Setting Up a Homestead
(Page 3 of 4)
March/April 1970
By the Mother Earth News editors
For example, suppose you want only an acre place in the country where you can have a lovely home, a garden, some dwarf fruit trees, and maybe some chickens. An acre is more than enough room; an acre, remember, is 209 feet by 209 feet. The portion of the ideal layout shown in the lower left-hand corner of this page is just over an acre. You'll notice that this "basic acre" includes a large house, an orchard of standard trees, barn and barnyard, a good-sized garden, flower gardens, lawns, driveways, and even some pasture and hayfield. The pasture and hayfield are not shown complete - the wavy line at the top of the cut indicates that these are only partially shown.
RELATED CONTENT
Shown below is a suggested layout for a 4 acre homestead. To the original 2 acre house plot, 2 additional acres are attached to rear. These 4 acres of good land would not only provide the family vegetables, fruit and berries but more than enough pasture and hay for two or three milk goats or pasture for a cow and a good part of a cow's hay requirements. There is also room for a pig or two plus other livestock.
On the front cover is a suggested layout for a 2 acre homestead, and on page 28 is shown a suggested layout for a half-acre.
We emphasize that these are only suggested layouts. Each family will have its own ideas on just how to manage their own particular place.
A Larger Place?
If you wanted a larger place, a part-time farm where you could, if necessary, grow 75% of the family's food, then you'd want more pasture space and hayfield. But the basic acre is still an excellent layout.
Then again, if you wanted to carry on a business at home, the office and "shop" to the left of the living room could be built. Naturally, this could be as small or as large as needed for your business.
If you want a commercial farm, then this same homestead acre is a good layout. You'd still want a kitchen garden for home use even if you were growing tobacco, or flowers, or fruit; if you were running a commercial dairy or a poultry business then you'd drop your goats or cow out of the small barn, but might well have the rest of the items. Naturally, on a commercial farm you'd add to the basic acre as much land as you needed.
As a place to retire you might want an acre, or enough for a part-time farm.
Basic Acre Most Important
You can see that this basic acre is the key to a productive country home. Even though the house may not suit you, or the exact location of the items may be impossible to achieve, due to the fact that you are remodelling an existing place, or even because you want your place laid out differently, I think you'll find that this "ideal layout" makes a good point of departure. It does indicate basic principles that ought to be kept in mind.
