NAVIGATION
Homestead Layout
Homestead Size
Designing Layout
Animals To Raise
What Can Grow
Be Self-Sufficient
Hi, I’m Ryan
If I’ve learned anything from working several different farms, it’s that no two plots of land are created equal. This 10 acre homestead layout will help you work with your land’s unique features while still having a game plan to support all your growing space, plants, trees, and animals.
From creating a small homestead on my own land to helping others cultivate their larger plots of land, lots of thought and experience have gone into creating diagrams like this 10 acre homestead layout. Sometimes, farming your land can feel like man against nature, but when you’re working with a blueprint that’s adaptable to your terrain and your specific goals, you’ll feel more like you’re collaborating with nature instead.
10 Acre Homestead Layout
If you’re working with sizeable acreage like this 10 acre homestead layout, you’ll have room to spare, so I don’t want you to be discouraged if portions of your property aren’t usable farmland. That said, if having a lot of growing space is important to you, you’ll want to purchase a plot of land that isn’t heavily forested.
If most of your land is usable (as pictured below), you’ll have room for some sizable growing space with 11 to 12 ground-level 10×10 gardens, 45 raised bed 4×8 gardens, and an orchard of around 70 to 90 fruit trees. Throughout the rest of your homestead, you’ll be able to fit as many beehives as your farm can maintain, 70 or more chickens, around 50 to 55 pigs, 70 or more goats, and approximately 60 ducks. On top of your gardens and livestock, you’ll be able to build a good-sized barn, a woodshed, and a compost bin, with room left over for around 30 solar panels if you choose to use solar power.
Designing Your Homestead Layout
How Much Will A 10 Acre Homestead Produce?
A 10 acre homestead design could reasonably produce around 45,000 lbs of produce in a good year. Here’s an itemized breakdown.
Production Projections for 10 Acres
- Main HouseYou could build a sizeable home on 10 acres if you want to expand your living space, but I would recommend making room for a sunroom for indoor herbs and a lengthy driveway to get your home away from the busyness of the road.
- Solar ArrayThirty solar panels can power a decent amount of space, but if your home, garage and powered working space combine to over 3,000 square feet, you may need a few more depending on your level of power usage.
- WoodshedIf you’re planning on using wood for a firepit or a heat source, a woodshed can keep your fuel sheltered from the elements. If you’re relying solely on wood heat and are living in a cold climate, you’ll want to stock 2 to 3 cords of wood per 1,000 square feet of heated space.
- CompostYour compost bin can help feed your garden as well as your chickens, goats, and pigs to keep your homestead self-sufficient, but the output will depend on how many people are in the household and how many fresh foods they consume.
- Orchard / BeehivesEach beehive will be able to produce an average of 60 to 100 lbs of honey per year, and with 90 fruit trees, you could also harvest anywhere from 13,000 to 27,000 lbs of fruit 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, 50 pigs that weigh around 250 lbs each would yield around 6,000 lbs of meat.
- BarnA barn can store your feed, hay, and farm equipment to keep everything you need for your homestead safe from animals and weather. A barn of 6,000 square feet (60 x 100) is a good size for a roomy homestead, but you can go bigger or smaller depending on your needs.
- Goat PenThe amount of milk your goats will produce in a year will depend on their number and breeds, but you should be able to count on an average of 200 gallons of milk per goat every year.
- CropsEleven to 12 10×10 ground-level gardens can easily produce around 1,100 to 2,400 lbs of vegetables in a year.
- Raised GardensForty-five raised 4×8 beds will produce around 1 to 2 lbs per square foot for a harvest of 1,440 to 2,880 lbs of produce in a year.
- Chicken CoopSeventy chickens could produce over 1,400 cartons of eggs in a year if you have the right breeds and conditions.
- Duck PondRaising around 60 ducks could get you approximately 1,500 cartons of duck eggs per year.
Why 10 Acres Is The Perfect Size For Your Homestead
I don’t know about you, but to me, 10 acres is kind of the sweet spot of property ownership. A homestead layout on 10 acres gives you enough land to have an abundant homestead without the headaches of limited space or too much space to handle effectively. Using my design plan, you’ll have enough room for all the vegetable gardens and animals you could wish for without your homestead growing out of control.
Is 10 Acres Enough For A Farm?
What Are The Dimensions Of 10 Acres?
When you’re laying out your homestead, you’ll have 435,600 square feet of land, which is approximately 472 by 924 feet. That’s a lot of square footage to work with, so no matter how diverse your landscape is, you should be able to fit your gardens and pens around any established trees and slopes.
How Do You Lay Out A 10 Acre Homestead?
My 10 acre homestead design is intended to act as a guide as you divide your land into sections for animals, gardens, and more, but you’ll need to adapt my picture-perfect diagram to your real-world terrain. Move some things around to accommodate any ponds, inclines, trees, or rocky areas. Place your solar panels close to the buildings that need power. Overall, follow this guide while using your own common sense and knowledge of your land, and use some stakes or rope to create a visual of your future homestead before you start building.
Here’s What I’ve Done
- A long driveway with space for unloading livestock, equipment and supplies
- A small home set back away from the road, surrounded by some trees
- Several vermicomposting bins
- Chicken coop and run with 20 chickens
- 10 solar panels to power my tiny home
- An orchard of apple and pear trees
- Several maple, oak, and dogwood trees for shade and shelter from the wind
- Predominantly raised garden beds (4×8 feet), each made easily from three 2x4s
- A sunroom in my home for growing herbs for fresh and dried use
How Big Should A Homestead Garden Be?
On a homestead layout for 10 acres, you’ll have room for a garden around 2,600 to 2,900 square feet. This is enough growing space for 5,000 lbs of produce in a year, so you’ll be pretty well set up. If your land isn’t all usable, you might need to sacrifice some garden space to accommodate your trees and livestock, but that will depend on your priorities and goals.
How Many Fruit Trees Should You Plant On 10 Acres?
You’ll have room for an orchard of around 90 fruit trees on your 10 acre spread. Keep in mind that trees grow just as well on a slope, so if some of your land has a slight incline, you might consider creating your orchard there to save some flatter land for your gardens and pens.
How Many Berry Bushes Should You Plant On 10 Acres?
While you’ll have plenty of room for 100 or more berry bushes, most berries thrive in at least partial shade, so you’ll want to plan for that. Berry bushes will be the fastest option for you to produce fruit on your homestead, with strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries being some of the fastest-growing fruits.
Fencing Your 10 Acres
When you’re building a fence around your 10 acre homestead design, consider the size of your livestock and also what types of predators might try to snatch your chickens or use your garden as an afternoon snack. A basic wooden fence might suit your needs, or you might need to put up something a little more solid and harder to squeeze through.
What Animals Can You Have On A 10 Acre Hobby Farm?
Ten acres of open farmland is enough for lots of livestock, including goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, and bees. That said, if a significant portion of your land is wooded, you might need to reign in your numbers slightly.
Start Off With Chickens
When I started my own homestead, I began with five chickens and worked my way up to a modest flock of 20. Chickens are a great addition to your farm because they’re foragers, insect eaters, garden tillers, and fertilizers, and they’re also egg layers.
Why Installing A Pond For Ducks Is Worth It
Putting in a pond if your property doesn’t already have one might sound like a lot of work, but the ducks who will enjoy the pond lay even more eggs than chickens do. They’re also fun, gentle birds, and having a pond will most likely increase your property’s value while adding a whole new dynamic to your homestead.
Raise Bees To Help Your Farm Thrive
Beehives are small and fairly easy to monitor and maintain, so raising bees to pollinate your fruit trees, berry bushes, and flowering plants won’t take room away from your other homesteading ventures. Each beehive can also produce up to 100 lbs of honey in a year.
Goats Are Surprisingly Multi-Purpose
Let’s face it, goats are just plain fun to have around. They also work for their keep, many producing up to 200 gallons of milk per year while also keeping their pastures weed-trimmed for free. If you’re willing to supplement their grazing with compost, scraps, and excess produce, they’ll be fairly inexpensive to feed as well.
Don’t Turn Your Nose Up At Pigs
Pigs have a reputation for their not-so-nice smell, but they’re also easy going and easy to care for. Their pens don’t take up a lot of square footage because pigs are content to waddle around a smaller space, and they’ll give you a large amount of meat as well.
Is 10 Acres Really Enough Space To Grow Your Own Food?
A 10 acre homestead layout will provide plenty of space to grow your own food as long as your terrain cooperates. Keep in mind that the average American consumes around 2,000 lbs of food in a year, so the ability to produce anywhere near 45,000 lbs of food on your own land is a very big deal.
How Much Food Can You Grow On A 10 Acre Farm?
I mentioned earlier that you can grow around 45,000 lbs of food every year on a 10 acre farm. It’s hard to imagine how much food that actually is, so here’s a more concise breakdown of what that might look like for you, keeping in mind that weather and pests will affect your harvests differently every year.
Estimated Harvest From A 10 Acre Homestead With This Layout
- 5,000 lbs of vegetables
- 1,400 cartons of chicken eggs
- 1,500 cartons of duck eggs
- 14,000 gallons of goat milk
- 20,000 lbs of fruit
- 750 lbs of honey
- 6,000 lbs of meat
Is 10 Acres Of Land Enough To Be Self-Sufficient?
Ten acres of land is more than enough to build a self-sufficient lifestyle as long as the majority of your land is farmable. This assumes that you want to be self-sufficient. I know many homesteaders who farm only an acre or so of their land by choice so that they can enjoy some farm fresh produce while not taking on the full workload and responsibilities of a farm.
Can 10 Acres Of Land Sustain One Person?
Ten acres of land can easily sustain one person while still making a profit. That said, 10 acres is a large spread to farm by yourself, so chances are you’ll need to spend some of your profit on hired help, and you’ll have to spend most of your time caring for your crops and animals.
Is 10 Acres Of Land Enough To Feed A Family Of Four?
Ten acres is definitely enough land to feed a family of four. Honestly, this acreage, used to its fullest potential, could feed upwards of 20 people, or fully sustain around 15 people. The amount of food you’ll produce if fully farming your property actually opens up a great opportunity for a work trade setup where multiple people could help work your 10 acres in exchange for food to feed their own families.
Can You Be Off Grid On A 10 Acre Homestead?
A homestead layout of 10 acres can work well for an off-grid homestead, but it will take a lot of work and initial expense to put in everything you need for water, power, and waste. If you’re wanting to be fully off grid, I would suggest keeping all of your structures that require power and water fairly close together to simplify your process and make it more economical.
Is 10 Acres Of Land Enough For An Off-Grid Homestead?
Ten acres of land is more than enough for an off-grid homestead. When designing with off-grid intentions, spacing is everything, as things like solar panels and water sources will need to be near your house, outhouse, and barn. But if you’re committed to a fully self-sustaining lifestyle, you’ll be able to make it happen.
How Many Solar Panels Needed To Power Your Homestead?
Thirty solar panels should power up to 3,000 square feet of living and working space, but if your house, garage, barn, outhouses, and any other powered structures add up to over this square footage, you might need to add some more panels. Also, if your buildings are spread out over your acreage, you’ll need to cluster some panels near each structure to get consistent power.
Is A 10 Acre Homestead Worth The Investment?
I know I’ve said this before, but 10 acres is an ideal property size for your own tranquil homestead hideaway, and it’s plenty to supply your family’s needs while helping you learn some amazing life skills along the way. So, needless to say, I think a 10 acre homestead is absolutely worth the investment.
How Much Does It Cost To Start A 10 Acre Homestead?
I can’t even begin to estimate your startup costs, as location and situation is everything when it comes to the bottom line. If you’re needing to hire some help, you might consider hiring high school or college kids for the summer to cut down your own costs while also helping them gain experience and save up some spending money.
Costs Involved In Building A 10 Acre Homestead
- Land
- Building materials
- Possible hired help
- Tools and equipment
- Seeds, plants, bushes, and trees
- Livestock
- Continued maintenance
- Animal feed and care
Can A 10 Acre Homestead Be Profitable?
A 10 acre homestead can be very profitable depending on the number of people in your household and your own desire and determination to fully farm your land. You’ll need to acquire some marketing skills and some business savvy and budgeting skills to make this a significant portion of your livelihood, but I’ve seen people thrive by becoming farmers that can share their homegrown foods with their community.
Using my 10 acre homestead layout as your starting inspiration and my estimates of your goal harvest as your motivation, as you go ahead and choose your next step in the homesteading process. It’s never too early or too late to get started growing, no matter how big or how small your homestead.
Your Turn!
- What strategies have you used when building a chicken coop on a slope?
- What are some difficulties you’ve encountered with established trees on farmland?
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