in your front yard, or you might need to bring a concrete truck down the driveway to pour a barn slab, but your neighbor owns the driveway and won’t let you. If you are sharing access to the land, make sure you guys are compatible. Neighbors who are also your relatives could be a positive or could be a huge negative so keep that in mind.

3. Cellular/Internet service. Where I’m located my cell service is ok, but my home internet sucks! Keep this in mind if you have a need for fast internet, maybe that rich geek Elon will fix this someday.
   

THE UGLY

1. Land/Water locked, or land you can’t get an easement to

2. Wetland

3. Land within a city with ordinances that prevent you from fulfilling your dreams

4. Land so far away from civilization that your family leaves you after a few months

Obviously, everything depends on what you’re going to do with the land but this is the basic criteria. Please let me know on Twitter if you have any questions.

Next time, I’ll go further into setting up the homestead after purchase.

I’ll holler at y’all later!