# How many acres for a homestead?



## Boomdiddyah

We are a young family and we are doing everything we can to begin our dream of owning a homestead. We are complete novices. We've had 5 backyard chickens and a small potted garden but know nothing more than what we've read from books and homesteading blogs. But we know this is what we want to do with our lives and for our family.
We would even go to such lengths to live off grid if that were the only way. We are wondering: how much land would we need? We would like to have a large garden, big enough to live off of while in bloom, and to have enough to can for the remainder of the year. We would like to rely on our animals alone for meat and eggs, so we'd like to have meat and egg chickens, as well as 2-3 dwarf dairy goats. We would like to primarily have our animals be grass fed. If legal, we'd like to catch water for our garden and animals.

How many acres would we need minimum? We were thinking 5 would be enough... Are we close?

Thank you!


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## Joy Bell Farm

Look up pasture rotation. Im looking at small homestead to. I plan to have pigs chickens and maybe mini cows. I've been looking at the pasture rotational idea. Each acre can be split 2 or more times. Just seed the ground with nice quick growing food the animals will like.


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## wogglebug

A full section isn't enough and one acre is plenty. 



Depends on where, particularly on how much water, and also on soil.
Also how much you're prepared to buy in versus grow yourself.


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## haypoint

You are chasing an elusive dream. You need off farm steady income. Once you get into it, you will begin to see the complexities of the simple life. 
Let's start off small, take the livestock portion. I'd guess you'll want chickens, perhaps weeder geese, rabbits, a milk goat and a beef steer. Within that, let's break it down to an individual animal, say a goat. Part of the year one will be in milk, so you need a second doe goat. If you have cash, every time she needs bred you call the Goat man and he gets your goats bred. Without cash, you own a Billy Goat. Then you need cleared and fenced pastures and a way to work up the ground and get the weeds out. With money you buy pasture seed, without it gets complicated. Over the winter, you'll need hay and ground feed. With money, you buy it. Without money, you harvest thousands of pounds of hay from your hay field and put it into a dry ventilated shed. Most Vets don't take a gallon of goat milk as payment, so you need to figure out a way to address the medical needs of your goats. Perhaps you'll want to cut and bale hay for your livestock. Tractor, mower, hay rake, baler, hay wagon. Then the tools and skills to keep them in good repair. Buildings to house the goats, store the tools.

Are you going to use weed killer in your pasture or countless hours digging weeds? Are you going to use an insecticide on potato beetles to save your crop or countless hours hand picking the bugs?

The most successful homesteaders are those that sell books on how to do it. But to head off to a vacant piece of ground, a will to work and create a sustaining homestead didn't work 100 years ago and it isn't working now.


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## jwal10

We have one acre here, very good soil, all the water we want to use. We have 3 small milk goats and their babies, 4-6 chickens and they hatch all we need. 2 rabbit does and a buck and 3 pigeon pairs. We also grow the hay needed for winter. We barter for oats and wheat for us and the animals. We grow 99% of our food, here and the surrounding timber lands. We fish, hunt and glean the woods. Small greenhouse and raised bed hoops to extend the seasons and aquaponics and fish. Our goats and chickens are able to be out everyday. I have even raised a pig or 2 early spring to fall, mostly on garden waste, milk and a little sprouted grains. So weather and soil makes a big difference....James


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## Boomdiddyah

Jwal10 what state are you in? Sounds like you have a terrific setup! 

James sorry if I wasn't clear. My husband would still be working full time, so we would still have a solid income. We would just love to get away from buying market food and growing as much as we can ourselves.

Joybellfarm- great advice!


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## Zimobog

I like the idea of 5 acres- but you could do it on less. There is no recquisite amount of practice or knowledge needed to start. You have already started research and planning. Now there is only "do". Cease becoming and be. 

Good luck!


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## Boomdiddyah

If I could do it tomorrow I would! We hope in the next year or so!


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## Elizabeth

Lots of variables, as stated. Much depends upon where you are located, weather, rainfall amounts, etc, etc, etc.

If you plan to go off-grid, will you heat with wood? Cook with it? If so, you will need a woodlot, or access to one where you can get cheap or free firewood. If not on your own place, you will need a way to haul it. Firewood is heavy, and gas is expensive. Or, you will need to find a good supplier and then have the cash to pay for it.

That is just one example. But, back to your food question- I think the way to figure out your needs will be to sit down and figure out exactly what, and how much, food you consume, or would like to consume. For meat and other animal products (milk, eggs, etc) figure out how many of each species you need to raise to get that amount of food. Then, start figuring out how much feed you will need to raise that number of animals. Next, decide if you want to raise/provide that food from your own place, or spend more money and buy it off-farm. If you want to provide it yourself, figure out how much land is required to raise that amount of food.

Next, do the same for your fruits, vegetables, grains, and other food for human consumption. This will get you closer to an idea of how much land you would need.

Another thing to check for is a good supplier of bulk grains, etc. We have 240 acres, but we have not yet grown any grain for our own use. Hubby found a Mennonite mill which sells organic grains, and we buy most of our grain from them. Rice comes either from Costco or from an Asian market. We figure that it is better for us to make the trip once every few years rather than invest money in the equipment needed to grow our own.

If you just want to grow small animals like chickens, rabbits, etc, plus grow a garden, you can get by with a lot less land than if you plan to raise livestock. If you can get some meat from hunting, then you do not need to grow as much. We keep a few chickens, and have had rabbits in the past, though none recently. We hunt for venison, and could hunt turkeys and small game (rabbits, squirrels, etc) if we wanted to. We raised some pigs a few years ago, and still have pork in the freezer. I would love to raise some lambs one year soon. But we have never raised beef, and don't know if we will. We buy ground beef from a local producer, but mostly use ground venison. We like beef steak occasionally, but don't eat very much beef, so we get steaks on sale at Costco when we want them. I know people, including hubby's relatives, who won't touch venison, yet I consider it a luxury  And, the price is right, too!

So, it all depends on your end goal.


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## JohnnyRebel

My wife and I live on 3 1/2 acres and we have all we need so it can be done with at least 3 1/2 acres.


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## Pony

Elizabeth has given you very good advice. There's no one-size-fits-all answer, as we all have different needs and goals.

Noodle around here on HT, check out Joel Salatin's books, think about where you are and where you want to be in 5, 10, 15 years. 

Good luck on your quest!


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## Shrek

This is going to sound strange but you can effectively homestead on anywhere from 4 to 40 acres. It all depends on what approach you use.

Bio-intensive small farming based on small farming in Asia combined with enhanced BISF techniques can maximize a 4 acre tract to meet many family food needs.

40 acres farmed traditionally also meet many of a family food needs or more with commercially geared BISF techniques.

The only farmers around here who work their farms full time that I know of have been some medium to large scale dairy and beef cattle farmers/ranchers and tending the livestock was a full time job.

Even the commercial scale soybean farmer who leases one of our pastures for rotation to allow part of his 600 acres to recover works a three 12 hour shift job as a welder to provide for his family needs.

Research the various small farming aspects, define and project your future needs and consider how many manpower hours you can put towards farming and working off the farm if needed.

Your county extension office may even have some farm and agri-business work sheet plans for your area as the Texas ag dept. has to help you evaluate your options.


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## ChristieAcres

Boomdiddyah said:


> We are a young family and we are doing everything we can to begin our dream of owning a homestead. We are complete novices. We've had 5 backyard chickens and a small potted garden but know nothing more than what we've read from books and homesteading blogs. But we know this is what we want to do with our lives and for our family.
> We would even go to such lengths to live off grid if that were the only way. We are wondering: how much land would we need? We would like to have a large garden, big enough to live off of while in bloom, and to have enough to can for the remainder of the year. We would like to rely on our animals alone for meat and eggs, so we'd like to have meat and egg chickens, as well as 2-3 dwarf dairy goats. We would like to primarily have our animals be grass fed. If legal, we'd like to catch water for our garden and animals.
> 
> How many acres would we need minimum? We were thinking 5 would be enough... Are we close?
> 
> Thank you!


The most important question? Where? Jwal10 lives in Western OR, and I live in Western WA (Sequim in the Rain Shadow). In both of our climates, 5 acres is plenty for what you described (smaller meat animals, of course). As others posted, rotating areas for foraging critters is important.

We have a well that produces plenty for everything we need, but we also have natural springs. Water will never be an issue for us, as we are in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains. No flooding, drought, or other severe weather conditions. While we could raise smaller animals for meat, DH does hunt, both of us fish, crab, shrimp, go clamming, etc... We are close enough, but far enough away, from the saltwater (1100 ft above sea level). While we currently have chickens and fruit trees, our garden will be first year on this property (we have been gardeners for many years). We bought our property last year, but have been leading a homesteading lifestyle for 10 years now. With all that we do, we can produce almost all we eat (once we get our garden in). I can, dehydrate, and ferment. Mushrooms are very big here and we are both into mushrooming.

I am glad your DH will be working, as it is important to have an outside income in almost all circumstances. It is optimal if the one working is capable of telecommuting.


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## Nimrod

Good advice so far.

There are too many variables to answer your question. A warmer climate means you will have to feed the critters less over winter. Does the area get enough rain so the pasture and feed crops will grow? How good is the soil? You can grow more on an acre of good soil than on 10 acres of bad.

One thing I have noticed many folks on here saying is that they don't want a big piece of land because they can't take care of it. I disagree, If you can afford a bigger piece, and the taxes, then go for it. Any part of it that you don't use will not spoil. It will simply grow up with wild plants. You can always clear some off and put it to work if you want to.

I bought 34 acres recently. It's about 20 acres that has been logged off and replanted, 5 acres of swamp, and the rest is small trees and brush. It gets enough rainfall to grow crops. The land is all sand so not very fertile. Winter is long so any bigger critters will have to be fed. The plan is to build a house, a barn, put in an orchard and a garden, and clear off some or all of the replanted land and turn it into pasture. I would like to have an orchard, a garden, some chickens, sheep, and maybe pigs. I don't think cows would work unless I can afford to feed then all winter.

Good luck.


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## farmerDale

I would not set an upper limit. If you can find an economical quarter or two somewhere, why not? Privacy. You can rent out any farmland for good revenue. Land often appreciates. 

It simply depends on your long term goals, whether you hunt, where it is like others have said.

But I honestly would not limit myself if you find a nice hunk of land somewhere that is affordable. It is nice to control a reasonable amount of land, have privacy, have the sky as your limit.

Sure, you can do a fair amount with 5 acres; But IMO, if one is buying land, why put limits on the amount if you are moving anyway?


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## Tinker

Buy as much as you can afford. I have never heard anyone complain of having to much land, but know lots of folks that really wish they had more. Down the road, you might want a few cows or horses, and will need more pasture land. Several people I know were happy to buy 5 acres, then a few years later, ran out of room.

Personally, I would not consider less than 10 acres. If you can buy more than that, go for it. In a few years, if you decide you don't need that much, you can sell off a few acres.


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