Opportunity to move to a bigger homestead

[Swampduck]

Hey Y'all! I need some advice. My parents separated (divorce pending) last year, and my dad recently bought a 10 acre piece of land down the road and decided to pursue his life long dream of being a market gardener. I'm currently living with my mom on roughly 3 acres. On my mom's land there's a chicken coop, herb garden, slightly neglected half-acre vegetable garden, and some 3 year old fruit trees. On my dad's land there's a lot of old (about 100 years) apple trees, a large grapevine, a pond and some garden beds he built this year. In short dad's land is bigger but less developed, and mom's land is smaller but more developed.

I'm on good terms with both my parents, and they'd both be fine with me moving where I want. And unfortunately, I don't think I'd be able to afford a piece of land anytime soon. Anyways, I'm currently leaning towards bigger but less developed, mostly because I'm more of a livestock guy and there's not a lot of opportunity for animals where I am now other than chickens, ducks, and maybe turkeys. Any advice is appreciated!

Edited to add: I'm a young adult and my dad is planning to put me on the land title.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Welcome!
Not prying, but do you need to make a choice? How close are they? Even if you stayed primarily at one, could you still have stuff at the other place?

Do you plan on canning/preserving? Which had better kitchen facilities and food storage?

If things are amicable, I would try to leverage the strengths of both locations

 

[baymule]

Do what are you asking? Which ring to throw your hat in? Only you can answer that.
Are you an adult or minor? That may have some bearing on this decision.
What your goals with land?
If you are living with either parent, then you are not paying rent or maybe at a reduced rate. Take this opportunity to save money for a purchase of your own or possibly co-owner with your Dad. Get it in writing, remarriage and spousal rights can get messy.

 

[tortoise]

Both?

 

[flowerbug]

less developed means you get to make your own mistakes. someone else's property means your efforts may not be rewarded longer term.

if your Dad is not really using the land and you can get him to subdivide it and put your name on the deed for your part so that you own it then that would be nice, but otherwise it's a gamble to do a lot of work and then have them decide to move or sell it off for a profit or perhaps they get ill and need to go to a more intensive care place or something?

 

[Mini Horses]

Animals are expensive. Fence, pasture, barns, feed, water, vetting and procurement. Then, purpose -- pet or marketing. There is also commitment to them.

You sound like you may be a minor...?? Do you have a job? Do you plan to help with gardening and land management? Produce income? Is this a temporary phase or not?

Where you are in your "life" is the thing to address. What are your plans long-term? Things change.

 

[Swampduck]

Welcome!
Not prying, but do you need to make a choice? How close are they? Even if you stayed primarily at one, could you still have stuff at the other place?

Do you plan on canning/preserving? Which had better kitchen facilities and food storage?

If things are amicable, I would try to leverage the strengths of both locations

Thank you for the welcome! I don't need to choose between one or the other, the separation was very amicable. Leveraging both would be a good idea, especially since they're only 5 minutes apart.

 

[Swampduck]

Animals are expensive. Fence, pasture, barns, feed, water, vetting and procurement. Then, purpose -- pet or marketing. There is also commitment to them.

You sound like you may be a minor...?? Do you have a job? Do you plan to help with gardening and land management? Produce income? Is this a temporary phase or not?

Where you are in your "life" is the thing to address. What are your plans long-term? Things change

I'm a young adult. I would definitely help with gardening/land management. My long-term plans are to build a farm where I can support myself either with what I produce or selling/trading what I produce.

 

[tortoise]

Thank you for the welcome! I don't need to choose between one or the other, the separation was very amicable. Leveraging both would be a good idea, especially since they're only 5 minutes apart.

Moving costs money. I'd say to stay put. Keep higher-maintenance livestock/gardens on the property you live on. Lower-maintenance livestock/gardens on the other one.

Can I recommend sheep? They're low maintenance, easy to keep fenced (as compared to goats!) If you get hair sheep, you have little or no need to shear them. @baymule has hair sheep. I have wool/dual purpose sheep.

Before you get livestock make a business plan? How are you going to sell them? Where is the nearest livestock auction? I live 10 minutes from a livestock auction, so it's easier for me to sell there than to try to cultivated a direct to consumer business model.

 

[Finnie]

Anyways, I'm currently leaning towards bigger but less developed, mostly because I'm more of a livestock guy and there's not a lot of opportunity for animals where I am now other than chickens, ducks, and maybe turkeys

Sounds like this is your answer. I also think it’s great that both properties are close to each other. Live on whichever one you are more comfortable in, and put your animals (when you are ready) on your dad’s property.

As @FarmerJamie suggested, make your main garden at the property that has the kitchen that is most suited for canning. Although 5 minutes isn’t so bad to haul produce in buckets. It sounds like you can have the best of both worlds, and I love that your parents are “amicable” and support you.