The first year is different
Your first year on a homestead is not a normal year. You are building, learning your land, and living with whatever is not finished yet.
The goal of year one is modest: get through it safely, with the basics working, and with money and energy left over. Big food goals, animals and extras can wait a season or two.
This lesson brings together the phasing ideas from lesson 5 and the systems from every track. The planner on this page saves to My plan.
Basics before extras
Some systems keep you safe and legal. Others make life better. Do the first group first.
- Permits and access: a road you can drive in all seasons, and the approvals you need before building.
- Safe water: a tested source, as in lessons 15 and 18. A new well should be tested before you drink from it (EPA).
- Sanitation: an approved toilet and wastewater plan, from lesson 40.
- Shelter and heat: a dry, weather-tight space with safe heat before the first hard frost.
- Power: enough for lights, water pumping, the fridge and communication.
Then come the garden, food storage, animals and the rest.
Put year one in order
Put these year-one priorities in a sensible order.
- Start a small kitchen garden and a compost pile
- Get basic power working for lights, water, fridge and phone
- Make the shelter weather-tight and install safe heat before winter
- Set up a safe, tested water supply and an approved toilet plan
- Confirm permits, access and what is allowed on the land
- Add hens or other extras once the basics run smoothly
Time it to the seasons
Seasons decide when work can happen. Your climate zone from lesson 3 shapes the whole calendar.
- Building and digging go best in dry, mild months. Frozen or muddy ground stops foundation, septic and trench work in many places.
- Firewood needs time to dry. EPA Burn Wise suggests seasoning wood for at least 6 months. Cut or buy next winter’s wood this spring.
- Gardens follow frost dates. A garden planted in a rush in July yields little in a short-season climate.
- Contractors book up in busy seasons. Ask early.
- Winter is a test. Plan the heat, water freeze protection and backup power for your coldest month, not your average one.
Text description
A timeline of year one across spring, summer, fall and winter, for a climate with cold winters. Permits and access come first, in early spring. A safe, tested water supply and an approved toilet plan follow from spring into early summer. Building and digging run through the dry, mild months from late spring into fall, since frozen or muddy ground stops that work. Shelter and safe heat run from summer and are finished before the first hard frost in mid-fall, which is marked with a dashed line. Basic power is set up from late spring through summer. Firewood is cut in early spring and then dries for at least 6 months, ready by late fall. A small garden and compost pile follow frost dates from spring into fall. Winter is the test season: plan for the coldest month, not the average one. Hens and other extras wait until late winter or year two, once the basics run smoothly. A note says contractors book up in busy seasons, so ask early.
Budget in ranges
Every number in a homestead budget is uncertain. Plan in ranges, from a low case to a high case, not single figures.
- Upfront costs: the one-time costs to build or buy, like a well, septic, solar system or stove.
- Running costs: what you pay every month or year, like fuel, feed, propane, insurance and repairs.
- Contingency: money set aside for surprises. A common rule of thumb is about 10 to 20% of project costs. Old buildings, raw land and owner-built projects often need the high end or more.
- Time: your own hours count. If you do the work yourself, budget the time as carefully as the money.
Text description
A horizontal bar on a dollar scale with no figures. The range starts at the low case and runs to the high case. A shaded contingency of about 10 to 20% of project costs is added on top of the high case; old buildings, raw land and owner-built projects often need the high end or more. A bracket shows that the high case plus the contingency is the money to have available. A note says your own time counts too, and only local quotes give real prices.
Quotes from local suppliers and contractors are the only real prices. Use this planner to organize them, not to replace them.
Your year-one planner
Lay out your projects month by month or season by season, with a cost range for each. The planner adds up your ranges and saves them to My plan.
Out of money in August
“We ran out of money in August, and the well and septic are still not done.”
Clues
- In spring, they built a greenhouse and bought a flock of hens and a large solar system.
What is the most likely cause?
Fast or slow, DIY or pro
Wiring, gas, septic, stove installs and structural work belong to licensed professionals, whatever you decide about the rest.
Check
Your budget for a project is 18,000 to 26,000 dollars. You plan a 15% contingency on the high case. How much should you set aside in total?
Summary
- Year one is for basics first: permits, safe water, sanitation, shelter and heat, then power.
- Time work to the seasons: dry months for building, frost dates for gardens, wood a year ahead.
- Budget upfront and running costs in ranges, plus a contingency, and count your time.
- Extras can wait until the basics run smoothly.
Next, you will bring every project into one homestead plan.
Go deeper: a living-on-site plan
Many people live on site while they build, in a camper, a small cabin or a finished first room. That saves rent and travel, but it needs its own safe water, sanitation, heat and power from day one. Some places limit how long you can live in a camper or an unfinished building, so ask the building department. Plan the temporary setup as carefully as the permanent one, because you may live in it longer than you expect.