6 Things I’m Doing 6 Months From Buying My Dream Farm

1. Research Fruit Trees
2. Research Major Purchases (Solar, UTV)
3. Plan Gardens Using Satellite Imagery
4. Saving Money By Shopping the Pantry
5. Cleaning Out the Apartment (and Garage)
6. Refine My Home Design Taste With a Pinterest Vision Board

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In just under 6 months, I will receive the keys to a 10 acre farm – a blank slate on which I can build my dream semi self sufficient homestead 🙂

Because this is an off market sale, I was able to work with the sellers to find a closing date that worked best for both of us. The date we chose is in July. This means I am blessed with the gift of time.

I am trying to make sure I use my 6 months of lead time to prepare as thoughtfully and productively as possible. This will allow me to hit the ground running on the day I receive the keys.

Here are 6 things I’m doing right now to start getting ready to build my semi self sufficient homestead!

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1. Research Fruit Trees

“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Chinese proverb

My dad had me gardening from the very moment I had enough grip strength to grasp and pull a weed, but tending fruit trees is entirely new to me. However, I love eating fruit, and I also love preserving fruit by making jams and baking, so planting an orchard on my homestead is a no-brainer.

It’s too early to determine where exactly on the property it makes sense for me to plant my orchard, but it’s not too early to start learning about the process and determining which varieties will be the best choice for my growing region (Connecticut, Zone 6b).

Here are some resources I’m using to learn about growing fruit trees in Connecticut:

• The University of Connecticut’s Home & Garden Education Center has a lot of great resources, including this article
• The Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station has a great pruning and maintenance calendar
• Stark Brothers Nursery provides some guidance on specific varieties that might be suitable for Connecticut’s climate
• YouTube naturally has TONS of resources on how to plant and maintain fruit trees

Do you recommend any specific resources for an orchard beginner? Let me know!

2. Research Major Purchases

There are tools that may fundamentally improve the day-to-day process of running a semi self sufficient homestead. I recently shared my brainstormed list of tasks and items that I will need to achieve and/or purchase in order to fully achieve my goals. I am still working to prioritize what should come first, and what can wait.

Two major purchases have risen to the top of the priority list are solar panels and a utility vehicle (such as a John Deere Gator or Kubota).

Both of these items will cost a significant chunk of money, but will have a positive effect on my ability to run the farm. In addition to their high cost, both projects also have a variety of options to choose from.

For both solar panels and the possible acquisition of a utility vehicle, I am performing research including the following tasks:

• Research options (John Deere vs. Kubota vs. Polaris; different local solar companies)
• Create pro-con lists to compare features versus detractors
• Contact local providers to request quotes
• Request advice from current users of each option to hear about their experiences – via local social media groups, Reddit, TikTok, and reading blog posts/reviews

… which reminds me:

Do you have any opinions regarding small utility vehicles?

It needs to have a dump bed and 4 wheel drive… but other than that, I’m open to any suggestions! I plan to use it for hauling manure, compost, and firewood, as well as simple navigation between my farm and my family’s farm next door. They have a John Deere Gator and it’s been great, but it’s a pain to get it serviced and lately it’s had a lot of trouble starting when it’s very cold out (which is a given in New England winters).

3. Plan Gardens Using Satellite Imagery

By closing day, it will be too late to have a substantial garden for 2025. However, in order to increase my chances of having a small 2025 fall garden and be fully prepared for the 2026 growing season, I will need to start creating garden beds and growing space ASAP.

While I will need to be living on the land to truly know which spaces will be best for gardening, I can use my current knowledge of the property combined with satellite imagery to plan some possible gardening layouts. Having a Plan A, B, and C (and maybe D… E…) ready to go will allow me to take action as soon as possible.

Because most of my likely growing space is currently grass, I will likely set up raised beds and use readily available objects, including cardboard and tree branches, to start the first layer using the lasagna garden bed method.

I will also have plenty of aged horse manure as compost from my family’s next door farm.

The sooner I can lay down the cardboard and other materials, the more they can begin to break down to help form really high quality soil.

Current status (very unfinished): blue is likely orchard space, and white is possible garden bed locations. I’ll have to do more configuring to determine what organization of garden bed will look polished and organized, since most options are directly outside my front windows.

4. Saving Money By Shopping the Pantry

I have already set aside the down payment, closing costs, and additional money to meet all of the financial requirements to buy this property. However, any extra money I can make or save in the next 6 months (and beyond) will allow me to accomplish more of my semi self sufficient goals sooner.

I have lived in my apartment for nearly four years, and there are dry goods in my pantry that are just as old! By focusing on using up some of these items, I can bring down my current grocery bill while also reducing the amount that I have to either throw away or move come July.

For example, I have a Costco bag of quinoa that has been sitting in my pantry since I moved in. On November 18th, when I learned that the sellers were finally interested in selling me their farm, I cooked my first quinoa-focused meal. In the two months since, I have eaten quinoa at least three times a week. I sometimes feel like the bag is endless, but in the meantime I haven’t purchased any grains from the grocery store – and I can finally see the light at the end of the quinoa tunnel.

I’ve also been much more cognizant of food waste. I like to make my own sandwich bread (which saves me like $5 a loaf), but I recently accidentally underbaked a loaf and found a raw spot in the middle. Instead of throwing it out, I diced it, tossed the raw spots, and made croutons (which also let me use up some old spices). They came out delicious!

5. Clean Out The Apartment (and Garage)

Moving is no fun. Since 2018, I have moved three times between four places, and two of those moves were cross-country. The moving process has weeded my possessions down to a reasonable amount, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t acquired some unnecessary items over the past few years.

If I’m going to have to move all of my worldly belongings in July, the least I can do is make sure I’m only moving the things I actually want and like.

I actually had a fairly successful eBay business for many years, so luckily I know how to turn unwanted items into a bit of extra money – which again, just means I can achieve some of my goals sooner.

As such, I’ve been chipping away one room at a time, listing a few items on eBay and dropping others off at a local charity.

In my garage, I had a couple of good finds: a KitchenAid Mixer that I had picked up off the side of the road during bulk pickup (it works, just needs a little TLC), and a bunch of aluminum cans that I had stashed and forgot to return. This is a bottle return state, so I’ll get $0.10 for each can I return. So that’ll get me, like, $5 tops… but again, every dollar counts.

6. Refine My Home Design Taste with a Pinterest Vision Board

This is the first time in my whole life that I will get to design a space that is truly my own! I couldn’t be more excited, and my head is swimming with ideas. I have plenty of time before I need to decide on paint colors and style, but in the meantime I’m getting all the inspiration I can find on Pinterest and saving the pins that I like the most. I’ll share more about my design dreams once I’ve refined my vision a little more. 🙂

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After years and years of dreaming and planning, it feels entirely surreal to be this close to achieving my goals.

The amount of work ahead of me is overwhelming, especially because I’m doing it on my own, but taking little actions every day to get organized is the key to achieving this and maintaining my sanity.

If you were 6 months out from acquiring your homestead, how would you use the time? Let me know; I’ll take all the advice I can get!

Talk soon,

KC