how much land?

[Clarence]

so this march I will be looking at some plots of land to maybe buy. But I don't want to buy a lot more then I need or cut myself short.

So here is my romantic picture.

1. a small house big enough for 3 to start.
2. about 20 beehives
3. a barn for the meat rabbits, milk goats and chickens
4. garden big enough to keep a small family in vegtibles.
5. a few fruit trees peaches apples

how much land would I need to make this a reality without being too cramped but without having to pay for space I will never use

anyway thats my probably overly romantic dream.

the plots I am looking at are bordering state land so hunting trapping and tapping maple trees shouldn't be a problem.

thanks for any advice.
Clarence

[AlchemyAcres]

Difficult question to answer....
A lot depends on personal preference and quality of the land....
Will you be heating with wood?

IMHO...I think that 10 acres, minimum (about half wooded-half clear) would be a good size...it'll give you a reasonable amount of privacy and enough land to do what you want...even if you want to burn some wood for heat.

A lot does depend on attitude....

The person who asks "What can I do with 10 acres?" can very likely expect a far different result than someone who states "I'm going to show you what I can do with 10 acres!"

Know what I mean?


~Martin ;)

[kawalekm]

A book you might find helpful is "Country Life" by Paul Heiney (DK Publishing). They have a chapter on scaling your operation based on the amount of available land. Based on what you describe, I'd guess you won't be very successfull with less than 5 acres. If you just want to grow vegetables, a 50-100 foot square patch will produce a lot. With an acre or more then a garden and orchard will work. If you want animals however, sizes go up fast. Anything larger than a chicken needs lots of space. An acre seems like a big space, but put a few goats on it and they will quickly reduce it to bare dirt. For suitainable year-round production in our area (Sierra Nevada) we need about 10-15 acres/cow. Using a 5:1 conversion, I'd assume I could raise a goat on 2-3 acres here.

Other references you might read are the 1978 USDA yearbook "Living on a few Acres", and then there is the classic "Five Acres and Independence".

Martin makes good points on woodlot production and privacy. We ourselves are on 50 acres, and I consider that small, sustainablity wise. Ten acres is small even if you just cut wood out of your lot occationally. Also, a little acreage is fine as long as you don't have live-in neighbors. On one acre, your nearest neighbor can be 104 feet away. The more land you have, the more privacy you have simplly because you are keeping other people at bay. Future development is another consideration. I have a rifle range on our 50 acres because our neighbor right next to us owns 960 and doesn't care if a stray bullet ever wandered onto his property. Sqeeze your land in-between other "little parcels" and shooting becomes legally impossible.

You want to be very carefull about things like sugar tapping on the state land. Most likely no-one will ever know about it or care. However, an unfriendly neighbor might report you if you're tapping "his" trees, or just feels like causing trouble.

[clawhammerdan]

I have 15 acres. 70% meadow (hilly) and 30% woods. I think it would be plenty for all that you've described. Bradford Angier had a book out many years ago called something like Ten Acres and Security...or something to that effect. I have a friend who does bees. He has less than three acres and he has six hives. Heck they work other folks' property and report back to his. Good luck.

[Terri]

I would want an acre for the hives, but only because I do not like the hives close together. It is my own preferance.

Another acre for the garden and fruit trees, unless you are supporting a family of 12 that should be enough.

As for the goats, it would depend on how many goats you get, and whether you buy feed or grow it.

LAstly, figure on an acre for whatever NEW idea you come up with!!!!!!!!!! ;D

[jott]

One other thing to consider is how the local government views your land. In our township a lot of the rules for water, septic, and building change when you have more then 10 or 15 acre (I forget which both apply to us). So buying a little more mite make your life easier. However I think a lot of those rules are about to change here because of new standardized building codes. But more land dose mean you have a better chance of doing what you want and meeting code. The big new change here that is causing people without much land a problem is you can not have any storm runoff from your property. So all the water from roofs and driveways must be contained on the property. If you have the space a simple holding pool will work, those without the space are digging up the yard and driveway and putting drain fields under them.

Jott

[GrannySueD_in_IL]

If this is all you intend to do - and there are no plans for market gardens/orchards, I'd say about 3 - 5 acres... You could do it on less, but depends on how much feed you want to bring in.

If there are hopes for possible pick-your-own fruit, or other commercial ventures, or even an expansion in animals, I'd say about 8 - 10 acres.

Whatever the size - just make sure its a good piece of ground. A really good piece of land will support everything you listed and then some. A bad piece of land won't support much of anything valueable.