I bought 80 acres in central Montana an old homestead site. I have a few small springs on the property and a hand dug well with water rights to both. Most of it is hay but there are some trees and a coulee with water. I’ve seen deer, pronghorn, Hungarian partridge, owls, rattlesnake and even a porcupine. So far I have put on a few little bare root trees and bushes but the deer got to them so I’m thinking a garden shed and fence. Then barn then build house or should I work the other way around. I have an offsite residence and job for now to fund this adventure till I can make it full time. I also have no problem camping out in the garden shed or a tent while I build stuff up. What would you do? What order, what animals would you get? 55 of the acres is already set for hay but the other 25 is a little hilly or has the old homestead site.
by Puzzleheaded-Put-392
25 Comments
Congratulations!! I would start with a barn or Quonset hut type structure because when building a home you’ll need to keep your materials, tools, machinery dry.
My friends lived in an old trailer and then a metal building (now a barn/garage/shop) while they built the house. Power would otherwise be my first concern.
Congratulations, and that rock cliff..how far does it deep back?
Could make a temporary shelter while you build something more permanent, then use it as a root cellular.
That’s beautiful acreage. Congrats!
Build a good outhouse!
That is amazing! Look like locust trees to me, some of the best firewood and fencing material around..
Assess what your immediate needs are. Having some place dry for tools is great.
Do i see a power pole in one of the pictures? Utilities would be a priority for me, unless you plan on living like the 1800’s, and I can promise you, the high plains of montana are going to be rough without modern utilities.
I’d hesitate to immediately start planting a bunch of fruit trees and getting exotic animals right off the bat. It’s dryland by the looks of it, gorgeous country, but not everything will “work” there.
I don’t have any suggestions, but just wanted to say that that’s incredible and good for you for going for it.
Whatever you build, be prepared for the extremely cold winters on the eastern front and don’t leave anything out that will blow away in a 60 mile per hour wind 💨 or you will be chasing it to the next cottonwood tree or fence line
Do you need help?
It truly look and sounds amazing.
First off you need to make a plan on where you want the different things you plan on having. You have some set water locations, how will you use them to feed your livestock and gardens? How will you have water to your house?
I am a big fan of ease of chores so plan it well. Chickens and compost next to garden to ease the hauling of those components etc.
I would have started off with a barn that I could store my equipment in, have a workplace and have a first living shelter while building up the site.
Then I would have planted the orchard, sounds like you need it well fenced, so I would have started with the orchard fence then planted the trees (plan on bees? If so set off a place in the orchard for them)
Next I would have fenced off a garden and planted my perenials and perhaps a small garden.
When time for livestock shelter/fences, I would have started with chickens and meat rabbits.
You probably plan for cattle or other larger livestock, but I would have built my house before taking on too many chores..
Get a shipping container delivered… Maybe two… Sperate them…. Then you can use them as a wind block… Or you can connect them with rafters, creating a dry shelter you can park under or camp under.
A driveway is a good place to start.
Water…. Start tapping the springs… Bury the lines..maybe wall in the cave in the first picture which will prevent freezing … I imagine in Montana the frost line is 3-4 feet deep.
Buy a detector and find relics
You have snow in July??? Where are you?
Man, the older I get the more important having an accessible restroom is lol. Maybe a decent camper you could park out there while you’re working on it. Love the old homestead, I’d be buying a metal detector first thing and seeing what cool things are out there!
Beautiful! Bald eagle barn. Barn house. You can get a repoed one for a realy got deal. And a pole barn with sides. They come a put it together for you in a day. It will give you a place put things in the dry for the time being. You can’t build one for the price. Fish around. These two you can probably have for less than 10k. Neither will you regret in the long run.
You have a road to and from this place? That’s probably where i would start. Especially if you want to bulild something and need to have it delivered.
I would say you are lucky, however I know from personal experience that a LOT of hard work is/was involved! Congratulations amigo.
A nice rug would really tie it together, would it not?
I think it would be best to be on the property before you plant so critters don’t spend a long time thwarting your efforts. Having a dog helps. If I could afford it I’d do dwelling/ barn first. You can live in the barn and protect your equipment. Get a nice wood stove for your barn. You can start with a smaller barn as command post with plans to build a grander one later and use the first for something else. It’s nice to have a place for a shop/ equipment and an animal/feed place. As an aside, the feed store close to me had hay spontaneously combust, which can happen apparently when hay has been slightly damp, decomposes and makes a gas. So don’t keep feed with gas using equipment. I didn’t know this was a thing until their structure burned down.
Congrats! Now the hard part begins. 😉
I am very jealous, congratulations! That’s so pretty!
Beautiful so exciting good luck…. Personally I’d start but understanding permaculture to make maintenance easier x
That’s beautiful land
Good luck it looks like an amazing journey.