Sunday, August 14, 2011

We have the land, now what?

The land has been purchased. I like to say we purchased it sight unseen because the grass was 7ft tall and we could not get a good lay of the land, but we got it for a good price. The first thing I wanted to do being first time property owners was have a picnic on it; after all, it was ours. The very next thing was to cut the grass/weeds/bushes, but I needed to borrow my mother in laws tractor to accomplish this. It took one day to mow most of it, but there was about an acre that has yet to be mowed because that seemed to be someones dumping ground for steel pipe for fencing. We love the land, it is flat, and the barn seems to have good bones although I think it needs new tin.

The next thing to do was to plan out where to put the house. After sleepless nights of thinking what to do with the land and the layout, I came up with this idea.

Build the pool house first, which we refer to as Tiny Home, and live in it for a year while paying off the land and saving our money from the rent we were paying to have a large down payment for dream home. I researched the idea and plans for a tiny home and came across a whole culture that make permanent residence year round in these homes. Our home will not be as tiny as some. It will be a 396 sq.ft. home, but others I found online are living in ~100 sq.ft.. We do have two children and I don't see 100 sq. ft. possible. Did I mention two dogs, one of which is a great dane. We will make this work and there should be some good stories to come from living like this. The children aren't too fond of it, but they will survive.

I plan on building Tiny Home myself. I have the skills and knowledge to do this even though I am a white collar worker. I will document the progress as I go so others can learn mostly what not to do. The dream home will be contracted out, I simply do not have the time to be a contractor.

Plans for the land consist of a garden (approx 1/2 acre), a cow, two pigs, egg laying chickens, and broiler chickens. All of this will be raised to eat and not be pets. My son wants a sheep as a pet and I am fine with that. I plan on being able to self-sustain ourselves as much as possible, all while raising the livestock as close to organic as I can.

I am open to all suggestions and concerns anyone might have. It is never too late to learn.


2 comments:

  1. Love the story and your ambition... I will follow your blog.
    I am thinking that during the tiny home stage the dogs (and I am a big dog person) may want to stretch their legs a bit and enjoy the great outdoors...
    Look forward to reading on...
    ~Alan G.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Alan. Those kind words mean a lot to me.

    Unfortunately the big dog is climatized and is terrified of the outside world. :/

    ReplyDelete