What would you do with 30 acres?

I've been day dreaming about how I would like to change my life and be more dependent on the land. And how I would like to live a healthier life style. With that being said I was thinking if I could find 30 acres I could farm enough to live almost completely off the land and sell what I won't use to supply the rest.

So if you had 30 acres of land to do anything you wanted with what would it be?

You plan on hunting for meat?

Nice house, fully stocked fishing pond, large vegetable garden, possibly raise chickens and pigs... And can't forget the separate building for snakes and rats like muddoc is building... Oh, and a dirt track for dirt bikes and 4-wheelers... :gj:

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

Oh, and a dirt track for dirt bikes and 4-wheelers

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I would do this as well, and probably build a 9 hole golf course so I could always be touching up my game. Other than that, a nice but not too big house. I would say I'd have some cattle but since it typically stays hot and dry here in Texas, it might be a pain raising them if the lack of rain continues.

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Originally Posted by Rob

You plan on hunting for meat?

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Not on my land. I would hunt with family on their land. On my land I would have 4 separate pastures for cows and chickens I would have garden on it. Not sure what else though.

Do you have alot of trees? If so id go through and look for different hardwoods and sell a few to a veneer harvesters. (GOOD money in that) Then Use the profits to build a decent size green house (garden all year round) and snake barn.

Dig a pond if there isnt one already

Raise chickens and let them free roam

Build a flight cage and raise quail (Id go with Coturnix- 16 day incubation, full grown at 5weeks laying eggs at 6, and females lay up to a 100 eggs a year

Get a few Numbian Goats (milk)

Plant a bunch of berry bushes. Peach and apple trees if u can.

Make a shine still:cool:

Set up rain catching drums for ur garden.

Outside of green house grow corn, pumpkins, squash, ect
Inside green house every herb, tomatoes, naval orange tree, strawberries, grapes, stuff like that.

And if you dont know already learn how to make canned food the old fashioned way.

I second learning to preserve and can your self growns. You might be surprised how well stocked you can keep yourself with as little as a 1/2 acre plot and good planning.

My grandparents coincidentally own 30something acres of land in New Bern, NC. I believe only 11 acres are actually cleared out though. There was a smaller house at the front of the property when they bought it but they built a house and a "barn"(garage/workshop) towards the back of the property away from the road. They planted a crapload of different types of trees in between the two houses so its like a nice grove. They sold the small house in the front when they finally moved into the new house in back. They now have a pretty big vegetable garden going and a flower garden all around their house. My grandpa also collected a crapload of acorns while he was up visiting us in connecticut a year ago and now has about 25 oaks growing out behind his "barn". The rest of the cleared property they just mow i guess. Theyre not animal people at all so i cant see them ever raisng any animals lol. If i lived their i would raise chickens, ducks, pigs and probably a few cows or goats (to help eat all the grass lol). Idk if id make their garden any bigger bc as it is its enough work. They now grow corn, varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus, squash, cantalopes (the best cantalopes ive ever eaten, you have no idea how good they are lol), a variety of different berries, and some other stuff im probably forgetting. I would also try growing hot peppers and citrus fruits too if i lived there but idk if thats the right climate for them really. I live in CT now but as soon as i finish college im moving south. Either NC, GA, SC, or FL. Im not exactly sure yet though but i cant wait. I HATE CT and the entire winter season with a passion. Ive only visited NC in july/august and im fine with that heat so the weather the rest of the year should be sooo nice.

skate park full of trannies......no not those kind! pools, bowls, and min ramps.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

My grandparents coincidentally own 30something acres of land in New Bern, NC. I believe only 11 acres are actually cleared out though. There was a smaller house at the front of the property when they bought it but they built a house and a "barn"(garage/workshop) towards the back of the property away from the road. They planted a crapload of different types of trees in between the two houses so its like a nice grove. They sold the small house in the front when they finally moved into the new house in back. They now have a pretty big vegetable garden going and a flower garden all around their house. My grandpa also collected a crapload of acorns while he was up visiting us in connecticut a year ago and now has about 25 oaks growing out behind his "barn". The rest of the cleared property they just mow i guess. Theyre not animal people at all so i cant see them ever raisng any animals lol. If i lived their i would raise chickens, ducks, pigs and probably a few cows or goats (to help eat all the grass lol). Idk if id make their garden any bigger bc as it is its enough work. They now grow corn, varieties of tomatoes, cucumbers, asparagus, squash, cantalopes (the best cantalopes ive ever eaten, you have no idea how good they are lol), a variety of different berries, and some other stuff im probably forgetting. I would also try growing hot peppers and citrus fruits too if i lived there but idk if thats the right climate for them really. I live in CT now but as soon as i finish college im moving south. Either NC, GA, SC, or FL. Im not exactly sure yet though but i cant wait. I HATE CT and the entire winter season with a passion. Ive only visited NC in july/august and im fine with that heat so the weather the rest of the year should be sooo nice.

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NC is a great place to live. I hated the weather up north when I lived there, I was in Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio. Citrus trees wouldn't survive the frost we get here but peach and apple trees do great. I have family not too far from New Bern, in Newport, that have a good bit of land (actually the land I was talking about hunting on) but most of it is wooded for hunting.

I'd become a cackling, raving, lunatic hermit.

I've had a pipe dream like that for years. My dream place would feature:

1) Concrete block house, earth banked on 3 sides. Cuts utility bills and maintenance. Light tubes (nifty things) could be used to keep the inside reasonably bright in the daylight.

2) Much of the gardening via raised beds. You can grow a heck of a lot more per square foot and it's a lot easier on you to pick and weed. For weeding, a good mulch, and even old carpet scraps can be used. Raised beds require less tilling because the ground isn't compacted by your feet, and you can minimize watering and fertilizing. (see rabbits and chickens) Also, as you age, and we all do, it's one heck of a lot easier to plant and harvest.

3) Carefully selected farm animals. A regular full sized cow is overkill for the milk needs of most family, but there are minature breeds. Goats are also a good dairy animal and require far less feed and produce more in line with a family's needs. There are several chicken breeds that are dual purpose--they produce meat and eggs well. Raising beef cattle is a lot of work, but rabbits aren't that bad and they can recycle some garden wastes. Their manure makes good fertilizer too. A big plus with chickens and rabbits is that one person can slaughter them safely and easily. The same cannot be said for a steer. Forget about turkeys. Their main goal in life is to die horribly before you can harvest them. If you want to get into bigger livestock, some heritage breeds of hogs like the mulefoot are good pasture hogs, which reduces the amount of feed you have to buy to produce meat. But you're going to need help to slaughter and butcher them.

4) Carefully selected fruits. Dwarf fruit trees and semi dwarfs bear early and don't grow so large that you can't harvest them easily. Grapes, blackberries, strawberries, (in raised beds) blueberries and the like are easy to harvest. You can preserve them by letting them ferment in a crock then bottling the resultant elixir. Or you can just freeze or can them, which brings about....

5) A large freezer. Ample canning shelves. And if you can swing an outbuilding, a second hand stove outside in that building is a lifesaver--keeps you from having to turn your house into an appoximation of hell in canning season. Canning is terribly hot work.

6) Be very good friends with your neighbors. A few dozen surplus eggs passed their way can reap you melons when yours die, a dressed rabbit might be paid back somehow in the loan of equipment or whatnot. Being a good neighbor always pays off and I don't know how it happens but everyone seems to get back more than they gave.

With 30 good acres, you could have quite a grand little thing going. I'd leave at least part of it as woods. What good is living in the sticks if you can't see 'coons and 'possums and the occasional fox?

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

Nice house, fully stocked fishing pond, large vegetable garden, possibly raise chickens and pigs... And can't forget the separate building for snakes and rats like muddoc is building... Oh, and a dirt track for dirt bikes and 4-wheelers... :gj:

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THIS! LOL. But maybe add some pygmy goats and possible a horse or two :D.

Get a state license to grow Medical MJ...The rest is just details after that :imslow:

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

NC is a great place to live. I hated the weather up north when I lived there, I was in Maryland, West Virginia, and Ohio. Citrus trees wouldn't survive the frost we get here but peach and apple trees do great. I have family not too far from New Bern, in Newport, that have a good bit of land (actually the land I was talking about hunting on) but most of it is wooded for hunting.

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Cool beans. Whens the frost in NC and how cold does it get in winter?
Like i said ive only visited in july an august

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Cool beans. Whens the frost in NC and how cold does it get in winter?
Like i said ive only visited in july an august

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We can get frost from October through April, but normally its from December through Easter. This past winter was extremely mild though with very little frost at all. And no snow where I live. Weather here swings back and forth it can 80 one day and 2 days later low will be in the upper 30s.

hunt....plain and simple

LoL... I love some of the answers here! To chime in....

I'd clear and fence in about 8 acres, build a small 4-stall barn, and bring my 2 horses home.

Fence in another 5 acres near our custom-built home for my German Shepherds so they can run. And run and run and run.... :P

Build a nice insulated and heated pole building with lots of racks and cages for my herps.

The rest would remain natural with trails lacing through for horse-back riding. :gj:

I'd probably go broke trying to pay property taxes... but if I had unlimited funds for my 30 acres, I'd love to have horses and more poultry of sorts. Definitely a big area for the dog to run around, and I would love to have a huge koi pond, garden, and some easy to maintain crops.

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

We can get frost from October through April, but normally its from December through Easter. This past winter was extremely mild though with very little frost at all. And no snow where I live. Weather here swings back and forth it can 80 one day and 2 days later low will be in the upper 30s.

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Looks like im gunna have to go further south than NC then :O

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Originally Posted by Evenstar

LoL... I love some of the answers here! To chime in....

I'd clear and fence in about 8 acres, build a small 4-stall barn, and bring my 2 horses home.

Fence in another 5 acres near our custom-built home for my German Shepherds so they can run. And run and run and run.... :P

Build a nice insulated and heated pole building with lots of racks and cages for my herps.

The rest would remain natural with trails lacing through for horse-back riding. :gj:

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How many GSD's do you have? O.o
Mine is gunna be 13y/o this mothers day. Shes an old lady haha

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Originally Posted by Slim

Get a state license to grow Medical MJ...The rest is just details after that :imslow:

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Hahaha! :rofl: You sir, are my hero. I always enjoy your posts. :gj:

I'm straight edge these days, but I fully support the legalization of pot for both medical and responsible recreational use. I'd love to be able to grow it just so I could smell it and be around it. I love that smell. It would bring me back to a simpler time in my life when I didn't have a care in the world. Ahh... To be a teenager again...

Redneck Crow and InkNSteel pretty much nailed it. Gotta have a stocked fishing pond, raised garden, an underground cellar for storage and a bunch of trees. Basically we want the ability to be self reliant. Someday we hope to have this all too. It will be in north central Wyoming, tucked in close to the Big Horn Mountains.

We want to build our cabin ourselves too. How satisfying would that be? Here is a general idea of what we want only with a wrap around porch, less pitch to the roof that covers the wrap around porch and slightly darker logs. "It will be mine... Oh yes, it WILL be mine..."
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...st/merrell.jpg

I would plant a forest around my house. Then I'd have privacy and some peace and quiet.

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Originally Posted by spitzu

I would plant a forest around my house. Then I'd have privacy and some peace and quiet.

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Gotta have privacy. Trees or a backdrop of some kind is a MUST! It drives me mad when I see these beautiful new homes in the middle of an open field and not a tree in sight. The only exception to this might be if you lived in the middle of the high desert in Wyoming or similar, in which case the remoteness is your privacy.

I have another idea to add too. Id build the most epic system of underground tunnels and rooms. Like a system so complex it makes the Viet Cong look bad. That way when the world ends in december 2012 ill survive Fallout style!

To go along with the tunnels, a big store of food and water, and a fast flowing creek, for a water generator to have electricity.