The perfect homestead (for my family) this of course does not take in account where the $$$$ is coming from.

It would start with 100+ acres, fenced and cross fenced, 5 acre garden space, 10 acre stocked lake (catfish, bass, perch), A fast moving stream that has a natural waterfall with a 45 degree drop, water moving 5-10 mph (enough to hook up mini hydro power station), The center of the property rising so that the high ground is almost dead center. 65 acres of hardwood trees that is healthy and has never been cut, surrounding property. Good rough cut road to lake and gravel road to center of property. Center having level home site. Good brown dirt all over property.

Well with good clean water. (Sweet water as my grandma called it)

Log Home with 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, living room, den, laundry room, big kitchen with regular table, dining room with big table, Breakfast nook, sewing room and radio room. Insulated 8” in walls, 28” in ceiling, 6” in floor. Underpinned with triple crawl doors. Interior lights the new white LED’s. 12V & 120V electrical system.

Solar heat (hot water) panels, 5 large solar panels with storage batteries and sine wave inverter, back up propane or gas generator with 100-gallon tank, mini-hydro power plant running into utility grid type interface. On Grid as back up. (power bill should very small).

Septic (triple filtered) with ½ acre drain field. Drain field covered with periwinkle. (no grass to mow and no deep roots).

24’ x 100’ out building. Insulated and wired.

Neighbors that are homesteaders or at least self-reliant types. Believing in loyalty, truth, friendship and personal freedom. Preferably one or two that likes to target shoot, fish and visit trade lots. The wife would like female neighbors that like crafts, yard selling and canning.

Weather that stays around 60-70 summer, 30’s winter. Some snow in winter and moderate rain in summer months.

Little to no humidity. Hmmm not a whole lot of pesky bugs.

Employment opportunity for marketing, assembly and managerial skills.

Now that would be our perfect homestead. But where in the world is it?

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), August 09, 2001

Answers

Ahhh....it's good to dream, no?

Love ya, d

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), August 09, 2001.

But can you grow corn in those conditions?

-- Cindy (S.E.IN) (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), August 10, 2001.

Odd. Theres one very much like that thats been reappearing in my head for a while. Id sell it to you (the farm, not my head) but I dont know if your whole family would fit in there...

Using your format:

It would start with 100+ acres in a squarish block on a long slow slope on the southside of a hill with a strong spring toward the top, electrified living fence (its an idea Ive been tumbling around) just inside the property perimeter with wildlife plantings between it and the property line, 2 acre garden space for me, 2 acre "horse" garden, 2 for "market" garden, 10 acre orchard, stepped stocked indigenous species polyculture ponds of about 1 acre in size creating a ring inside the electrified living fence and a non electrified living fence inside of that, North and West sides of the property inside the living fence are evergreens of various types and South and East are deciduous hardwoods for various uses a couple acres deep. Good semi- hidden rough cut road to NorthWest treed corner home site. Good brown dirt all over property.

Well with good clean water. (Sweet water as my grandma called it, too).

Nestegg style earthshelter home covered in arctic berries with 7 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (the one in the master bedroom is a small Japanese influenced mini citrus greenhouse), small living room/parlor for greeting official guests (the only place on the property meant to be "proper"), library/"madscientist lab", "laundry room" exists in that it is partioned from a larger domestic functions area (cooking, butchering, cleaning, utility sinks, etc) with a large column of stone rising through one wall of it, within that column which separates a great room from the kitchen area is a masonry furnace (with associated ovens on the kitchen side) and a hooded and separately vented indoor fire pit (yes, most of the flooring is stonework) and a stone smoking chamber vented to the pit stack(fresh air comes in parallel with the fresh air lines I laid beneath the foundation for the furnace), and a monstrous pantry/cellar (You're underground, remember?). A dining room with big table, sewing/spinning/weaving I think Ill do in the great room, a media room will likely be necessary for Mrs/guests. A sanctuary up in the cupola that can be used as a guest room. Youre right, interior lights the new white LED’s would be nice. Nearly the whole of the southern face is glass. 12V & 120V electrical system. Theres even a couple small primarily ornamental garden type pools on a patio area by that glass wall, this is the only area that is really landscaped (edibly, of course). A number of large solar panels with storage batteries and sine wave inverter, a windmill or two, a biomass digester (a plan of mine for a kind that I dont think Ive seen tried before) coupled to one of the new small scale fuel cells that Ive been reading about. Theres a small incinerator/boiler aroung here somewhere...

Separate grey and black water systems, former to the orchard, latter to the digester.

One connected linear layout earthsheltered barn for large live stock and a second connected donut shaped earth sheltered small stock barn with one of those 42' "Growing Spaces" type domes on top of it.

Its a big place, enough for a rather extended family. Grandpa's & Grandma's are here and of course a whole pile of my kids (gotta keep up with an aunt who had 21), enough room for that ne'er do well uncle/brother who is always starting over again and needs a place to stay, visiting friends, and maybe a hand or two who stayed to work too late to get home (I told him not to have that last beer!).

Neighbors that are homesteaders or at least self-reliant types. Believing in loyalty, truth, friendship and personal freedom. Preferably one or two that likes to target shoot, fish, and visit (including discussions on various theories and trying to test it or build it). The wife would like female neighbors that like crafts, yard selling, animal doctoring and (ugh) hair. Weather that stays around 60-70 summer, 25-30 winter (for the apples and such). Some snow in winter and moderate rain in summer months.

Little to no humidity. Need a whole lot of pesky bugs to feed those fish.

Employment opportunity is as "the ultimate anything in the grocery store pick it yourself place" that gives classes on homesteading.

-- William in WI (gnarledmaw@lycos.com), August 10, 2001.

William "WE'LL Take it. Sounds just Fine. Wife is packing now. What time should we arrive for our 99 day trial visit? :-)

-- Kenneth in N.C. (wizardsplace13@hotmail.com), August 10, 2001.