Rambling alert ...
Ever since I've "discovered" PC, I've always had a hard time pegging it in with Homesteading ... which
should come first, which to plan first, etc.
When we moved to southern Colorado, onto 40 acres, PC wasn't a blip on the radar ... HT (homesteading topics) was front & center, as we had to survive, get on this land, and get mortgage-free. Everything done was HT only. Now that it's all done, PC needs to be applied, over what has been done, and definitely to what hasn't been done (lots of acreage left).
PC caught my eye late in our journey ... lots of learning (a lifetime's worth) to get caught up on.
So, is it:
1. luxury to plan: PC in every step, and a bit of HT in application of each step. land not purchased yet, so luxury of thinking ahead; if potential land found, "whip out a PC design" for it, or move on if nothing fits/works. This is a 2020's approach, because it was late in arrival ...
2. have the land: HT is needed to get on the land quickly (if goal to cut costs); do whatever it takes to get HT stuff out of the way. Think about PC, and "aim" as best you can (when you discover PC). This is a "anytime after the '60's", because everyone knows about HT, has done it, or wants to do it.
3. all done with the land: we're on it, and now we've discovered PC, and have to either backtrack, or start applying what we can where we can. This is for anyone like me, who finally discovered PC.
And yet, HT is perhaps not easily separated from PC stuff. HT is more like, this is what is needed right now (to get the task done); PC is more like, aim in this direction, if you want it done right.
If I had won the lottery, then no question about it ... get the land, get a PC design (from someone), and get everybody working on it; anything HT needed, someone else can build it for us. As there is no lottery in my future (more likely to be the movie kind, if any of you remember the stoning one), this option is out.
The long way around to saying: If you don't have the land, go the PC planning route, and weave HT into it. If you do have the land, and/or have just discovered PC, weave it into your HT effort. If both land and HT have progressed to some degree, apply PC asap. Mollison is a reference; others' "implementation" guidance (how they did it) is a primer (and perhaps what OP wants).
Yes, still working on the PC design for our 40 acres ...
Still working on getting everything in place so (only two other) families can join with us (all that zoning allows) ...
Oh, and win the lottery early on ... solves all other problems ...
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