well. that happened faster than I thought. I now have a homestead

So it's been a rough one, but I'm making some changes. Decided last week I was leaving Southern Arizona and I wanted to go back to Idaho (born in southern Idaho) and find a place up North to homestead. Found one, did a virtual walk-through last night, and my offer was accepted this morning. 4.5 acres, water rights for flood irrigation, a 1200 sqft 2bedroom home, and two massive "garages", that are so big I'm calling them workshops.

My rough plan to get this going:
1) Spend the first year half sitting on my behind. Do the small stuff like fix the fence and what not, but otherwise wait and watch. I want to determine sun paths, and flood areas. Where it gets muddy and where the wind is bad etc. If possible, I would like to plant trees. I'm willing to give up some pasture areas for a more natural environment.
2) Year 2 I want to dig and place a geothermal greenhouse. I understand the concepts and the science, but have not done greenhouse growing previously. should be a riot.

Any big recommendations that homesteaders wished they had got going right off the bat? I'm 40, M, and reasonably decent shape, so I feel like I have plenty of years left to take a crack at this.

I like the idea of watching to see how the land behaves before doing too much with it.

Very small changes can have large effects.

My land is a heavy clay soil.  A few shovelfuls of dirt removed from the right place can can help dry up thousand of square feet of land much earlier than it otherwise would in the spring.  And a few shovelfuls of dirt placed in the right area can cause thousands of square feet to never dry up that would otherwise be dry most of the summer. So with moving a small amount of dirt I can make large changes to my landscape.  It would be easy to unknowingly make those changes and have unintended consequences.  Studying the land before hand is a good idea.

The very first thing I did on my land was put fences back up and make them solid.  For the most part I cut a path wide enough for my tractor to drive right next to the fence.  The only places I didn't cut a path I regret.  Those areas ended up with many more trees and branches down on the fence and are much harder to get to to fix or even to check on to make sure it is still up.

There are a lot of things I wish I was able to do right away; build a barn, build a shop, build a bigger greenhouse, put in a well, put in a sewer, get better tools, get a bigger tractor and equipment.  The problem is all of those things take a combination of time and money and I don't have enough to go around.  So the first step(while also doing fences) was to harvest trees to start building a house.  And with any luck the house will be finished enough to move in this summer.  And all the other projects I want to do can follow.

I think that is part of the reason I want to take my time. I just don't know enough about the land. I know the previous owner took out all trees in favor of pasture, but it looks like extremely healthy and fertile soil.

Congratulations, Tyler! And welcome to Permies. I look forward to reading about your projects out there.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on the new homestead!

I like J hillman's suggestion about observation.  that is one of the first principles of permaculture.

I would watch what happens when it rains and where the water goes.

I would also suggest deciding what animal you want first.  We did chickens because they are fairly easy and some breeds give meat and eggs.  We did Rhode Island Reds.

Making a chicken tractor is also fairly easy compared to other animal housing.

You being 40, I wouldn't spend any time "sitting". You'll be amazed how fast the next 20 years go by. Way faster than the last 20. It's fine to observe the land, but there is so much else to do. Get tools, repair tools, get more tools. Get wheel barrows, get everything to make compost piles. Make compost piles. And if they are in the wrong spot in eventual plan, move them later to better spot. On something like compost there is no reason to lose a whole year. Make every required repair on the house. Paint everything. Cut firewood. ~~There are a million things you can do the first year, that don't require a land use plan. And all those things will take time when you do start your land use plan. Get going. You may not know it now, but you are already getting somewhat old for just starting out. ----And most importantly the first year, spend some time getting to know the local Nature Spirits and Fairies. They will really help you in deciding your ultimate land use plans. Get going. Lots to do.

I just moved this fall and am also figuring out my path forward.
I did have a prior permie garden so was able to move a bunch of plants and took a ton of seeds with me.

What I would be doing right away, in your position would be to do research into what sorts of plants you will want for your guilds and start sourcing seeds.
Waiting to figure out where stuff will go makes sense but you can still save yourself a ton of money and time by at least starting things in pots. The smaller fruiting shrubs, vines and lots of perennials will grow from seeds and while they are slower, the costs are fractions of what they run for larger potted or bare root.
Take the year to figure things out and if you get planting seeds now, you'll have lots to put out right away and they will be almost the size of what you would buy.
If you end up with some more than you need or decide they are not what you want, then sell or trade the extras. ( or even use some for practice rootstocks as you figure out grafting) For that matter, just getting some potential rootstocks going is also money saved!

Wow Tyler S. ..... Welcome to Permies.com!    Nice find....Salmon, ID....beautiful area!   I worked with the Forest Circus (... :-) .....) out of Boise for a spell that took me through that region several times around 40 years ago.  

As I can't recall the elevation differential between the more ag-intensive regions of southern Idaho and the Salmon area, I would be wanting to know from locals about what you can and can't grow in that area without a greenhouse.  First and last frost dates, on average, would be helpful to know and then just talk...talk....talk...to locals about their own gardening successes and failures.  If the water table is low enough not to be an issue, from my 60+ year-old perspective, I would look into getting that sunken greenhouse planned, located, and started ASAP.  We had blown off installing a sunken greenhouse on our farmstead due to high water table, low anticipated solar potential (near Canadian border in Minnesota), and "lack of imagination"... :-P   I'm kicking myself to this day at the learning we could have done along the way if having done that sooner.

PS:  Refer to the many posts by Joseph Lofthouse here who grows in a similar climate as you to the south in Utah....may be some good similarities to growing conditions with his operation.  Probably others in Idaho as well that I'm forgetting just now.

Looking forward to following the thread....Again, Welcome!

Find a spot near your water source to set up a nursery. In ground or just a bunch of pots. Akiva shared an article here, about how to start a nursery business. Lots of good stuff, even if you're only propagating plants for your own use.

Yes, water source and distribution will be the first big plan. I have a good well in place, but I want to convert the pump to solar. I have heavy irrigation for 6 months of the year, light livestock for 2 months, but I would be on well water for the greenhouse the rest of the cold months. Might be worth looking into a cistern or something I can use to collect some of that irrigation to water plants year round.

I like the idea of getting some of the longer growing species started to save time. I have smallish grow tend and light that I used to grow a garden indoors during the pandemic, might be a good use as a nursery.

Amen! Never time to waste. Compost everything! Drag stuff in to compost. Doesn't matter where...when you move the pile you will have better dirt in underneath. Lord knows you can't have too much compost on. Small place, I can't ever seem to get enough. I started compost piles in built beds, everything went in left over BBQ fire coals, shredded paperboard, shredded( plastic removed) junk mail ( most places use soy ink), kitchen waste, last year's pot soil. Moldy stuff from fridge went into cold  cooked rice with some whey and assorted yogurt cultures and allowed to grow in a bucket dumped water into bucket and watered compost. I learned Black soldier flies are faster than worms so a cardboard cover with gaps.... Presto. If it's complicated it's too much work for me. Honestly the soldier flies found me. I keep a tumble composter in the chicken run. No fancy ramp needed. Bugs climb out and the girls get a continual snack machine. I do think watching is wize. I would not have had to move so many things had I done so. Good luck, good planning and good food! May they all find you.

A compost setup is one of my first goals when getting there. That will give me a good 18 month headstart on the greenhouse. I'm thinking about doing something larger, maybe build a bay towards the back of the property