The Tiny Homestead!

The Vision: The tiny homestead is a low cost, low impact ‘stead that can be deployed on any plot of land that has enough open space for the homestead components (under an acre). This can be off the grid, so the land used can be undeveloped so-called “junk” land (Check Craigslist, eBay, and free local “papers”).  The tiny homestead functions as a self-sustaining mini family farm, but, like Tiny Homes, can be packed onto an 18-wheeler flatbed or two, or your own trailer(s) to be and hauled. No wide load crews need to be employed or costs incurred.

Living Quarters: Double-Wide Tiny Home, by which I mean two tiny home “sheds” that connect together to make one dwelling like a doublewide mobile home does. This provides something like 16′ x 20′ living space (320 sq ft) made from two 8’x20′ pieces.

Or, or. Wait! The two pieces can be attached perpendicular to each other for living with a sort of sun-room/porch area inside the L. Maybe they are hinged so when opened all the way for transport the transport dimension is not a “wide load”. It’s an RV trailer and you can haul it yourself!

How wide and how high can each piece be? It apparently varies State by State, but:

Mississippi State Trucking information website: https://www.expresspass.ms.gov/trucking/instruct.htm
Legal Loads.
Length: 53’ trailer Overhang: 3’ front OR 4’ rear Weight: GVW 80,000 lbs., steer 14,000 lbs.
Width: 8’ 6”
Height: 13’ 6”

Power: Solar and/or Micro-Hydro

Life Chain: Human and animal wastes with kitchen and garden scraps feed redworms, which feed chickens, of course. But they also feed fish which feed vegetables (aquaponics), and hopefully can make part of a feed for pigmy milk-goats. Nigerian dwarf goats have udders that are actually big enough to be milked by real humans. Rabbits can be raised on forage, and I’m pretty sure you can raise them on vegetables, too.

The chickens are in a “chicken tractor” surrounded by a portable solar electrified nylon fence. The chickens may be let out to roam free for a few hours before dusk. Bantam chickens seem to be a bit more resilient than commercial breeds. They can fly and can fend for themselves pretty well if necessary.

Fish can be raised in a tote that is built up into an aquaponics system that includes both a gravel growing bed and a soil growing bed.

The Nigerian dwarf goats are enclosed in a small shed like a doghouse (maybe mobile like the chickens) and have a yard (possibly the same as or like the chickens’ yard).

Minimal Cash Flow: Some cash flow will be required. If you heat by wood you need gas for your chainsaw, etc., etc., but you will at the very least be easily producing more food than you need and could barter with that.

Attitude: This is a pastoral lifestyle and isolated from mainstream society. But it is something that can be approached or learned a little at a time, making small steps in this direction over years before (and maybe never) just moving away. If preparing to move to a remote location, a family could establish a vacation property (security will be an issue while you are away from it), to experience the lifestyle in short bursts. If you ever do take remote the plunge, compatible neighbors will be a necessity. Choosing neighbors carefully, or establishing a group that will be living as neighbors once move out, will be crucial.

The Tiny Homestead in a Box: All the materials and the plans needed are stored in a shipping container to build the cabin and deploy all the modules of the homestead. This can be trucked to a site and you can live in something temporary, even in the shipping container itself with your wood stove set up in it, while you build the cabin (2 weeks) and set up the ‘stead. Since this way you are not trucking the finished cabin, the cabin can be wider and/or bigger than if it were to be trucked whole or in two modules.

Is this cool, or what?

Check out the Homestead in a Travel Trailer