Step 4. Select the piece of land you want to buy

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to choosing a plot of land for homesteading…

While it’s romantic to consider buying rugged land and working to shape it into what you want, that takes time and effort.

Plus, untamed land is a liability. You may find you have large areas unsuitable for growing anything, even trees, making it useless to you.

Following are some of the basic necessities any good land for self-sufficiency should have:

Water:

Water is essential to all life; without it you will not be able to grow anything.

But absence of spring, stream, or well isn’t necessarily a deal breaker. You may be able to impound enough water on your property from rainfall into swales and ponds to supply all your needs.

If rainfall is not adequate to be totally self-sufficient with water, consider the water catchment the property lies in. Often, small properties are part or large catchment systems. All water that falls into the catchment uphill from you will drain through your property, giving you more opportunity to catch and impound it on your property for your use.

Ponds And Dams:

I’ll cover this in detail in the class on swales and water-harvesting structures on Day 17, but make sure to look to see if there are any ponds on your potential property.

Water on the property always increases productivity, and water storage is key to self-sufficiency. Constructing cisterns can be expensive, but large storage dams are relatively inexpensive to construct for the amount of water they hold.

Evaluate if there are suitable locations for constructing low-cost dams, which, again, will be covered in a later class.

Slope:

Some slope on your property is a positive factor. It assists with drainage, water harvesting, and aquaculture.

However, if the slope is more than 20 degrees at any point, it will be difficult to work with in terms of water potential… and there are also erosion and landslide dangers.

Slopes over 20 degrees should be kept as forest or planted into productive food forest or lumber forest to stabilize the slope.

Aspect:

Aspect refers to the direction the property faces downslope.

The south-facing aspect is best in the northern hemisphere, as it allows for maximum sun exposure for your farm.

North-facing in the southern hemisphere is likewise most desirable.

Access:

• How will you access the property?

• Is there a road leading to the property?

• Are their roads on your property?

• If there are, are the roads conducive to your farm design?

• If not, where will you put the road into your property? (Roads should ideally run on contour to became water harvesting structures and to avoid erosion of the road material.)

 Soil And Trees:

Soil is the foundation of your homestead’s success.

Bad soil can be improved, but if good soil is within your budget, you can jump-start your self-sufficiency endeavor by purchasing better land to start with.

Take soil samples and have them tested. The more soil tests from various points within the property, the better the picture you get of what is actually going on underground.

Trees take years to grow, so if you have productive or shade-giving trees on your property, they could be valuable assets to your farm.

Additionally, trees on the property could be sustainably harvested to provide lumber for your home and farm buildings.