buying land – Permaculture Homestead

Permaculture and the Homestead

I intend to use permaculture to create my homestead. I want a small homestead where I grow my own food and enjoy working the land. I also want to improve the land I am not using in a natural, water-wise way that doesn’t encourage more desertification and erosion.

My wash does not currently have the native biodiversity that permaculture can design into it using typical permaculture techniques. Cottonwoods are native to Utah washes, so I’m introducing a stand of them to grow in my wash.

My dream property would have under five-acres of land. After years of looking at land, I finally bought 72-acres in early 2014, not because I want that much land, but because I could afford it and not the smaller parcels I was interested in.

The land I ended up purchasing was described in the real estate listing as “good for nothing but sagebrush.” However, after seeing what permaculture design has done to far worse chunks of dirt, I’m willing to give it a go, even though I have limited time and money.

Finding the Farm — The piece of dirt and sage we could afford. It’s not much, but it’s ours.

This piece of dirt and sage will make a great permaculture demonstration site.

Buying the Land

We got the land!

My wife and I signed for it, and the county recorded it. We’re the proud owners of 79 point something acres of dirt and sagebrush. It’s actually closer to 80 acres, so I’ll probably call it 80 instead of 79 acres most of the time.

Funny, I was looking for just over one acre to grow some fruit trees, and all we could afford was 80 acres. All the 1+ acre parcels we looked at were four to ten times more expensive than this 80 acre parcel. Life works out that way sometimes.

Ranch Outer Dimensions — The ranch measures 1/2 mile by 1/4 mile. It totals nearly 80 acres. It’s a real fixer upper.

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Finding the Farm

I’ve been dreaming of buying my own chunk of dirt for almost 20 years. You’d think that growing up in a rural community I’d be thinking, “Hey! Why don’t I start a farm?” But really, I just wanted somewhere to stretch out and have a few apple trees.

Originally, I was thinking of buying a piece of land back in my home state of New York. I watched real estate there in the mid 1990’s. I found several multi-acre chunks of land for very reasonable prices. I fantasized about purchasing one, then I watched land prices inflate beyond my ability to purchase more than a small bit of an acre.

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