New home

[The-Great-Nothing]

Hi

I have been looking for find a new home away from the city an with land over the past 12 months ish.

This was previously with a random approach (ooooh....that looks good and in price range, type of approach)

But in the last couple of days I wanted to add a more scientific element to it.

So I have posed myself the question how much land would a family need to achieve 80% of their requirements - most of the home fuel, food, water and ability to deal with shelter and waste.

So far I have come up with -

1 acre of willow coppice for 5 tons of firewood per year.

1/2 acre grain for bread and chicken feed.

1/4 acre for flower beds (to make an income)

1/2 to 1 acre for food & animal feed vegetables.

1/2 acre orchard for fruits and nuts

2-3 acres for livestock. Chickens, ducks, quail, sheep, pigs.

1/2 acre for buildings and storage.

Do I need a river or lake for fish and water?

Water from borehole and/or rain harvest?

Waste - compost toilet or cess pit

What buildings? Secure container. Barn. Workshop. Poly tunnels. Fuel wood storage.

Location? Near woodland? Coast?

Needs to be away from flood risks.

How close to a city or town?

Middle of nowhere or more likely, near a small community.

Plus a budget of course

Do these land areas look approx ok for a family of 2 adults and 2 children (planning ahead there)

What have I missed

Cheers!

Matt

[redskies]

If you're planning to build, go straw bale and build a rocket stove; it'll make your wood consumption more efficient! Straw bale houses are brilliant builds, very well insulated and quite easy to maintain as long as you get it right in the first place. They're also cheaper than bricks and mortar.

Try for somewhere with running water, that way you can have a small hydro scheme and generate your own power; there's some really good ones out there now, and the tech will only get better. Solar and wind for real power security.

Rather than cover half an acre with buildings for storage, why not try to go down? Not only will the temp be steady all year round, which is better for keeping your stores fresh longer, you can use part of it for a root cellar, to store your fresh veg. If you use the sand box method, you can be eating last years harvest up until the time you start this years, if you see what I mean.

I'd go for methane production - poo power ftw! It'll work on human waste, as well as animal, and give you a source of gas that can be used in a central heating system as well as for cooking with.

You didn't mention bees. Honey is an excellent source of income, plus you get wax and royal jelly - and we need bees!

Go for a small community. They do have their downsides, but taken as a whole, have more pros than cons. I'm not sure about the rest of it - it's a subject I've given quite a bit of thought to, but where we live, it's not possible to grow things like fruit trees or grain crops. Unless you have a polytunnel, about the only thing that will grow is root crops. Something to be worked around, rather than move away from; the community here is great and it's a perfect location, no matter what happens elsewhere. I like having fifty miles of water and a few hours drive between us and any cities!

[junmist]

you could put in a aquqponics system in one of the polly tunnels and have trout for the fish as well as fresh water mulssels/shrimps. Instead of pigs/sheep why not rabbits could be kept in a barn instead of cages and therefor cut down on the land needs. Location money being there I'd be within 5-10 miles of the sea so that you could have a free salt surply and all year round food and a small wood at your back. Communnity is a must you cannot do everything and a communnity can help surply a skill base and you can always do a bit of barttering with them as well.

[tom2tom]

haha it's a preppers paradise! good luck!

[redskies]

We're about half a mile from the sea. Plenty of fresh water too. The salmon here is lush!

Hydroponics and aquaponics are two systems we're currently looking at. There's plenty of game here, and just about every kind of farm animal you care to name. I'm hoping to rent land from the HA and will buy a piglet to put on it. They clear land very effectively, will eat damn near anything, and by autumn time, will be big enough to feed us!