Carving out your dream homestead on wooded land

(Homesteading.news) You’ve decided it’s time to make the move to a little parcel of land outside the city so you can finally fulfill a long-time dream: Creating a slice of heaven on earth in your own mold that will give you independence, confidence and no small amount of freedom.

You want to grow food, raise some livestock, build a woodworking shop and you think you’ve got to have land that’s already cleared in order to start. Thing is, you really don’t.

Wooded land is actually cheaper and you can clear it a little at time as you get more skilled in living off the land and more accustomed to your newly independent lifestyle.

Here are some things to consider to get you started:

— Clear a little, first: One of the easiest projects will be clearing off brush and trees to form your garden spot. Depending on how big a garden you want to grow will depend, of course, on how much clearing you’ll have to do. For larger trees that leave stumps, you can always grow around them and clear them out later.

If you want to expand your garden space, clear a little more land next year.

— Some livestock don’t care: Ever heard of feral pigs? These are simply undomesticated squealers that live in the woods. In fact pigs, chickens, turkeys were all woodland animals originally. So if you’ve got a portion of land where you want to raise any of these animals, you won’t have to completely clear it of trees. You’ll want to take care of some of the underbrush, just to make it easier to get around in, but as for eliminating much of the growth, that won’t be necessary.

While it’s a different story for cattle, who generally need cleared pastureland to thrive, these other animals (goats included) will actually thrive in wooded land. So, just fence it off and you’re good to go.

— Speaking of cows… Dairy cows will require cleared land, but dairy goats don’t. In fact, you can put them in your wooded area. They are foragers by nature, not grazers like cows.

— Source of food: You can find all sorts of plants and nuts in the woods as well, which will help serve as a source of food for you and your family. Who doesn’t like fresh walnuts? Or morel mushrooms in the spring? These grow best in wooded areas, naturally. And if you’ve got some maple trees, learn how to tap them for syrup.

And here’s a tip: Any trees you do cut down should be cut up and placed in a wood storage area for at least a season; it’ll be good and dry next year and you can use it as firewood.

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