How Much Land Is Enough? (renting, expensive, loan, cheaper)
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What is your goal? Are you going to be off grid? If so I believe you'd need an area you can do that. You'd need septic or an outhouse or composting toilet.
I've been watching shows like building off the grid, live free or die. Pretty interesting. You can really live comfortably now off grid but I couldn't live off grid where my house is now because of sewer and would need a low tax area, surely not where I live now.
It's my dream that to retire off grid. As for internet, I'd have my cell and tablet. I don't know about a computer and if I could share a connection with it.
As for how much land, you'd need probably a minimum of 3 acres. I think 5 to 10 would be nice which would allow you to grow if need be.
I agree. Her question is too general. I wouldn't suggest the library as their are TV shows, FB groups, message boards and you tube where she can easily get answers. I think finding a home steading or off grid message board or FB group would be best
There are tons of ways to build a house. Many people use yurts which appear to eventually leak if not done right
Thank you for your response. However, my question is not too general. People are just reading more into the question than I actually asked. I asked only two questions:
1. Names/links to land sale websites
2. Minimum acreage needed for a small house and a workshop, and for raising enough chickens and growing enough vegetables to feed myself, ONE person
That's specific. And, it's enough information to get a reasonable answer based on what I asked. But, people made a lot of assumptions and built up scenarios in their minds, which resulted in them giving me answers to questions I never asked. That's not on me.
Believe several people were answering the bolded (my emphasis) from your first post.
Again, most people did not and have not answered the questions I actually asked. Pointing out that a couple did so doesn't negate the fact that MOST did not.
Because that's not homesteading. That's hobby farming. The OP asked what was the the minimum amount of land needed to do homesteading and people here tried to answer her question.
I wouldn't even call it "hobby farming", honestly. I would call it "having a large garden and some chickens".
So the OP asked "minimum amount of land to do homesteading", then described "having a large garden with some chickens" (which is not the same thing as "homesteading", no matter how much people want to claim that words no longer have meanings), and of course provided absolutely no context whatsoever. Like, where do you want to do this? South Florida? Northern Vermont? Southern Arizona? Washington State west of the Cascades? Montana?
But of course she gets all upset and angry when we, lacking access to her inner thoughts, attempt to bring clarity and to provide some degree of information in response to incompletely formed questions.
Hey OP, it's OK not to have totally thought things out yet, and to be early enough in the process not to even know the right questions to ask. You have to start somewhere. But you don't get to ask vague questions about things in ways that indicate you don't know the basic definitions of terms, and then get mad when people give you generalized vague answers.
So, in the spirit of providing Micro$oft answers (technically correct but useless), here are my answers.
1) Some websites end in .com and others in .org.
2) 17.3548 acres.
3) It was a dark and stormy night.
4) You never did the Kenosha Kid.
City Data is for discussion and information. I don't have an issue with discussion. But the things many people are trying to discuss have nothing to do with what I asked or indicated in my OP. That's just not helpful.
I wouldn't even call it "hobby farming", honestly. I would call it "having a large garden and some chickens".
So the OP asked "minimum amount of land to do homesteading", then described "having a large garden with some chickens" (which is not the same thing as "homesteading", no matter how much people want to claim that words no longer have meanings), and of course provided absolutely no context whatsoever. Like, where do you want to do this? South Florida? Northern Vermont? Southern Arizona? Washington State west of the Cascades? Montana?
But of course she gets all upset and angry when we, lacking access to her inner thoughts, attempt to bring clarity and to provide some degree of information in response to incompletely formed questions.
Hey OP, it's OK not to have totally thought things out yet, and to be early enough in the process not to even know the right questions to ask. You have to start somewhere. But you don't get to ask vague questions about things in ways that indicate you don't know the basic definitions of terms, and then get mad when people give you generalized vague answers.
So, in the spirit of providing Micro$oft answers (technically correct but useless), here are my answers.
1) Some websites end in .com and others in .org.
2) 17.3548 acres.
3) It was a dark and stormy night.
4) You never did the Kenosha Kid.
"Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craftwork for household use or sale."
There are three main elements in the definition:
1. Subsistence Agriculture: I said that I wanted to be able to grow enough vegetables and have enough chickens for meat and eggs to FEED MYSELF. Subsistence agriculture? Check!
2. Home Preservation of Food: Feeding myself includes canning/jarring vegetables and freezing meat for later consumption in winter months, etc. Home preservation of food? Check!
3. Small scale production of textiles, clothing, and CRAFTWORK for household use or sale: This is where my crafting space, which I called a workshop, comes into play. Small scale production of craftwork? Check!
So, YES, I used the right term. Hobby farming, as you call it, is just a subset of homesteading. Everybody doesn't need 10+ acres with horses, cows, pigs, tractors, plows, etc. I am one person. I don't need all that, and that doesn't make me wrong. Furthermore, you're not the homesteading police! And, to be honest, it's not my fault that SOME people's reading comprehension skills are not good enough for them to be able to identify the questions being asked. But, their inability to fully comprehend what they're reading is my fault? I started off responding very nicely and trying to turn it into something funny, and just got rude responses in return. So, don't put the onus of this on me because I'm not on this thread by myself.
Last edited by codeninja; 02-15-2019 at 01:48 PM..
I agree with those that said find a realtor that knows land.
And I'm sorry you don't appreciate any of the info myself and others have posted for you. I appreciate it as I'm interested in doing the same thing eventually.
I did Google for land purchase websites, and that's covered in the first couple of posts in this thread. I asked about the sites here because it doesn't hurt to have a second opinion. There could be some really good land sale websites that don't show up in the first several pages of search results because, for some reason, they don't rank highly enough in Google's search algorithm. Besides, Google isn't all-knowing.
Of course, I would consult a realtor. But, most people do some recon on their own first, just to get a feel for what could be available.
It's not that I didn't or don't appreciate some of the information. It's just that, as I stated clearly, I'm a total newbie to buying land. I'm in the research phase and trying to get the basics down, which is why I asked basic questions. But, most of the answers I got were not basic answers. Some weren't even answers but just people trying to be nosy. Those kind of answers are not helpful.
Please understand, I'm not saying that most of the answers I got are BAD. I think that's the way some of you are taking it. Most of the answers aren't bad. They just aren't helpfulfor where I am in this process at this time.
There was a lot good information in some of the posts, and I took notes for FUTURE reference. The thing that most got to me is that most people were replying to me as if not knowing about the land buying process meant that I also had no idea about anything else, either. If that kept happening to you, you'd be annoyed, too. And, just to be clear, annoyance is not anger. Some people are reading more into that, too.
So when she goes to the local hardware store, or feed store, or whatever, in the town where she hopes to set up her "homestead", and the clerk volunteers information and opinion rather than confining his response to the exact question, she's going to bite his head off, too?
Yeah, that's gonna work out great for you in a rural community where EVERY person knows far more about what you're trying to do, than you do.
And I punched in for sale page only because... Look at the rest of it.
Coming from a country that was called food basket of Europe, I'd say that 1 hectare of a land, suitable for variety of produce and pasture should do. Again, it has to be suitable for quite a spread of needs you describe. Ocharrd likes certain type of soil, corn, potatoes, etc - something else, then you need a nice meadow for livestock then it needs to be suitable for build outs same time. Such combinations are not easy to find. Same time, it has to be safe area, no floods, no severe weather and so on.
Good luck.
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