How to Start A Homestead From Scratch
Starting your homestead journey can be both exciting and overwhelming. The first year of starting your homestead from scratch is crucial as you lay the foundation for your new self-sufficient lifestyle. We’ll guide you through the 7 essential steps to ensure your first year on your homestead will be set up for succes.
What Should I Do In The First Year Of Starting A Homestead From Scratch?
- Identify The Vegetation On Your Farm
- Observe Your Land
- Plan Farm Operation’s Layout
- Invest In Long Term Crops
- Start A Compost Pile
- Start An Experimental Garden
- Get Egg Laying Chickens
Identify The Vegetation On Your Farm
Discovering what type of vegetation, you are working with when starting your homestead is crucial to understand how much work it will take and what you will need to start. Vegetation is important especially if you want to add livestock and you identify invasive or poisonous plants in your potential pasture areas. It’s also rewarding if you identify herbs, berries, or beneficials growing wild that you can quickly reap the benefits of without starting the plants from seeds.
Common native herbs, berries, and beneficials in the NJ area is mullein, mug wort, purslane, goldenrod, yarrow, stinging nettle, elderberries, milkweed, maple syrup from sugar maples. and more!
I think the easiest way to identify plants (if you have an iPhone) is by taking a picture of the plant with the camera, clicking back into the photo and clicking on the informational leaf icon that pops up on the bottom of the screen.
Did you know black walnut trees are toxic to tomato plants? Black walnut trees produce juglone in all parts of the tree, which is toxic to tomatoes, causing them to wilt. Experts recommend keeping a garden at least 50 ft away from black walnut trees
Observe Your Homestead
Observe your future homestead in all four seasons during different types of weather and different times of the day before you start planning major projects. You should notice where water gathers when it rains and shade patterns during the day and year. This could help save a headache or extra work in the future.
After you identify the types of trees you have, you should observe their overall health and size. Reasons to keep tree health in mind: so you don’t build a structure under an older leaning tree or dig a septic system or well near highly invasive tree root systems.
If you are still looking for a homestead, check out these Environmental Research Tools Your Realtor Won’t Tell You
Plan Homestead Operation Layout
I imagine you already have dreams planned out on how you want to utilize your homestead to support your family. If you don’t have an exact idea of how you want to use your homestead yet make sure you leave space for a new idea that might emerge in the future.
Start forming a layout of your property of where you want more permanent infrastructure like irrigation, roads/paths, fruit trees, designated pastures, greenhouse, and garden space.
Remember its ok to change your mind if you find a certain system doesn’t work out for you
Invest In Long Term Crops
Long term crops such as fruit and nut trees, berry bushes, crown plants like asparagus, rhubarb, and strawberries can take several growing seasons before they are able to produce yield. It is best to start them as soon as possible so you can reap the benefits quicker.
Make sure you have the capacity to water and care for them! When you plant long term crops, keep diversity and companion planting in mind to help eliminate pest pressure.
Start A Compost Pile
Many people overlook this step, but I think compost is the foundation of a garden! Composting is an equal ratio of brown material (carbon) to green material (nitrogen). Start with a base layer of twigs, add equal layers of brown and green material.
| Brown / Carbon | Greens |
| Leaves | Fruit and vegetable scraps |
| Mulch/ Wood Chips | Fresh plant matter |
| Straw | Coffee Grinds |
| Shredded Paper | Fresh Horse/ Chicken Manure |
| Cardboard With No Tape | Grass Clippings |
I like to inoculate the compost pile by adding a handful of dark soil and earth worms to kick start the decomposition process. Keep the compost pile moist and turn regularly. The compost pile should not stink. You know the pile will be ready when it has shrunken in size, and it is dark and fine soil like material.
Before you start your compost pile make sure it is centrally located to your preference. Close to the garden or close to the kitchen for easy disposal of kitchen scraps
Start An Experimental Garden
Emphasis on experimental garden! This shouldn’t be your dream garden!
If this is your first-year homesteading, you are probably so excited to start gardening and growing ALL.THE.THINGS. I know I was. It takes time to establish the foundations for a successful garden like irrigation systems and trellis for vertically growing plants.
Experimenting with your first garden will help you figure out timing of when to start seeds, watering needs, and supporting needs for vertically growing plants.
If this is your first-time gardening, start small with a few vegetables or herbs you love to eat.
Herbs are the easiest way to get started with gardening. You can start them inside or in small landscaping pots. Read more about the different types of herbs and how to grow them.
The Best Beginner’s Guide to Growing an Herb Garden
If you’re desiring a more sustainable and garden-to-table lifestyle, one of the easiest ways to accomplish that is with an herb garden. You can start and indoor herb garden or plant herbs in decorative pots or in a garden. This guide is perfect for an experienced or new gardener. It will highlight the benefits and growing needs of each herb.
If you are well experienced, try growing things you never grew before or new varieties of veggies you already love.
| Vegetable Plants | Notes |
| Garlic | Fall Planting; Low Maintenace |
| Peppers | Low Maintenace |
| Potatoes | Loose soil needed |
| Bush Beans | No Support Necessary |
| Sugar Peas | Spring Planted; No Support Necessary |
| Cucumbers | High Yield; Need Support |
| Tomatoes | High Yield; Need Support |
Get Egg Layer Chickens
Often times egg laying chickens from tractor supply start people down the homesteading journey.
If you are starting from scratch with no experience, I recommend getting egg layer chickens as your first livestock animal because the daily care of chickens is simple enough to help ease you into the habit of taking care of larger livestock if you plan to scale up with goats, pigs, cows, sheep, etc.
If you want to start your egg laying flock from chicks it takes about 18-20 weeks for chickens to start laying eggs or you can buy older chickens from a trusted source.
What Chickens Breeds Are Best For Laying Eggs:
- Rhode Island Red
- Barred Plymouth Rock
- Buff Orpington
- Brahmas
- Plymouth Rock
Don’t let this information be overwhelming! Assess your situation and determine what is possible for you to accomplish in your first year. If you are building a house while starting a homestead (like us) your journey might look different than others.
If you are interested in building a home on your new homestead, check out this blog post of the Building Process From Buying Land to Breaking Ground
Don’t be discouraged by mistakes, learn from them
good luck!!
The clarity and simplicity of your writing are a perfect complement to the depth of the ideas you explore.