We’re coming up on our one year anniversary here at The Little Half Acre that Could and, because my mindset lately has been about what have we accomplished over the past year, I am looking backwards and evaluating some things. Starting from last July when we first searched for a viable property, I’ve kept a mental scorecard.
There were several “must have” items on our list when we were searching for our little homestead paradise in the mountains.
- We wanted privacy. After years working with the public, I just wanted to be able to walk out my door and not be in anyone’s face or have anyone be in my face.
- We wanted to have enough space that we could free range some chickens without annoying anyone and we wanted enough space to grow most of our own food.
- We wanted a small house so we could – literally – put our money where our mouths were. Our desire for a “McMansion” has long since passed and I regret the years we wasted (mostly, thanks to me) “climbing the ladder” to success, a bigger house, a better car and the latest fashions. Side note here: I don’t criticize anyone who wants that lifestyle. This is America, and anyone who wants a bigger, better, richer, faster lifestyle is welcome to pursue that dream. But we found that lifestyle to be empty and unrewarding so we wanted to practice what we started preaching and show, by example, that a small life that uses fewer resources can be richly rewarding. I hope that we’re leading by example and inspiring others to change.
- We wanted to heat our home using as few natural resources as possible.
- We wanted to use solar power and eliminate much of our on-grid consumption.
- We wanted a good water source that was not dependent upon a municipal water supply or electricity to function.
As it turns out, we got most of that:
We ended up with one neighbor whose house we can actually see but they’re hardly ever outside. Our other nearest neighbor is out of sight just over the hill and he’s the best neighbor we could wish for. The terrific folks we bought our little half acre homestead from own acre upon acre behind us – all the way up to the top of the mountain in fact! It’s nothing but forest. So, score one for us.
We ended up with half an acre – not nearly as much land as we were hoping for and there’s a house, a garage and a garden shed all sitting on that half acre. In addition, there’s a “draw” up either side of the house. On the west side, the draw runs with water after heavy rains so that area can’t be planted. On the east side, the draw is full of trees that were cut down and left to rot when the power company cleared out along their easement. At some point, that will become growing space for fruit trees. On top of all that, the trees along the property line are pretty much on the neighbors’ land and we can’t cut them down to turn several shady spaces into sunny growing spaces. But, by utilizing every available inch of sunny space for food (who needs lawn to mow???) and by growing both vertically and intensively, we are producing quite a bit of food. As we convert more useless lawn space to garden space, we should be able to grow all our own vegetables (except corn). And the hens? We don’t have any yet, but there will be more than enough space for a 6 foot by 8 foot hen house and lots of room for the ladies to free range. Score one for us.
We got a fairly small house. It was 896 square feet until we had the open back porch built in to house an indoor growing space for microgreens. The house is still under 1,000 which is a lot smaller than the waterfront home we sold on the North Carolina coast and still a lot bigger than we need. Our house is a rough little house that’s been “flipped” so it’s cute and it more than serves its purpose. Yeah, the design leaves a little to be desired – who wants to tromp past someone staying in the guest bedroom to get to the bathroom? And one tiny closet that’s mostly taken up with the hot water heater is not the best solution. But we’re making do. We’ll make some changes eventually, like adding an on demand hot water heater and a composting toilet in the back porch room once the microgreens growing area gets moved to the garden shed. We need to add some serious shelving in the tiny kitchen so I can use the counters for food prep instead of for appliances. But every day I wake up in “grateful mode” because we have so much more than many people have. Score one for us.
Our heating needs are fairly small with plans to go smaller still. We replaced the kerosene monitor heater with a propane heater that we use only as a back up on the coldest nights. We installed a tiny, tiny wood stove that keeps us comfortable enough and we have plans to – eventually – install a rocket mass heater so we can heat the entire space with nothing more than downed limbs from on and around the property. We went through 5 cords of wood this past winter but, with a rocket mass heater, one cord would do the same work. Score one for us.
We ended up with a property that has a great space for solar panels (which we will add as the budget allows). Our little half acre faces south/southeast and the land has a pretty sharp slope so solar panels will eventually provide a good deal of our electricity. Score one for us.
And last, but not least, we absolutely nailed it on the water supply. We collect water from our downspouts for watering vegetables. We have a branch that runs almost continuously in the rainy season that we will eventually tap into for some serious water storage. But, best of all, we have a gravity fed water system from a spring further up the mountain with deeded water rights. We were in a moderate drought last year and, so far, it’s “ditto” for this year but we have never run out of water. There are three springs above us and an existing tubing system that can be modified from one spring box to another as water increases or decreases from each spring. On this point? Score TEN for us.
I still keep an eye on local real estate. Hey, I’ve held a broker’s license for years so I can’t help but check out all the local listings. Several places came on the market after we bought our homestead that I either loved the look of or the location of or the acreage of. But, all in all? This little homestead is just right. It’s our “forever” home and I’m certain it’s where God intended us to be. We’re happy. We’re content. And we’re looking forward to a few changes we’re planning in order to create a sustainable homestead. It’s just a wonderful life when you get up every morning raring to go. When your dreams are only limited by your willingness to work hard (okay, okay . . . and by your budget, jeez!) . . . but all in all, we wouldn’t change a thing!
