Part-time "hobby farming" on 3-5 acres?

[McCulloch610]

Hi everyone-within a year my family and I are going to be relocating and we have our eyes on properties between 3-5 acres because given the type of house we need (at least a 3 bedroom/2 bath) that seems to be about as much land as we can afford. We may end up getting lucky and being able to score as much as 10 acres under the right circumstances, but given current prices (and taxes) in our area 3-5 acres seems much more realistic. I'd like to hear from others who have made similar moves for similar reasons:

Currently we live in an older subdivision on a 1/4 acre lot and we are somewhat self sufficient. We grow a small garden, heat our home almost exclusively with wood we source and process ourselves, hunt and fish, and we DIY pretty much all home/property improvement projects and repairs. We would love to have laying hens and maybe some other small livestock (town ordinance prohibits these on properties smaller than 2 acres) and a larger garden, but with the property we currently have it's just not possible. However, in the surrounding rural townships, 3-5 acre properties are plentiful, and because the townships are more rural to begin with, they have even less restrictions on what you can do with your property than we currently have, living "in-town." One major motivation for wanting more land, small livestock, etc...is to involve our girls in local 4H activities. They just turned 4 and 1, respectively. Though the farm will be a family affair, we are looking forward to teaching them about the value self-sufficiency and hard work, but also to having a little fun with it as well. Our four year old loves animals and taking care of them and has been begging us to get chickens ever since the first time she was old enough to remember visiting the county fair.

Finally, my wife and I both work full time. She is fairly close as she is a schoolteacher in the area, but she is usually home by 3:00 p.m. and is of course, off from the end of June until the end of August. I work longer hours about an hour away from home. I'd love to hear from others who keep livestock under similar situations and about how their schedule works with caring for and feeding their animals. We are looking to start small, with no more chickens than we would need to never have to buy eggs from the store again. Eventually, as we get more involved with 4H, we'll likely graduate to other livestock, time permitting, but for right now the goal will be to have enough land to do the following:

• Raise chickens for eggs (eventually also for meat?) - How many do we need to produce a dozen eggs a week?
• Dedicate about a half acre to a garden - Right now we grow a few tomato plants, peppers, and cucumbers and that's it in a very small space. We would like to scale up in order to have enough to can for consumption year-round.
• Bowhunt for deer and turkey - Where we live, hunters can legally bowhunt 150' or more from structures, which means that on 3-5 acres I could likely hunt a large portion of my property without having to ask neighbors for permission because I will be out of range of their house/shed/barn.
• Have enough room to have firewood delivered in log length, process it, and have at least eight cords on hand split and stacked in a covered shed.

I've definitely browsed through threads by folks who are doing a lot with smaller plots of land, so I'd love to hear from them and others about the best way to organize and manage space, etc... I should also add that we don't expect to make any money selling eggs or produce, we simply want to produce enough for own use, and to give our daughters an education in the process.

 

[Mini Horses]

When buying be sure to check zoning, deed restrictions and all local requirements to do the things you are planning. I looked at a "zoned for horses" property once which had deed restrictions that did not allow you to build a barn or other such building. Yep.

Remember that a lot of acreage is a lot of upkeep without animals to help -- graze, etc. So plan accordingly as you are looking at prospective places.

As to chickens, 3 good layers would give you a dozen but, you may want more than that dozen once you have them there.
Plus, during molt they generally quit laying. But you will learn how to work thru that, like we've all had to do, with storing, age of hens, feed, etc. Get up with us once you are ready to buy them.

Note that such things as gardens, fruit trees, young shade trees, etc., are all subject to "attack by animals" -- that is, goats, sheep, etc. can easily destroy them. Plan planting and fences to prevent such damage. Have garden close enough to see and use it. Learn to buy seed and start plants, more than buying starts. Costs less, fun, good learning experience for the girls....plus, you get the varieties you want.

As you already know, planning is key to making this work. If you increase the garden dramatically, you may loose some of the enthusiasm if suddenly overworked. Start slow and grow.
3 acres or less would allow for a small animal (s) like goats or sheep, large garden, wood lot, small barn, etc. It's often the expansion of land that gets us into more than we want. Within reason, your animals will adapt to most schedules. Chickens can have 24/7 food & water, so that helps with your own time limits. You may find a property that has some wooded acreage from which you can harvest your wood.

I love that you are teaching your girls to appreciate where their food comes from, how and a respect for that process. Plant some "fun" things for them...popcorn strawberries, p-nuts, etc.

I'm sure others will chime in as the week moves along and they log-in to read and respond. Just tossing some things to ponder as you are still in the looking stage.

 

[Britesea]

You can freeze or dehydrate extra eggs to get you through the winter when the girls are not laying as much

 

[baymule]

2 cows on one acre = mud lot.

 

[MoonShadows]

I remember hot summer days when my grandfather's cows would go over to the edge of the field to be in the shade of the tree line.

It's been a long time since we went house hunting, but I remember how much fun it was. I also remember I wanted a house something awful, and I had to be careful not to settle for one just because I wanted a house and property so bad. I'm glad I fought off this temptation, because when I saw the house we did buy, I knew right it was the one for us, and I haven't regretted it. Don't jump; you'll know the right place; you'll feel it! Best of luck on Saturday.

 

[McCulloch610]

Hi all...sorry to not get back all week-it was a crazy one at work. In any event, it's a property that's got a ton of potential-the house is everything we need and more, it just needs some paint and cosmetic repairs. The property itself is great-very private, 24 x 24 framed outbuilding that was once used a barn (dirt floor, electric and water) that just needs a new roof and siding. Plenty of room to hunt in the back 2.5 acres of woods and plenty of room for a 1.5 acre pasture in the front, leaving plenty of of backyard space for kids and a big garden. Now for the concerns:

• The septic system is original to the home and is 40 years old. It will likely need to be replaced. In NJ septics are highly regulated and if it fails the stringent testing procedures which are required by law the home can't be sold without it being remediated. Being a bank owned property, they are unlikely to replace it, and we'd be counting on them to lower the price so that we could afford to fix it, but a fix could be as much as $40K. I know that seems excessive to those in other parts of the country, but here in NJ that is pretty average for a mound system, which is about all that is put in these days. Gone are the days of gravity, below grade systems in all but a few areas with exceptionally well drained loamy soils.

• The property is just shy (5.6 acres) of what we would need for farmland assessment (6 acres). Farmland assessment, first and foremost, gives you a break on property taxes by separating out the acre that your house sits on from the other 5 (or more) acres of your property and taxing it as farmland, instead of residential land. In this particular area it would result in a savings of nearly $1000 a year. Another important aspect of farmland assessment is that once you are farm assessed, you meet the legal definition of a farm in NJ, and thus are protected by the "Right to Farm Act." Right now, since the property cannot be farm assessed, if I was to keep a family milk cow, the cow would be considered a "pet," not livestock. Any complaints about noise, smell, sight, etc...from neighbors could be investigated by the town and the town could potentially force me to get rid of the offending animal. The Right to Farm Act protects family farms from such action, but again, you must be farm assessed to be covered. Finally, family members living on the farm are eligible for "Farm permits" to hunt deer and wild turkey (which there are tons of on the property). This allows immediate family members living on the farm to hunt the farm property without having to buy licenses, zone permits, etc...

• The access road is simply an easement and has no legal agreement in place for maintenance. The gentleman who used to own the house that we might buy used to arrange for plowing in the winter himself, and when he got the bill he simply "passed the hat" to all of the neighbors. This apparently has worked well, but I wonder what would happen ten years down the road if a few houses change hands and the folks living there aren't so neighborly. A legally enforceable agreement would be preferable. Also, plowing amounts to a couple of hundred dollars per year-what about ten years from now when the road is in poor condition and some want it paved/others just want it patched with stone fill here and there. Who decides what we do, how much we pay, and who we hire?

I think for now we might keep looking, but we'll keep and eye on the place. Our realtor told us that the good thing is that a property like this one is only going to appeal to folks like us who want to put work into it, so the bank may have to end up dropping the price a decent amount before they start seeing offers coming in. The septic issue really is what it is, it's old, it will fail, and it will need to be replaced, so that's kind of a "cross that bridge when you come to it." One potential solution to the farmland assessment issue is the fact that there is a 30 acre property to the rear that I could offer to purchase .4 acres from to round out the required 6 acres. Of course, that property is farm assessed (per tax records), and the property owner is likely well aware what that .4 acre would allow me to do, and would probably price it accordingly. As for the road, I've heard differing opinions. We could go in and propose that such an agreement be drawn up, but I'd hardly feel comfortable doing so, and wouldn't want to establish a reputation among neighbors as wanting to come in and shake things up.

 

[baymule]

An orchard would be great for chickens to eat the dead falls. Plus the chickens would lessen the insects by eating the larve in the dirt under the trees.

 

[baymule]

Welcome to the forum! We lived in town, just blocks from city hall. I gardened in the front yard and had chickens in the backyard. Most chickens lay an egg a day. Some lay every other day. I currently have 6 hens and get 4-5 eggs a day. You don't have to have a rooster to have eggs, and with that few of hens, the rooster would likely mate them too much.

For gardening, join SS's sister site, www.theeasygarden.com the link is on the right on this page. You can get lots of help with your garden, organic growing, heritage seeds, canning, freezing and dehydrating your produce.

We moved to 8 acres in February and have been busy ever since. Fence, fence and more fence! We are using 2"x4"x48" non climb horse wire to keep all our animals in, and others out. We have 3 feeder pigs and just bought 4 bred ewes. One of the pig is for us, the other 2 are for friends. The sheep are hair sheep, for meat. You might like goats for the milk, since you have small children. www.backyardherds.com another sister site has great forums on animals.

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Denim Deb]

Forget the half acre for a garden. If you do that big a garden, your weekends and your wife's summer are going to be spent doing nothing but gardening. Instead, look into companion planting and square foot gardening. Also, if you mulch heavily, it will cut down on the amount of weeding and watering you need to do. When my kids were small, my garden was 52'x24'. And, I was still able to grow enough tomatoes to make enough sauce for a year as well as stewed tomatoes. And, I had a ton of beans as well. The only thing I couldn't grow enough of was corn. Things like cucumbers and melons can grow vertically, which will take up a lot less space.

If you have at least part of your property as woods, you can get some of your wood there. One thing you can do is to coppice trees. This way, you can get more wood out of less space.

As for the hens, are you planning on having lighting in your coop? If not, remember, chickens normally take the winter off-unless they've started to lay in the fall/early winter. So, if you're not lighting the coop, you're going to want to rotate your chickens to have eggs all year long.

 

[McCulloch610]

Tons of great advice here-thanks all!