Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Too much emphasis on acreage, no discussion of water. If you have water, you can grow anything. If you don't, you are screwed. The minimum well for irrigating 5 acres is 20 gpm. That's a big pump on a good well. In many western states, you can't irrigate more than a quarter acre without water rights. A typical rural residential well and pump (5 gpm) will handle domestic water and a big garden.
Rural high speed internet is available anywhere via satellite, but it will cost you about $100/month for a true high speed connection. Cable or fiber internet is an urban thing, not usually available on acreage, unless it's a mini-ranch subdivision and it was installed by the developer.
Medical care in rural areas is tiered. There is primary care, usually handled by an urgent care clinic or fire department EMTs. Secondary care (minor surgery, ongoing therapy like dialysis) is handled by a small hospital, which may or may not have an ER. Tertiary care (major surgery, specialist care) is usually handled at a regional center in a large city, which may be a long drive. Getting to my wife's hip replacement surgeon took over an hour and a half one way. Major trauma care usually requires a Life Flight, so keep your ambulance insurance paid up. The ambulance company keeps a unit stationed only 3 miles from my house, but once they get here and get me loaded into the ambulance it would still be 20 minutes to the helipad and another half hour in the air to the trauma center. Lack of emergency care is the single biggest reason rural people die younger than city people.
Just as an FYI, satellite internet in the East generally sucks. Now sure if it's the terrain or what. Shoot, we spend almost $100/month on crappy DSL. But location will definitely dictate what that land would need in order to homestead as well as how much land one would need. If you're talking any appreciable livestock, some states have pretty high minimums per animal mainly due to availability of water. But yes, water is a key factor. You can get a ton of land for super cheap in some states but what does it do for you if you don't have water rights - nothing.
First, depends where you are. Some land is easier to farm than others. Second, I can tell you now, if you haven't lived rural, having access to high-speed internet, especially cable or fiber optic, is a tall, tall, tall order and even if it's nearby can cost many, many thousands to run to your land (e.g. if I want cable which is at my road to run to my house, it would cost me over $100,000).
You can homestead on 5 acres if you have decent land (e.g. fertile topsoil that you don't have to worry about nutrient depletion too much) where you can do some crop rotation, no low lying areas to worry about, and good water. Enough to have pigs, chickens, other small animals, gardens, some structures, and a place to live.
FWIW we have legitimate FARMS outside of Raleigh city limits that are in the footprint of AT&T Fiber. The longest service drop they can run is 1500' from the terminal (located at a neighboring address if not your own front yard).
FWIW we have legitimate FARMS outside of Raleigh city limits that are in the footprint of AT&T Fiber. The longest service drop they can run is 1500' from the terminal (located at a neighboring address if not your own front yard).
How do I know? I installed one that long.
Dang, wish that was available here. I would LOVE that.
Satellite internet depends on what you are using it for. Video conferencing and online gaming are out, because the speed of light is too slow. It adds about half a second to every handshake. You see it on the TV news when they go to a reporter on location. If they are using a satellite feed, the delay can be awkward. For video streaming it works just fine.
There is plenty of satellite capacity now. If your ISP doesn't provide unlimited data, pick a different one. The more modern providers tier according to video resolution. Bottom tier is 360p, middle tier is 720p, top tier is 1080p, and you pay according to the bandwidth you want. Nobody gets the Hughesnet FAP any more, except maybe the Hughesnet subscribers.
All right, I can see the signs of a downward spiral here, but I am going to try to provide something constructive.
OP, I think your question as it stands is too broad to admit of any kind of simple answer. I mean, the lifestyles you're talking about could range from "big garden and some hens for eggs" to "totally off the grid" with many gradations in between.
I would suggest going to the library and systematically reading through everything they've got - and there have been many books written on this subject and allied ones over the last 40 years or so - to get a more well-defined view of how you envision yourself doing this. Also, talking to some people who have made this change.
Please read my post again. I did not ask for advice about growing food, raising chickens or homesteading. I asked for names of land sale websites. That is all. So, no I do not think my question is too broad - people either know the names of some land sale websites or they do not. It is annoying that most people are answering a question that I did not ask, so in the future I will not add any unnecessary details. Lesson learned.
Please read my post again. I did not ask for advice about growing food, raising chickens or homesteading. I asked for names of land sale websites. That is all. So, no I do not think my question is too broad - people either know the names of some land sale websites or they do not. It is annoying that most people are answering a question that I did not ask, so in the future I will not add any unnecessary details. Lesson learned.
Believe several people were answering the bolded (my emphasis) from your first post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by codeninja
Greetings! I would like to buy some land to start my own small homestead, but I have no idea about how to buy land or even how much land I would need to buy. My desire is to own enough land to grow my own organic fruits and vegetables, keep a few chickens, and (eventually) build a home and workshop for my creative/craft businesses. Being in a rural area is not a problem. I just need to be within easy distance of a city with great healthcare facilities and have access to high-speed internet (cable or fiber optic).
What's the minimum amount of land I need to do this? And, can anybody point me to some land purchase websites? Thanks!
Please read my post again. I did not ask for advice about growing food, raising chickens or homesteading. I asked for names of land sale websites. That is all. So, no I do not think my question is too broad - people either know the names of some land sale websites or they do not. It is annoying that most people are answering a question that I did not ask, so in the future I will not add any unnecessary details. Lesson learned.
If you don't want discussion, try Google.
Or you could ask for your money back.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
