Growing up, I always felt the pull toward nature. I never fit the “perfect mold” of what a little girl should be thinking of – dolls, makeup, boys. I dreamt of going out into nature and foraging, hunting, surviving, and making it on my own. I still have those big dreams, but maybe not as extreme. I will be the first to admit – I love a warm shower and my own bed to sleep in. But my feelings about nature have only grown stronger.
Just over a year ago, my husband and I decided to buy some land with the hopes to get out of suburbia and start our own homestead. To know me, you have to understand patience is not my best virtue. My husband will tell you; I talk about our property and what we should do with it more than once daily. That being said, I will tell you there is value to waiting. When allowing time to pass and giving the property its “newness” to wear off, you can really see what is valuable and how to best utilize your space.
What I have learned about patience does come from past experience. I was patient going through six years of higher education before I finally landed a dream job and started making money and a name for myself. I was patient after nine years of dating, and two years of being engaged to finally marry my high school sweet heart. What really tested by patience was taking almost two years to remodel our current house from the studs up and finally move in.
Famous 18th century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau once said, “Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” If you have ever grown edible plants or fruit, or even tried to brew your own wine, beer or kombucha, you understand that what you do on the first day in all of your excitement for a finished product, can take weeks and months before you get to enjoy your labors. The same goes when establishing a homestead. I would like to give you some advice I feel helped us develop our land so that you may be able to do the same.
First things first, get a map and walk your boundary lines. This is important to see how big your property really is, and how close you may be to neighboring properties. It is never a bad idea to mark your lines with steaks, or paint on nearby trees. Keep in mind that “Posted” signs may come off as aggressive to your neighboring properties, especially if you have family dwellings near you.
Second important step is to meet the neighbors. See who lives near you. This will give you a sense of what they may or may not appreciate you do on your property. It also gives you a sense of any kids, or animals that could potentially wander on to your property which could pose safety concerns, especially if you shoot, hunt, trap, etc. Neighbors can also give you insight on the area, and the ‘unwritten rules’ that may be mutually agreed upon by those neighbors. And who knows, if you hunt, it could give you access to more land if your neighbor approves!
Next step is my favorite. I love, love, love lists. I have always done better writing my thoughts out on paper. I love lists so much that my lists have lists! There are multiple lists than can be made prior to doing anything to your property. The first list and question you should ask yourself is, what do you want to get out of your property? This could mean you want it only for hunting, fishing, foraging, and farming. Or, you may want to raise livestock, build a home, or put in more recreational things like a shooting/archery range, trails, sport courts etc. If you are like me, you may want a little bit of all of that! Once you know what you want to put on your property, then your next list should be how you get those things on your property. Do you need to call in expert help to mark for building purposes, or call up your buddies that owe you favors to put some blood, sweat and beers into clearing your property? Having a list will help you clearly define what you want, and how to get it.
This next piece of advice is more for those who live in an area where you go through more than once season. Located in the northeastern United States, our property gets to see summer, fall, winter and spring. After one year of seeing how weather affects the areas on our property, we have a better idea where to put our house, driveway and barn. We also got to see where our wet spots are for planting purposes of our apple, berry and grape orchards. Visibility of our neighbors’ houses when there are no leaves on the trees also helped determined where we want to build our home. This past year has been the most valuable to confirming and even changing some of our original plans for our property.
I think the most valuable and beneficial part to having patience before building or starting projects is that you can also have time to save your money for any changes or unexpected costs that may arise. There is nothing worse than starting a project and not being able to finish it due to insufficient funds, or worse, having to settle for something you did not want just because you did not have the money to buy what you really wanted.
In a world that demands speed and immediate gratification, remember why you bought your piece of land – to get away from the everyday grind. So, I encourage you to hurry up and slow down. Enjoy the process, and allow your property to show you it’s hidden benefits. It may be the ultra-quiet spot to put a hammock for reading your favorite book, or the perfect fertile ground to plant your garden, or that spectacular view overlooking a field at sunset that seems to illuminate and consume the gentle flowing grass ablaze. Humans are too good at consuming wilderness, so, be thankful that you can allow your little slice of wilderness consume you.
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