Hi,
I'm a newbie to this, but I'm wanting to build an off-grid homestead. It will take me 10-15 years to be able to afford to build my home, but I'd like ideas on everything from what I can start doing now to prepare, to what kind of cooking source I can use in the new home. I know it sounds crazy to be worrying about what to do now with the finish time being so far off, but I know that everything that I can get set up and established now, will only save me time and money by the finish. We are a low income family, and I will be approaching retirement age by the end. I won't have a home to sell to help finance my build. By that time, I will have a 40 year old mobile home that is already showing its age now. I'm not in the best health now, so I won't have the physical ability or stamina to take on a massive homestead building project later. I need to break it up into smaller, easier steps over time so that I will be able to handle it alone. My husband is disabled, so it will be a solo project for me. Hindsight is always 20/20, but I wish I'd done this when I was much younger and healthier.
What I have: I have 1 1/2 acres that is a long rectangle in shape that is about a half acre deep that starts on top of a hill with a low grade drop to the end of my property line that I currently live on in a mobile home, in the middle. I live in a Zone 8 climate with a high water table, at about 8-10 feet.(Higher in consecutive wet years.) We have almost 6 months of hot, humid summers and about 1-2 months of cold, wet winters. Temps are 15-30 degrees in the winter with a wind chill in the teens and 95-100 in the summer with a heat index of 110-115 degrees. I don't have a community that I can reach out to for help with labor. I live in a poor rural area where the majority of my neighbors are elderly. The few others are my age (mid 40's) and older. The kids grow up and move away. When the older people die, their land is sold, by their children, to one of the big local cattle farmers and the old houses are torn down to make room for more pasture land. I have the wisdom of the elders here. They've lived here all their lives. Most of them have gardened all their lives and raised a few animals. They know the weather and the land, and they know the animals and the crops you can grow here. They all live in modern homes now, but they were depression-era sharecroppers as children. They are the ones I've gotten my house plans from and the knowledge on how to care for the future gardens and animals that I plan.
What I would like: I plan to build a single story home with high ceilings, plenty of windows on all sides, and porches on the east, south, and west sides on top of the hill to take advantage of the breezes. It will have to be a wood frame house. Our climate is too wet and humid for any earthen houses, and I can't afford brick or blocks. The high water table doesn't allow us to build underground, either. We can't even build storm shelters or root cellars here. I plan to add a greenhouse. I like the permaculture idea for setting up a homestead, but I would need raised beds to plant in, and that doesn't really conform to the permacuture theme. I plan to have chickens, rabbits, and maybe a few goats. I'm going to attempt to add a small pond somewhere, but it will have to be fed by a rain catchment system, as there are no springs on my land. We get an average of 56 inches of rainfall a year, and I can supplement with well water, if it is necessary. I'd like to set up a hybrid solar/wind power system. Around here, if the sun isn't shining, then it is usually windy and vice versa. I plan to build a rocket mass heater, and I plan to get a wood cook stove. The only issue with the stove is the amount of heat that it produces in the summer. I plan to put it off the kitchen in a screened in room under the back porch. I have also looked into Biogas, but I'm not sure how feasible that would be for my situation.
What I KNOW I need to do: I will have to clear brush and overgrowth from all around the property. I know that's the first thing I need to do. After that, I plan to get a well dug. Unfortunately, my current house sits where I plan to put my garden and raised beds, so I can't get that project completed until we move. I can plant on the lower half acre and was planning to put a small orchard of fruit trees in that area. I can start those now. I will have to clear land before I can build the animal pens, but I'm under the impression that they need to be put next to the garden area, which is where my house is sitting now. I will need to start stockpiling building materials and resources now, but I'm not sure what. I know some things , like lumber, can't be stored for long periods.
What do I NEED to know: My question is, what am I missing? Do any of you have any ideas on how to proceed? What order do I need to prioritize things? What do I need to buy now that will still be good/usable in 10-15 years? What can be broken into smaller projects to make the build easier and cheaper? Any tips or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
