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.

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[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.

 

[Hinotori]

Kune Kune have seen their fad hey-day. They take a year or more to get to slaughter size and are small and fatty. I recommend not getting breeding stock, but get feeder pigs to raise for the freezer and maybe one or two to sell. It’s a good way to get introduced to pigs without the commitment to breeding stock.

They are still popular around here because easier to process at home and most people who raise them here want the lard.

 

[Mini Horses]

I went with AGHs....still took a yr to grow out, a lard type but far less proportionately than KuneKune. Meat was excellent! They are grazers. Easy to handle. I didn't want a large pig. These fit my needs.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[farmerjan]

So, where are you on decisions? Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back... Can you make a "dual" deal of sorts work with some things at one place and some at another? Sounds like if your dad wants to do a market garden that there might be more possibilities there for things like canning etc.... but maybe some animals too.... pigs are always good for fall garden cleanup and killing early in the spring before gardening time comes back around...

 

[Swampduck]

So, where are you on decisions? Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back... Can you make a "dual" deal of sorts work with some things at one place and some at another? Sounds like if your dad wants to do a market garden that there might be more possibilities there for things like canning etc.... but maybe some animals too.... pigs are always good for fall garden cleanup and killing early in the spring before gardening time comes back around...

I'm going to try and leverage the strengths of both locations for now. I do think I'll eventually relocate to my dad's place since he's putting me on the title but I'll still help my mom take care of the orchard since that and the herb garden are probably the only things that would stay there long-term if I moved. I have been looking into KuneKune pigs, as they're pretty good at grazing/foraging.