Next week, I will buy a farm.

I’m buying a farm next week.

Two weeks from now, at this very moment, I will be a farm owner.

There’s no amount of saying (or typing) it that makes it feel true. And yet.

I’ve said before that I’m taking a step back from ‘over-preparing’; the reality is, homeownership and farm life both require the flexibility to deal with the most pressing tasks in a given moment, and a true farmer knows that the list of pressing tasks is in a constant state of flux. (I know this especially because on Sunday I briefly put all else aside to help my family receive their annual hay delivery of 350 bales.)

The jobs will get done when they get done, and there is no way that I can fully optimize the transformation of a house on 10 acres to a bustling, prolific semi-self sufficient homestead.

That being said, I am who I am. I keep making lists in my head; some of them end up in my iPhone, others are scribbled on post-its, and even more are stated out loud to anybody who’s listening – “Don’t let me forget…”

So, here’s my attempt to be at least somewhat organized, with full acceptance that almost none of this is set in stone:

Week 1 of Farm Ownership: To-Do List

Change the locks
Change the toilet seats
- I’ve read that you should do this – but I’m worried about finding the right size and shape of toilet seat? And I do plan to redo all bathrooms in the relatively near future. We’ll see how I end up going about this.
Clean EVERYTHING, top to bottom. In order: kitchen and bathrooms first, and then each room as it is painted.
Learn to scrape popcorn ceilings. Start in a closet to get the technique, then tackle the main bedroom.
- Accept that other rooms will be done later, after furniture is delivered – and that’s okay. I was previously hoping to get it ALL done, but the timeframe ended up being too tight even for the professionals.
Paint bedroom and living room
- I figure that these are the two rooms I can have relatively complete by the time furniture arrives; the other rooms will be tackled as time allows.
Call the furniture company to receive delivery of my custom couch
- It’s been ready for a couple of weeks. This is something I splurged on, but I know I will be so happy with it.
Receive delivery of the lawn tractor
- I went with an updated version of the John Deere I grew up with; I think it will be perfect for the space. The grass grows very quickly this time of year, so I have no doubt that I will need to mow right away!
Start moving key belongings
- The movers are only moving the furniture; everything else has been packed and stored in my family’s basement, which is luckily right next door to my new property.
- Since I won’t be updating the kitchen until later on, it makes sense to move and unpack kitchen stuff so I can eat and make coffee.
- There’s also plenty of space in the basement workshop, so I also plan to move and unpack my dad’s tools early on. Some of these have been packed since we sold my childhood home eight years ago. I want to make sure I can create a full picture of what I own before I start buying tools for various projects.
Explore the land. Walk it, enjoy it. I haven’t seen the landscaping since wintertime, so there is a lot to see and discover. I can also begin to finalize fruit tree placement.

Pre-Purchase Errands (Week 0 of Farm Ownership)

Luckily, I have a few days off from work before closing day, so I hope to use that time to set myself up for success:

Buy painting supplies
- My adopted mom has a long history of competently painting her homes. She won’t be able to help me much with the actual painting as she will be recovering from knee surgery, but before her surgery we plan to pick up some supplies to get me started.
Buy paint samples
- I picked out colors several months ago, but there are minor shade variations I’d like to try. I’d like to put up samples as early as closing day so that I can see them in various lights. By the time I’m done scraping ceilings and cleaning, I’ll have made a final decision.
Finish packing and moving
- I am almost there! I have a few kitchen boxes, houseplants, my computer, and some miscellaneous garage items left to move.
Get my security deposit back by cleaning my apartment and patching nail holes in the walls. Thankfully, my apartment is still in great shape, so this will be a pretty basic job.
Buy cleaning supplies
- While I try to keep a low-waste, simple cleaning routine for day to day life, moving into a new house is a whole different scenario. I haven’t purchased paper towels in years, but this might be the time – along with cleaning solutions and supplies like toilet brushes, a mop, etc.
Buy mowing supplies
- A gas can, gas, and ear protection

This is going to be the best summer of my life. Gardening at my family’s farm, setting up my own gardens, customizing my house to be exactly what I’ve been dreaming of…

Can you think of anything I should add to my Week 0 and/or Week 1 to-do lists? Send me a message on any of my socials – I’d love your advice!

The next time we talk, I’ll own a farm. Crazy!