It lingers in your mind—that image of you living on a homestead in Texas. You’re tending to your garden and collecting chicken eggs. Solar panels power your home. The gentle rainfall overnight settles in your water reuse station so you can spray it on your crops tomorrow. Maybe your kids or the family dog frolic through the fields on a warm summer day.
It’s time to take the leap.
First, you’ll want to find suitable farm land for sale or ranch land for sale that will support your desires for a self-sufficient, eco-friendly homestead. Using the guidelines we’ve laid out below, you can take your first tangible steps in your exciting journey.
Step One: Choosing the Right Land for Your Homestead
Before you can start a homestead, you need land. Not just any plot, however—you need land that is suitable for livestock, crops, or whatever else you want on your homestead. That means you need to choose the right property.
How do you do that? Think about these key factors:
- Soil quality – Most homesteaders choose to grow their own food. In that case, you’ll want to ensure that your desired property has soil suitable for whatever plants you wish to grow. Consider performing tests to see the soil’s nutrient levels, organic matter composition, and pH.
- Climate and average temperatures – Texas is a vast state, offering a wide range of average temperatures and diverse climates to choose from. From cooler North Texas to the warm gulf, you need to know what to expect each year regarding precipitation, average temperatures, and growing seasons.
- Local laws and regulations – When you buy land, it’s crucial to understand the local laws and any restrictions or easements on the property. Learning how to buy land in Texas includes researching these regulations to ensure you’re aware of what you’re allowed to do on your plot and avoid any unexpected legal hurdles.
- Water availability – Self-sufficiency means having a water source on your property, whether that’s a well or river. You can choose land based on the level of self-sufficiency you want to achieve (partial or complete).
- Acreage – While you’ll want a decent amount of land for a homestead, stay realistic about your long-term goals and maintenance abilities. For example, if you want livestock and crops, you might need more acreage than if you were focusing on a garden and smaller animals like chickens and goats.
Once you understand the lay of the land, you can start deciding if it’s right for your homesteading dreams.
Step One Part A: What Is Self-Sufficiency?
Many homesteaders dream of a time when they can rely on themselves for nearly everything, from food and shelter to water and electricity. That’s what makes them “self-sufficient.”
However, you don’t have to be entirely self-sufficient to be a successful homesteader—especially in the beginning. It may work better to start with a garden before moving on to crops or livestock, for example. Or, you may have to rely on municipal electricity and water, depending on where you live.
So, whether you aim to become an off-grid homesteader or you want to lead a more sustainable, balanced life, there’s room in the community for you.
Step Two: Implement Sustainable Farming and Gardening Practices
When choosing land for your homestead, consider how well you can implement sustainable farming practices. For example, we mentioned above that nutrient-rich soil and climate play a crucial role in how well you can grow certain crops.
Other eco-friendly farming and gardening practices to consider when choosing a parcel include:
- Crop rotation – Switching crops to different parts of the land each season makes it easier to prevent pests and diseases from affecting yield over time. It also helps maintain soil fertility and richness.
- Companion planting – If you have enough space, you could also try companion planting, where you purposely put plants that help one another near each other. For instance, one plant may repel bugs, benefiting the other.
- Propagation and seeding – An ample garden or greenhouse would make it easy to grow new plants from cuttings or seeds, eliminating the need to buy more each year.
Owning enough property to practice sustainable farming or gardening allows you to grow your own food, conserve resources, and reduce your ecological footprint.
Step Three: Build Eco-Friendly Structures
Is the land you’re interested in undeveloped, or are there preexisting structures? Either way, you’ll want to assess the property to see if new or existing buildings can be more eco-friendly.
If there are homes or buildings on the plot, determine whether you can upgrade them for earth-friendly technologies, such as solar panels. Other ecological ways to improve your buildings include:
- Proper insulation
- Upgraded doors and windows
- Reflective roofs
- Natural shading
For new buildings, you’ll want to consider whether sun exposure or typography would be conducive to energy efficiency in homes and buildings. With new builds, you have a blank canvas to work with—meaning all you need to know is how well energy-efficiency techniques will work on your land.
Texas has three “climate zones”—hot-humid, hot-arid, and temperate—so it is crucial to know where you are when choosing what energy-efficient techniques to use.
Step Four: Apply Water Conservation and Management Techniques
Homesteaders often choose properties with natural water sources, like streams, rivers, or ponds, to achieve true self-sufficiency. Luckily, many areas in Texas offer land parcels with these natural resources, well water, or water conservation systems.
When choosing a property in Texas, one thing to consider is the potential for drought. To ensure your crops will thrive, avoid plots that often experience drought—especially more severe cases. Either way, rainwater collection systems are another common water source for Texas homesteaders, allowing you to reuse water on your plants. These are the two most common collection methods:
- Rain barrels
- Cisterns
Many people use this water on plants, to clean buildings or animal stalls, to fill fountains or bird baths, or for fire suppression.
Step Five: Achieve Energy Independence and Sustainable Power Sources
Self-sufficient homesteaders need energy independence, so they use options such as solar panels, wind turbines, or hydropower as much as possible. With that in mind, it’s crucial you understand the climate and typography of your future property. Ask yourself questions like:
- Are there enough open areas for solar panels?
- Is there a consistent breeze that would work well with wind turbines?
- If you have a moving water source, are you able to install a hydropower system?
- Will you need more than one power source?
- Do you have the budget for renewable energy sources?
Consider the scope of your energy needs—whether you’re powering just a couple of buildings or managing multiple structures, irrigation systems, and barns. This will determine the amount and type of energy resources you’ll need to invest in.
Step Six: Try Sustainable Livestock Care and Animal Husbandry
For many people, a key aspect of homesteading is raising livestock or small animals for meat, milk, or eggs. Many first-timers choose animals like:
- Chicken
- Goats
- Cows
With raising animals comes the responsibility of land maintenance, meaning you’ll need to have enough resources to support sustainable farming. Rotational grazing—or moving livestock to different areas to reduce overgrazing—is common among homesteaders. Benefits associated with rotational grazing include:
- Emission reduction
- More easily digestible food sources for the animals
- Carbon sequestration by allowing time for soil and plants to recover
Combining rotational grazing with other eco-friendly practices, such as local feed sources, composting, and manure management, can reduce your carbon footprint even more.
Step Seven: Leverage Your Land for Community and Self-Sufficiency
Just because you want to be a homesteader doesn’t mean you have to spend all your time alone. In fact, it often means quite the opposite. Aside from your animal friends or family members, connecting with the local community can help improve your experience.
Here are some ways you can reach out to your community of local homesteaders or farmers:
- Exchange services or goods with one another
- Share or ask for advice
- Lend a helping hand on a project
- Swap food or seeds
- Borrow equipment
- Teach each other something new
Building a reciprocal relationship with the people around you allows you to rely less on outside sources—like shopping centers—because you have friends willing to help you. If you’re ready to find a homesteading-friendly area, start searching today with Land.com.
Start The Journey Home(stead) With the Perfect Property on Land.com
Choosing land for a self-sustaining homestead requires focus on many factors—from soil health to climate, water, and farming area. Understanding what you plan to do with your parcel will help you determine which of these elements are the most crucial for you when selecting land.
If you’re ready to find a property that supports a sustainable homestead, look no further than Land.com. Our platform makes it easy to browse land for sale in Texas. Whether you want a large property suitable for a big homestead or a starter piece, we’ve got you covered.
Browse listings by location, price, or acreage, or connect with a land pro today to get started on your Texas homestead dreams!
Sources:
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. Farming Practices that Support Soil Health. https://www.sare.org/publications/farming-with-soil-life/farming-practices-that-support-soil-health/
West Virginia University. Companion Planting. https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/gardening/garden-management/companion-planting
U.S. Department of Energy. Energy-Efficient Landscaping. https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/energy-efficient-landscaping
Environmental and Energy Study Institute. The Climate and Economic Benefits of Rotational Livestock Grazing. https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/the-climate-and-economic-benefits-of-rotational-livestock-grazing
Texas Real Food. Animal Husbandry for Homesteaders. https://discover.texasrealfood.com/homesteading/animal-husbandry-for-homesteaders