Perfecting Your Country Homestead

 

Living out in the country, you might have an idea of what your idyllic countryside lifestyle might look like, but your home might not exactly live up to the dream just yet. If you’re looking to live the homestead life, such as having your own animals, your own garden, and being mostly self-sufficient, it can take a little more work than you might expect. For that reason, we’re going to look at what you need to do to create the homestead you need, and a few tips to help you get there.

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Finding the right land

It might sound like a no-brainer. Perhaps you already have land that you want to make use of. If that’s the case, you can skip this tip. Otherwise, however, when you’re thinking of starting up a homestead, then you should start by making sure that you have good land to suit your needs. Think about what you’re planning to do in terms of growing and animal husbandry and how much land you’re going to need to accommodate them. Finding the perfect homesteading property is not going to be the same journey for everyone. People who aren’t taking care of any animals aren’t likely to need more than a half-an-acre, but if you have cows or sheep, you’ll need considerable grazing land for even one.

Know what and how much you are going to grow

It’s not always consistent as to whether or not a homestead has animals or allows guests to stay over in a guest room. However, almost all homesteads are going to rely on food that is planted on site. For that reason, you need to have a good idea of what you’re going to start growing and how much you want to grow. It’s a good idea to start off with a small garden, taking care of and tending to perhaps one crop of plants at first, then expanding as time goes on and you get more used to it. If you’re new to gardening vegetables and crops, then a monthly gardening schedule can help you stay on top of it.

Preserving your food

As well as growing your own food, you are going to want to think of how to preserve it ahead of time. For one, you’re not going to be able to eat all of your crops, yourself. Furthermore, if you’re looking at ways to monetise it, then you might also want to start selling those preserved products. As such, learning how to preserve your foods is both smart from both self-sufficiency and a financial standpoint. Some of the most valuable tools you can acquire in preserving foods are mason jars, as well as the lids and rings that can help you seal those jars. Safe, dry storage space in your pantry for those foods is just as crucial, too.

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Know how you’re going to monetise it

As well as finding the way to start your homestead and to start living more self-sufficiently, then you might be like the many who decide to make good use of the surplus that they grow and maintain. There are a lot of little ways to make a side-hustle or even a main business out of your homestead, especially in the garden. You can sell fresh ingredients to local restaurants, you can sell at farmer’s markets, you can even set up and online store for produce and mail it directly. If you think of ways to monetise your homestead, it can make it a lot easier to keep up with the overheads of running it.

Finding a place for your animals

First of all, you need to decide what, if any, animals you are going to be keeping on your homestead. Once you have that decided, it’s all about taking the time to make sure their needs are met, with their shelter being the most important. Smaller animals like chickens are going to demand a lot less space, which might make them more popular, but if you’re planning on running a petting zoo, then this might not be your only consideration. As well as the appropriate shelter for all of your animals, you should also consider what kind of fencing you are going to need to keep them safe and stop them from wandering off.

A place for everything you need

Whether it’s in the gardening, planting and harvesting of crops, or caring for your animals, you’re likely to have plenty of tools that you will be using to maintain your homestead on a day-to-day basis. If you have a lot of land that you are using, you might even have some machinery like a tractor to help you take care of it. To that end, it is just as important to make sure that you are taking good care of the tools and equipment that you rely on, and an installation such as farm barn sheds could be just what you need. Sealed, dried, and purpose-driven storage space can be precisely what you need to make sure they are not exposed to the elements.

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Are you hoping to invite some guests?

If you’re looking to run your homestead as a small business, then one of the most common ways of driving revenue that you might be interested in is to have guests pay to stay in your countryside home. There are a host of different preparations that need to go into running your home as accommodation for guests, but most important is making sure that you have a comfortable, welcoming, and stylish bedroom. A guest room should have all the access to changing space, bathroom space, and all the other needs that you would expect of any bed and breakfast or hotel, so be sure to invest in it.


How many of the tips above are going to directly apply to you will depend on a few things, including what you want your homestead to be able to provide. However, hopefully, this has at least given you a few pointers in the direction of getting what you need.

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