A basement or Storm Shelter of some type is probably worth the expense in Kansas. They seem to have more than their share of tornados.

 

I agree with you 30K for a basement is ?. Here in Oklahoma and probably also in Kansas, a whole lot of folks have planted a hidey hole somewhere on their property. Comes in handy with food storage along with shelter from the tornados. The wife and I hit ours a couple of times last week when radar was showing twisters within 2 miles. I love basements but hate the $ needed.
Solar is a good idea but I, if it were my house would add a wood stove. You mentioned you have timber so there's the fuel if needed.
Wife and I have 5 acres that we got last year, enough for us to do what we want. Have the ability to have chickens, goats, etc along with a pond for fish.
Sounds like you have it planned out in my opinion.
I vote to keep the trees unless really need the land.

 

3 acres is enough if you do it right. I agree with keeping the trees. I would farm them as a renewable fuel source for a wood stove.

 

I found this article helpful

http://www.motherearthnews.com/home...esteading-and-livestock/self-reliance/self-sufficient-homestead-zm0z11zkon.aspx

 

If you are in kansas invest a little more in your house to make it stronger. You still need the hidey hole for strong tornados. The newer frame houses here have threaded steel rod going from the footers through top plates of the frame and everything is strapped together for the root and frame. Meant to take 160 mph winds from hurricanes. Tornadoes can exceed that.
I think if you have water and do everything else right you all can grow a lot of food on your three acres.

 

"Good fences make good neighbors" - Robert Frost

I have ongoing issues with mine seeing the yard as a personal playground, with a subdivision one right down the street.

Cover crops, to start, are a great idea. Have you done a soil test? Mine had unusual fertility (I found out later they raised pitbulls out back for 10 years), and just needed some potassium and magnesium.

My soil sample looked a lot like a bowel movement. I was pretty embarrassed with it at the Post Office! LOL

 

Haven't done a soil test yet, but I need to.

 

The wife and I have recently acquired 3 acres of land in an unincoorperated town. About 6 or 7 people live in this little area otherwise there is nothing in the area for several miles. There is an old trailer which is being demolished and moved and it is setup for rural water, propane hookups and a tank, and elec.
Congrats
We are going to move out here and put a house on the land and I am hoping to make the most of this little area. I would like to have more land but for now this should work. The land is mostly open with one small area (1/2 acre) that has some dense tree growth. There is a neighbor directly at the edge of the property on one side with about 3 acres, a field to another, and a grove of trees blocking another field on the other side. The front of the proper faces the dirt road which is about a 1/4 mile away.
Is the property cross fenced and surveyed with the boundary well marked?

I am looking for advice since I have the opportunity to start with just the land. I plan on getting a well, acquiring mineral rights, and setting up our future house for solar. A small fish pond would be good to have, plant fruit trees etc.

We haven't decided if our house would be better off with a basement or if we should just have some sort of shallow underground shelter/storage area. At $30k for a basement I just don't know if it's worth it. Is a wood stove necessary if I have solar backup? Should we construct our own greenhouse or are there good kits out there of good quality? Kansas doesn't have much in the way of trees and I enjoy having some on this land, but have been told I should just cut them down to make room for other things. Not really sure if the trees are all that beneficial or in the way if I'm honest.Is there something I'm forgetting?I'd go for the basement, use it for a Rec room/shelter/storage. Wood stove is a necessity in the country for heat/cooking when all else fails. A Greenhouse kit may be easier to build if your not into construction, I don't like trees that can't feed me unless I use them for shade

We were hoping to have a few chickens, maybe a goat, and about 1.5 acres of garden which will include a green house. We are also going to plant fruit trees. This should leave about an acre of 'yard' for the kids and general use. Until we move out there, I plan on growing cover crops and letting the neighbor know he can no longer use this land as his own personal garden which apparently he doesn't think is a problem:xeye:
You need to talk with the neighbor and explain what your proposing to do with the land, that's one reason I asked about fences and if the property is well marked.
I had issues with our neighbor years ago when they tore down an existing fence to build a pool, they rebuilt their fence 14' inside our property. The neighbors said they thought it was an easement that we shared, we had to have the land surveyed to prove it wasn't a easement. Anyhow they were PO for years and wouldn't even wave, so be careful how you handle it.

Is this enough land to live off of and does anybody have any suggestions on how to make the most of this little piece of land? We feel a bit overwhelmed because we didn't expect to have to make these decisions for a couple of more years nor did we anticipate having to buy a house on top of it.

Plenty of land if you plan well, plant your nuts/fruit trees a.s.a.p. and once again Congratulation on your purchase.

 

The land, though not fenced by property line, is by default marked with his fence for his horses at the edge of the property. I just need to find a tactful way to talk to him.

Is this amount of land really big enough for some fish?

 

My off-the-cuff opinion is that you can do it IF you can grow the right kind of stuff - high protein foods like beans or nuts.

A goat might be able to feed itself in a half acre of forest in the spring/summer/fall. My goats have lived off the forest for a while, but not in winter. They like leafy greens, tree bark and tree leaves and evergreen needles. Keep them away from the fruit trees.

But goats are very social animals and it might be cruel to only get one. They need a friend to play with and to sleep with.

If you have more grass than leafy weeds and young trees (goat food), you might think about sheep.

Chickens are a given. If you fence in the whole acreage, and also the garden, they can free range the whole lot. But use tall fence, they can fly over a 4 foot fence. Or you can clip their wings.

 

Only need to clip the flight feathers on one wing. A spooked chicken can get some lift from equally clipped wings.

 

Congratulations.

Kansas = TORNADOS!

Put in a basement or at the very least some kind of easily accessible UNDERGROUND storm shelter.

 

used to live in salina kansas ,, and midwest city oklahoma ,, seen my share of tornadoes and have decided i would rather deal with snow , than those things ,, i can attest that in my time , the only time i thought i could be a goner ,was in tornado alley , lived in outskirts of la ,and in turkey in the 60 's , {cuban missile crises } ,to young and dumb to be scared ,lol build a strong underground stocked shelter ,ASAP

 

Just to clarify, there will be some sort of underground shelter/storage area. We just aren't sure whether it will be a basement, storm shelter, or other at this point. I've been thinking I may use a shipping container that is reinforced and buried shallow but the decision still up in the air.

 

For anything like a hatch covered hidey hole that make sure you store water, tools like hammers and pry bars, and some way to communicate to the outside. The hatch to such places can be buried under debris trapping you.

 

All the above advice but consider rainwater collection and use.

 

If you get a woodstove, wood is not expensive. The tree trimming companies sell it for a second source of money, and if that does not get rid of it quickly enough they will give it away. Though generally they sell it. I never begrudged them the money, as they have the labor of cutting it to a reasonable size and stacking it.

 

Good point barnetmill

 

Acquiring mineral rights might be VERY expensive if there is mineral activity in the area.

Intensive management and you can grow a lot of stuff on 3 acres, including small animals. Having a neighbor that is impossible to communicate with, I would be very careful how you approach the neighbor. It isn't much fun to have someone perpetually PO'd at you. Good luck.

 

Best time to fence is right after you buy. They surveyors stakes and boundary markers should still be in place and visible. Leaves not doubt as to where the line is. You should maintain the boundary marker stakes in some way. I wish I had done that originally.

 

3 acres is decent you can do alot with three acres.

I recomend getting a earthy seeder or some brand of mechamichal seeder to make seeding a large garden easier.
also look into a planet jr wheel hoe with cultivators sweeps and plows makes weeding and the like real easy as well. You can also get the seeder and have one stop shop for seeder and wheel hoe.
mine are over 100 years old and going strong.

Also do a soil test first see if any amendments meed be made and call your agricultural extension office as to what grows well in your area
plant your fruit trees and shrubs now because it takes a few years to get fruit.

You can also make a living fence on the side with your neighbor plant a hedge row of something prickly like bitter oranges or if you don't mind them taking some blueberries one mature blueberry bush wil produce around 90 dollars in fruit anuallyso not bad for a 1 to 4 dollar per bush investment.

Also I recomend laying things out very well as it increases the visual appeal of your property should you ever sell it.

 

With using many new small farming techniques you can produce much more food than I previously thought.

Another thing to consider about a basement is that it stays relatively the same temperature year round. The earth makes for a very efficient and affordable insulator as well as provides very affordable ballistic protection. Think Hesco bastions.

I used to have a basement and loved it!
In the summers I would spend most time in the basement as it never got hot down there.
Wish I still had one and plan to put basements under any new construction we do.

They are multiple use, very inexpensive for square footage and when you prep you never seem to have enough storage room.

And a basement is a perfect place to build a gun vault/safe room, with a tunnel exit so you can't get trapped in there.
.

 

One downside is that many basements flood and need to provide for that. They are worth while investments.

 

Just on a side note... this property sounds AWESOME!!!
You're really gunna enjoy building a home there.

 

i grow almost a acre of garden ,,it will feed about 7 to 9 people all the veggies/potatoes they need,,,i have between 3 and 4 acres with rabbits and chickens/ducks and other smaller livestock to free range the rest it probable would support a average family[4 or 5 ],,not sure if that size could be self sustaining ,,,but it should provide the majority of your food

be aware that building a homestead isnt easy or cheap ,,fencing is costly ,,,,building good soil takes time and lots of work ,,buildings ,pens /barns/coops ect

i would put in the basement
had some friends that built a home in stages ,,,,put in the basement and floor joist ,,,,,,decked the floor ,,,then covered it with roofing ,and lived in the basement till they could build the main home above it,,,a few years later they added the main floor,,,cut the edges of roofing off to stand the walls ,,, and until it was roofed in and walls done they left the rest covered

 

"...goats are very social animals and it might be cruel to only get one."

Not near as cruel as when you chop him up and throw him in the oven

 

Congrats on buying your land! Since you know that your neighbor has been using the land prior to your purchase, I would mount some trail cameras in some trees. A good camouflaged trail cam can yield some nice results. Do you know how long the prior owner of your land had it? Did he or she ever use it? How long has your neighbor that planted gardens on the land that you bought, lived on his land? Are most of the lots 3 acres or larger? If his acreage is the same as yours, I wonder why he decided to use other peoples land?

 

Once you start using your land the neighbor may get the idea, if you use up all of it and he's still there on that little piece then he's not a reasonable person and you wouldn't want anything to so with him anyhow. Also in some states if a person uses land without a contract for at least 7 years then that land becomes his. It's called squatters rights

 

Also be aware of squatters rights. You don't want that guy there to long. 7 years in some locals and that land is his if there isn't a contract drawn up

 

Also be aware of squatters rights. You don't want that guy there too long. 7 years in some locals and that land is his if there isn't a contract drawn up

Depending on state laws and how long he's already been using that land, he may already own it by "adverse possession". A change of ownership on your side of the lot line does not restart the clock. Whomever sold you that land should (by law in some states) have made you aware of that situation before you ever signed a purchase-and-sale agreement.

In my humble opinion, being self-sufficient on just 3 acres is a myth. There will be so much in the way of external inputs to keep that land productive enough to feed you. And it will be mercilessly labor-intensive. It'll be fun for a while, then it'll be drudgery, and as you get older it will be impossible. I know.

 

I talked with this neighbor yesterday and it was made very clear (and in a polite manner) that he can harvest what he has planted this year but that's the end of it. That's as good as it's going to get for the time being.

 

I would try to build as good as relationship as possible.

From the little I know about this guy I would think he could make good person to work with in a total collapse event/situation. He is not afraid of hard work & knows how to produce food. I would be picking his brain to find out what he has had success growing & what hasn't done well. Find out if he is hunter, etc.

Good neighbors are priceless in my opinion.

 

You need a fence. An underground place of refuge seems obvious in Kansas.
Three acres is not enough to live off of, but it is a good start.