NAVIGATION
Homestead Layout
Homestead Size
Designing Layout
Animals To Raise
What Can Grow
Be Self-Sufficient
Hi, I’m Ryan
I love being outside and working in nature, which is why I valued working a 5 acre homestead layout that functioned smoothly and let me easily do what I enjoy. You can find success on your land as well by using the same blueprint I did.
Getting out in the fresh air to take care of the plants and animals I’m raising on my own land is what inspired me to create this 5 acre homestead layout — so others can enjoy the same benefits I do. A carefully crafted design can make your acreage much easier to farm, getting you to the rewarding part of homesteading a lot faster.
5 Acre Homestead Layout
Working with this 5 acre homestead layout, I found that it was actually pretty easy to create space for a surprising amount of gardens and livestock. I’ve worked homesteads as small as 0.1 acres, so, believe it or not, 5 acres of land is a huge farm to some people. You’ll have space for a roomy house with an attached garage and an open driveway.
As far as your growing spaces go, you’ll have room for around 25 raised 4×8 garden beds, three to four ground-level gardens, and anywhere from 20 to 40 fruit trees. For livestock, I recommend a goat pen with room for up to 30 goats, a duck pond and anywhere from 10 to 20 ducks, a chicken coop with approximately 35 chickens, three beehives, and a pig pen for over a dozen pigs.
To keep your homestead running, you’ll also have the space for a decent-sized barn, a small woodshed, a large compost area, and 18 or more solar panels.
These numbers should give you an idea of what you can feasibly fit on your 5 acre homestead design, but, by all means, personalize this plan to your particular needs. Need more power? Add more solar panels. Need tons of fruit for selling jams or pies? Plant more fruit trees or add some berry bushes. For whatever you add, you’ll need to take something else away, depending on how crowded you want your homestead to be.
Designing Your Homestead Layout
How Much Will A 5 Acre Homestead Produce?
Your 5 acre homestead can produce around 15,000 lbs of produce in a good growing year. Here is a closer look at the possibilities.
Production Projections for 5 Acres
- Main HouseTwenty-five raised 4×8 beds will produce around 1 to 2 lbs per square foot for a harvest of 800 to 1,600 lbs of produce in a year.
- Raised GardensTwenty-five raised 4×8 beds will produce around 1 to 2 lbs per square foot for a harvest of 800 to 1,600 lbs of produce in a year.
- CompostYour compost bin can help feed your garden and your chickens to keep your homestead self-sufficient. How much you have to work with will depend on how many people are in the household and how many fresh foods they consume.
- BarnA barn can store your feed, hay, and farm equipment to keep everything you need for your homestead safe from animals and bad weather.
- Goat PenThe amount of milk your goats produce in a year will depend on how many you have and what breeds they are, but you should be able to count on an average of over 200 gallons of milk per goat every year.
- WoodshedIf you’re planning on using wood for a firepit or a heat source, you’ll need a place to shelter it from the elements. The size of your shed will depend on the amount of wood you’ll need for the season.
- CropsThree to four 10×10 ground-level gardens can easily produce around 400 to 800 lbs of vegetables in a year.
- Pig PenPigs don’t move around a lot, so they don’t require much space, and you can own as many as you’re willing to feed and care for. Just for reference, 15 pigs that weigh around 250 pounds would yield about 2,100 lbs of meat.
- Orchard / BeehivesWith three beehives, you’ll be able to produce an average of 180 to 360 lbs of honey per year, and with 20 to 40 fruit trees, you could also harvest anywhere from 3,000 to 9,000 lbs of fruit in a year.
- Chicken CoopAllowing for a little over 300 square feet of coop space could comfortably keep 35 chickens, which in turn could produce up to 600 cartons of eggs in a year if you get lucky with the right breeds and conditions.
- Duck PondKeeping in mind that you’ll need to allow at least 10 square feet of run space per duck and also have an uncrowded pond, you could feasibly raise between 10 to 20 ducks, which could add up to 250 to 500 cartons of duck eggs per year.
- Solar ArrayEighteen solar panels can power a decent amount of square footage, but if your home, garage, and powered working space combines to over 1,800 square feet, you may need a few more depending on your level of power usage.
Why 5 Acres Is The Perfect Size For Your Homestead
A 5 acre homestead layout is a great amount of land to work with. Having lots of growing room for your vegetable gardens and fruit trees can give you enough of a harvest to feed your household with leftovers to sell, gift, or preserve for winter. If you stick to my pictured plan (with some minor adjustments), you’ll have a great head start.
Is 5 Acres Enough For A Homestead To Farm?
A homestead layout of five acres is plenty of land to farm. I’ve seen two people be self-sufficient on as little as 2.5 acres, so you’ll be able to grow the majority your own food on your land if you have an average household. Five acres is even enough to start raising pigs and meat hens to add some meat to your diet, which is difficult to do on a smaller homestead.
What Are The Dimensions Of 5 Acres?
When you’re ready start laying out your five acre homestead, you’ll have 217,800 square feet to work with at approximately 330 feet by 660 feet. This is a nice amount of space, but to make the most of it, you’ll want to follow a purposeful plan.
How Do You Lay Out A 5 Acre Homestead?
The layout of your 5 acre homestead should work with the existing elements of your land, with all of the features placed thoughtfully to complement or enhance one another. For example, I like keeping my chickens close to my compost pile so they can snack on the scraps and help turn the piles.
The layout design process is the strategizing stage, so play around with it until you fit everything into your space the way you want it. At that point, I always advise measuring and staking out each section of your land to ensure you leave room for everything you’ve planned for.
Here’s What I’ve Done
- A small home with a double garage and driveway
- 800 square feet of raised bed gardening space
- 300 square feet of ground-level growing space
- Three beehives
- Composting bin
- Chicken coop and run with 30 chickens
- 30 fruit trees
- Duck pond and 15 ducks
- 18 solar panels
- 1 storage barn & 1 woodshed
- Open driveway
- Goat pen with 15 goats
- Pig pen with 13 pigs
How Big Should A Homestead Garden Be?
On 5 acres of land, your homestead gardening space should be under 1,500 square feet of level land. I like breaking this growing space up into various ground-level and raised bed plots so that it’s easier to access and maintain.
How Many Fruit Trees Should You Plant On 5 Acres?
You should plant somewhere between 20 and 40 fruit trees on your 5 acres, depending on your homesteading goals. Trees are a long-term investment in your homestead, but they pay off in bountiful harvests in the future.
How Many Berry Bushes Should You Plant On 5 Acres?
On a 5 acre homestead design, you could easily plant 50 or more berry bushes. You’ll only really need a few bushes per person in your household, but extra can come in handy if you’re into canning, dehydrating, or making baked goods.
Fencing Your 5 Acres
Even if you’re like me and you enjoy wide open spaces in the outdoors, a homestead fence is a practical investment. Depending on your local soil and weather conditions you can pick from a variety of different materials to build a fence large and sturdy enough to keep predators out and livestock in. Wood or steel will be your top materials to use here.
What Animals Can You Have On a 5 Acre Hobby Farm?
You will have room for multiple types of animals on a 5 acre hobby farm, but I recommend sticking with poultry (such as chickens and ducks), goats, bees, and pigs. These animals will supply you with plenty of eggs, milk, honey, and meat — and maybe even some companionship.
Start With Raising Chickens
I always recommend starting with chickens because they enjoy roaming the great outdoors even more than I do, are easy to care for, can be fed without buying feed when necessary, help with your garden work, and eat pesky bugs. Chickens are also fairly low cost, and they’ll pay for themselves many times over.
What About Raising Ducks On 5 Acres?
Ducks are a great second choice because they are prolific egg layers, are very friendly and social, and tend to mind their own business. The one hard thing about raising ducks is ensuring a water source large enough for your flock, so just keep that in mind before welcoming these web-footed friends.
The Feasibility Of Raising Bees
Bees are a great option for your 5 acre homestead because their hives take up practically no space, and they’ll supply you with a lot of honey in addition to pollinating your trees and flowers. Their hives require some monitoring and maintenance, but overall, bees are fairly easy to care for once you get the hang of it. The upfront cost of necessary beekeeping supplies and equipment is one of the only drawbacks.
Raising Goats On 5 Acres
Goats are a great choice for your homestead. They’re friendly, relatively small, and they produce a decent amount of milk. Goats can also be surprisingly useful for weed control as well, and they are lots of fun to have around.
Raising Pigs On A 5 Acre Homestead
The great thing about raising pigs is how little they move around. Pigs won’t take up as much space as other livestock, and they’ll be a great source of meat you can eat and sell. Pigs are happiest when they have easy access to plenty of straw, so they can chew and root around as they please.
Is 5 Acres Really Enough Space To Grow Your Own Food?
Five acres is more than enough space to grow your own food, and, using my layout, you’ll have extra leftover. Make sure you create your homestead according to your own interests and priorities as well so that you’ll have your favorite foods in abundance.
How Much Food Can You Grow On A 5 Acre Farm?
A 5 acre farm can produce roughly 8,500 lbs of food in a good year. Since the average American consumes about 2,000 lbs in a year, this amount of land could feasibly feed around four people with some extra leftover.
Estimated Harvest From A 5 Acre Homestead With This Layout
- 1,200 lbs of vegetables
- 460 cartons of chicken eggs
- 315 gallons of goat milk
- 4,000 pounds of fruit
- 275 pounds of honey
- 2,000 pounds of meat
Can 5 Acres Of Land Sustain One Person?
A 5 acre homestead design is more than enough land to feed one person. If you’re farming your land on your own, you’ll probably produce more than enough to pay for your homesteading costs and make a profit on top of that.
Is 5 Acres Of Land Enough To Feed A Family Of Five?
Five acres could possibly feed a family of five if they are creative and resourceful. Four people could more easily be fed from this amount of land, but no matter your household size, you will most likely produce over half of your food for the year.
Can You Be Off Grid On A 5 Acre Homestead?
Yes, as long as the area where you live doesn’t have any restrictions on going off grid, you can be off the grid on a homestead of 5 acres. If you have this much land, chances are you’re good to go, but it never hurts to check.
Is 5 Acres Of Land Enough For An Off-Grid Homestead?
Five acres of land is more than enough for a fully off-grid homestead. You will have to play around with the blueprint I provided to make some room for things like your outdoor bathroom, but you’ll still have a good amount of farming space at your disposal. Five acres gives you plenty of space to arrange a solar setup and water source.
Is 5 Acres Of Land Enough To Be Self-Sufficient?
Five acres of land is enough to be self-sufficient, as long as your household is made up of fewer than five people. Regardless of your family size, though, you’ll be growing the majority of your own food on your property, which is a huge win.
How Many Solar Panels Needed To Power Your Homestead?
You’ll want 10 to 12 solar panels for every 1,000 square feet of powered living and working space. I’ve allowed room for around 18 panels, but you can always play with this diagram to fit in more as needed. The size of your home will determine how much solar energy you need, so consider sticking with a tiny home for the sake of efficiency.
Can A 5 Acre Homestead Be Profitable?
Now is the time to take this blueprint and start mapping out your own 5 acre homestead layout. Building your homestead will be a lot of work, but it will also be a lot of fun, providing you with some great opportunities to enjoy your property and reap the benefits of having so much land at your disposal.
Your Turn!
- How has your local growing season affected your gardening?
- What is your favorite aspect of homesteading?
Ryan,
As a professional small acreage planner myself, I found your plans very helpful. Your written explanations & tips very good. I also liked the incorporation of solar panels into your designs.
But I found your plans little bit inefficient and not laid out well. The biggest item is the way you laid out your solar arrays The way your plans show, they take up a large part of the operations and space.
First, I would recommend starting by covering the entire south facing roof, end to end,with panels. If the out buildings are southern facing with panels. By removing the panels, that opens up a lot of space. As an option, you can line your south facing fence with your array, or put 2 rows & possibly increase your power output. Or do both with the roofs and the southern panels.
The next item is to swap sides where you have your goats. By putting them under the trees, they would have shade during the hot summer days. You then put your crops where you placed your goats. Another idea is to throw berries around the duck pond. But make sure to wrap them with chicken wire or you’ll lose all your berries to the ducks.
But these are my thoughts. I am a big believer of maximizing the space one has. 5 acres is a lot of space so there are many ways to lay out one’s operations.
All that said, very nice layouts and articles.