With less than 6 months before I close on my new 10 acre farm, my mind has been swimming with a million ideas and questions and potential problems that need to be addressed.
As I shared in a recent post, the farm is going to be a wonderful starting point for a semi self sufficient homestead. However, it is not a homestead yet. It has a house and two barns, but almost no other infrastructure that will support the rest of my goals, which heavily focus on the growing and preserving of food.
Having dreamed of this my whole life, I am chomping at the bit to hit the ground running. In order to do that, I need to use the next 6 months (and beyond) as thoughtfully and productively as possible.
Here’s the system I’m using to get organized:
- Step 1: Brainstorm. I’m writing down all of the questions and ideas; no detail is too small.
- Step 2: Estimate Costs. I’m assigning each task/idea a dollar value. For some, this is an extremely rough estimate – everything is subject to change as I learn more.
- Step 3: Prioritize. I’m using phases to organize tasks based on immediacy of action. What needs to happen after closing so that I can move in? What should be the first things I do after moving in? What goals do I need to save up for before I can achieve them?
Steps 1 and 2 are done and documented here: “What exactly is included in my farm purchase?” (Disclaimer: this document is in flux – it’s likely that new ideas and costs will be added as I continue to learn more.)
That means it’s time to organize my line items into phases based on immediacy of action.
Phase 1: After Closing, But Before Moving In
The goal of Phase 1 is essentially to get ‘move-in ready’. Estimated timeframe: 1-2 weeks in late June/early July.
Tasks:
- Indoor Cosmetic Updates
- Scrape popcorn ceilings ($0 DIY)
- Paint ($8,000 DIY)
- Place orders for furniture (assuming delayed delivery)
- Better TV for living room ($600)
- Couch for living room ($5,000)
- Kitchen Table ($6,000)
Phase 2: July & August
I’m a teacher, so my free time really dwindles once I head back to work. Phase 2 seeks to get as much done as possible before the school year begins.
Tasks:
- Move in and unpack
- Garden beds: Place down cardboard and/or bricks as placeholders in possible garden bed locations, and see how they feel. Once I’m sure of their locations, I can start building beds and layering in materials according to the lasagna method.
- Plant asparagus: ($40) Since asparagus takes at least 3 years to be ready for harvest, I want to make sure I plant it as soon as possible! Luckily, asparagus can be planted at any time during the spring or summer.
- Auto-waterer for horse: ($700) Something I haven’t discussed in detail yet is that there will be a horse on the property that I am buying. I’ll talk more about this someday, but in the meantime, this line item is high on the list because I don’t want to worry about the horse’s water availability when I’m at work, and I won’t want to haul buckets at 5am in the winter. I will be outsourcing this task.
- Solar panels: ($16,000) I am prioritizing this big ticket item in Phase 2 because becoming relatively self sufficient on power is a huge milestone when it comes to being self reliant. While I’ll still be connected to the grid, this investment will return in spades for years to come; electric bills are notoriously high in my area of Connecticut.
- Split firewood: As I write this in January of 2025, it’s 13°F outside and the wind is smashing tree branches into the siding of my apartment building. It’s surreal to know that one year from now, I will be forging through the winter with the comfort of a wood stove. Splitting firewood is one of my favorite activities, but only in small doses – so I’ll start stacking wood as soon as I can, and avoid a mad dash at the end of autumn.
Phase 3: Fall (September, October, November)
By the end of Phase 2, I should be pretty set up for basic day-to-day life on the farm – and my daily time for farm chores will be limited, because I’ll be back at work.
- Finalize and improve garden beds: My spring crops will have the best chance at success if I have the beds ready to go by the time the ground fully freezes. In Phase 3, I will reassess to make sure I have a sufficient amount of growing space (knowing full well that I will probably expand in the future). In order to ensure the best possible growing conditions in the spring, I will top dress the existing beds with composted horse manure, coffee grounds, and leaf litter. I may need to consider installing fencing around certain plots to reduce crop loss.
- Plant garlic: Hopefully one or two of my beds will be prepared enough to host my garlic plot for the winter! Planting garlic is easy, and I make a killer dill pickle – I plan to grow enough garlic to cover my pickle production in the following summer.
- Compost system: I will have some temporary compost piles for both horse manure and food scraps, but by the fall I hope to have a better idea of where these piles should go on a permanent basis. For food scrap compost, I hope to build a pallet compost bin – similar to this – to make it easier to manage and maintain. Unfortunately, I have a history of throwing stuff in the compost bin and then never turning it, so it takes forever to become useable. A little maintenance makes the composting process much easier!
- Wood pile: I will continue to split wood to add to the wood pile. I ultimately should have three piles: a few hours’ worth inside the house, a few days’ worth right outside the door, and a few months’ worth in a permanent wood pile somewhere on the property – location TBD. It honestly might make the most sense to keep it in the big barn, to keep it dry. I hope to build a woodshed someday, but that’s a Phase 11 situation. (Everything that’s a “someday, someday maybe” task goes in the Phase 11 category, haha.)
- Chimney sweep: I’m going to be burning a lot of wood over the winter. Much of that wood will be pine, which generates a lot of creosote. Getting my chimney swept at least once a year will be imperative to reduce fire risk.
Phase 4: Winter (December, January, February)
Winter in New England demands a period of rest – if you go outside, you risk losing an earlobe to the biting cold. This will be a good time to chip away at indoor tasks, while using the occasional mild days to get done what I can outside.
Tasks:
- Wood pile: Always!
- Food Storage: Plan and build a food storage area in the basement to prepare for the upcoming harvest season. This will accommodate jars as well as cold storage for root vegetables and squash.
- Renovation Plans & Quotes: This is a large task with many aspects. I know that I want to install bookshelves for a home library, some combination of shelves and workbenches for a craft room (slash guest bedroom) upstairs, and a kitchen island. I likely will also want to update two of the bathrooms, and who knows what other ideas will come to mind after 6 months of living on the property! I will need to do another round of prioritization and budgeting when it’s more clear which renovation projects will feel the most important for the space.
- Air Conditioning Research: ($8,000) This house does not have central air conditioning, but it does come with window units. The window units will hold me over, but I would prefer a more permanent solution. I suspect that getting a mini split system installed in the winter might be cheaper due to lower demand, but I don’t know for sure. I want to at least research this and get some quotes during my first winter on the property.
But first… Phase 0 (right now!)
Can you tell that I’m the kind of person who overanalyzes things?
Having this kind of segmented plan helps me to feel in control of the great deal of work that lays ahead of me.
However, many of the tasks listed here take a lot of research and knowledge in order to be implemented successfully. Phase 0 could easily be summed up as “research everything on this list!”
Naturally, that’s not a SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goal, so I’ve decided to operate on a month by month basis. As such, this month I’m working on 6 things:
- Research Fruit Trees
- Research Major Purchases (Solar, UTV)
- Plan Gardens Using Satellite Imagery
- Saving Money By Shopping the Pantry
- Cleaning Out the Apartment (and Garage)
- Refine My Home Design Taste With a Pinterest Vision Board
I’ve really been going back and forth on whether I should buy a utility vehicle in Phase 2 or if I should wait longer. The UTV would be useful for hauling manure, hauling firewood, and ‘commuting’ the half a mile to my family’s farm next door. At the same time, it would be a very expensive luxury purchase that isn’t expressly necessary:
- I can haul manure with a wheelbarrow (it’s only one horse)
- I can borrow my family’s John Deere Gator to haul firewood (this still requires the gator because most of the wood will be coming from their back lot – not very accessible by my car and not manageable with a wheelbarrow or wagon)
- I can ‘commute’ by foot, car, or even bike in the interim. While my dog loves to ride in a UTV, I’m sure she would be just as happy to ride in a pull cart.
What would you do? Should I prioritize the UTV in Phase 2, or put it on the backburner?
Talk soon,
KC
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