Homesteading Essential Steps to Get Started

How to Start Homesteading

If you have never lived on a small farm or had a garden you may be wondering, where you should begin. How does anyone start homesteading? I have been contemplating that answer myself. We don’t have an unlimited budget to just buy everything we need this very moment and voila insta-homestead! I wouldn’t want to create our tiny farm that way anyway. Everything worth doing, takes time. Little by little, you can takes steps towards the homestead of your dreams. To get to your destination you just have to take the first step.

Start a Homesteading Dream List

It’s time to dream up what your perfect homestead would look like. Make a list of everything you would want in a homestead.

What kind of animals (if any)? Consider what type of meat you like, or if you may want milk. Do you eat eggs? What animals are useful, and what are their jobs? Do you need a livestock guardian animal? How about a herding dog? Are you comfortable around large animals, or would you rather they have a smaller stature? These are all simple things you can begin considering while still in the dreaming process.

Are you planning on gardening? What types of plants do you want to grow? What do you currently enjoy eating? Make a list of all the plants you would grow if you had perfect conditions and unlimited space. This is just the planning phase so don’t worry about how you would do it, just get the idea’s down so you can look at them.

What infrastructure are you working with?

Do you have any infrastructure in place? Like buildings, fencing, water sources? If so, great! You are already a lot further along than I currently am. If not, that’s ok too. At some point, every homestead came from nothing more than an idea and ambition to power it! I currently have 5 acres of land. That could be considered a good start. I have seen “Urban Farmers” do a whole lot with much less space.

The next thing you should do is draw up a sketch of your property. Where would you want to put the animals? What area would you put the garden in? Where is a good place for a storage building for tools, equipment, and feed? I have taken a Google Earth image of our property and sketched out ideas.

Pick an Easy Goal to Start Homesteading

Ready, set, GO! Looking at your lists and drawings, pick one thing you can accomplish the easiest. We just had a baby so the livestock is on hold for a while. It is currently nearing fall so it’s the perfect time to get our land prepared for a garden next spring. We live in an area that has hard, rocky clay, so I have chosen to go the route of raised garden beds. This way I will have more control over the soil conditions. I have drawn up a dream garden plan around a very special Little Gem Magnolia Tree we planted in our yard. We can’t make every garden bed this year, but two will be sufficient for now. Check out my posts on raised garden beds to learn how to make your own!

Do you want to start with livestock? Make sure you have a place for them to live FIRST! Today, I took a trip with all 5 kiddos to my friend’s farm. She showed us her animals and how they set up everything needed for the animals to be safe, dry, and most importantly contained. Adequate fencing is a good place to begin. Also, she stressed the importance of water. Figure out where your water sources are. You want to have an easy way to bring water to your animals. My friend currently uses a long hose, but when she expands to the next pasture she is planning on running a pipe for easier access to water.

We Are Always Learning!

While you are waiting for the right opportunity to physically do each phase prepare yourself with knowledge for the next step. We are constantly learning, and just because you can’t do something yet doesn’t mean you are doing nothing. Research, ask questions, and visit a farm. I like to look at the big picture and then find out as much about each little aspect of the vision so that when I get there I am prepared. The rest of the knowledge will come with experience. No one is perfect, and good things take time. Don’t forget to appreciate the moments in the waiting. The excitement of not knowing what’s next, but knowing it will be good!

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As always, thank you for meeting me AT FORESTS EDGE, it has been a pleasure.