Reader's digest has a book called Back to Basics which will have great ideas for where to situate buildings, livestock, etc..

As for runoff, you may want to dig trenches to send the water where you want it (pond?) and keep it where you don't want it (driveway).

Here is a link to a gardening layout with critters for fertilizer:

http://www.minifarmhomestead.com/Ourhomestead/gardencorral.htm

Good luck!

um - you need an engineer, preferably an agricultural engineer but a civil engineer would be able to do this work for you also.... you may be able to get someone at the local NRCS office to help you also.

An engineer? To do a landscape/outbuilding layout? Seems sort of overkill.

Find someone in your area who has a place you admire...talk with them, invite them over for coffee, tea...a beer, whatever...go for a walk and talk. Ask them if they know anyone else that would like coffee, tea or a beer...is knowledgeable in what you want and would like to go for a walk/talk.

The more local to you, the better.
Forget the Ag Extension agent, in my opinion.
Ask of them that's doin'....

May I suggest you try your question at the homesteading today website? You can ask people who may have the same constraints what they have done. Also, ask what they would do differently. It makes a huge difference in what you can do in a day if you have things laid out efficiently. It's always good, bTW to have a small fenced in area to put the babies or sick animals separate from the larger pasture(s). That one should be close to the barn so you can check on it. I wish my barn were closer to the garden as that would make it easier to take the manure to the garden and bring the weeds from the garden to the chickens to eat.

Again, the book I recommended above will tell you much of what you need to know.

I agree with lilac, forget the ag extension agent. I invited one out at the beginning and it was a waste. Big agro farming was his cup o tea.

Have you read any permaculture books, Mollison?

coriander

i agree
read, read , read
ask questions of your neigbours and community
absolutely mine the net and don't forget your friends
and don't try to do it all at once.... make a five or ten year plan

I agree to ask knowledgable people, but also look at the land yourself. My husband and I are in the same boat as you. We are taking over the famililes 20 acres in the woods, a deep hollow. We want to utilize sunlight to our best advantage, but have water issues from the steep hills to our front and back. My advise is to walk your land, rain and shine. After a heavy rain look to see where the water is going, and coming from. Then you can see what Mother Nature's plan is for your land and go from there.

You should read a few books on building animal shelters, and then you want to know where the winds come from on the land. If you build a house facing into the prevailing wind and have shingles on the roof, they may lift up EVERY time the wind blows, opening up a big can of worms. (that one happened to a uncle of my husband's and he finally replaced the roof with a metal one)

Where is the sun during the morning and day in the four seasons. In the average severe storm which way does it come? Things like that.

You may pick the perfect plot for your garden, then find wind damage because it is also the main wind passage. Or the sun is aligned great over the garden in May, but trees shade it in August. And pay attention to deer trails. They are usually easy to see in the summer and fall, so dont' plant your garden two feet from an old passage, or it will be the drive through of the neighborhood animals!!

I have a small drawing with large trees etc as guides, nothing too scientific. I have water ways marked, and water runoff as well. I have arrows that point the wind and notations for the sun placement. Maybe have some of this on paper before talking with local farmers about how they would like their farms to be laid out. I wouldn't visit busy farmers during the harvest, but after or during the growing season is good. I have experience with horses, but am learning that horse "things" differ from other animals. I recommend ANY book published by Storey publishing. I have a growing library to help me on my way. Up first in the Spring is the work shed and then the Chicken coop. I have read about setting up coops and have found a good place that is "downwind" but still close enough to visit everyday.

Having the barn close to the house is great in storms and convienient, but remember what barns smell like and place it according to the way the wind blows. Paddocks need to be close to the barn, if not attached outright. Gates are busy areas, so pour concrete or have gravel to keep mud from building up. And remember to build at least a three wall garage for equipment, don't keep gasoline engines in the barn with your animals.

First, draw what you THINK is perfect, then make changes based on your land. And be flexible. It sucks to have everything picked out until the water people come and say that the only place to drill the well is on the opposite side of the property. Good Luck!!

Tami

...don't forget to take pictures as you go. It's so much fun to have photos of the progress you make, and to look back to what you started with.

Here is a link that might be useful: Storey publishing

Aloha Mary,

Tami has the right idea to draw a picture of your lot and start making notes on it. I'm a draftsperson, my job is to help people figure out what they want and to draw up the construction blueprints. Having someone who already knows the wind direction, where the sun rises and the basic buildings they want is a really good start.

When you have a basic sketch of the land, you can make small "house", "barn", "septic field", "water well", etc. markers the same scale (or something close to it) of the drawing and move them around on your drawing. Sometimes that will help you visualize things.

And then, when doing all this, remember that it doesn't matter what you plan, it will be changed before it is finished. The only time the buildings match the plans is when the plans are drawn after the building is done.

A hui hou,
Cathy

Lynn Miller, who publishes Small Farmer's Journal, has a book out on laying out a small farm. It's geared toward semi-traditional horse farming, which may or may not be your thing.

Regarding runoff and slope, my first thought is to build in a series of swales to catch runoff, trapping eroded soil and helping water infiltrate. If you were to look for an engineer, look for civil. I got a degree in Ag. Engineering in '89 and they then changed the name of the department and tried to get rid of all the useful stuff. All the basics of Ag. Eng. as they applied to small farmers were figured out long ago, and the field has moved on to things like floating hydroponic lettuce in heated greenhouses.

I've got a friend who wants to have everything perfectly planned before he actually does any building. I don't think he'll ever get anything started and built. Your plans will change over time. Don't over-plan. Don't be afraid to start building, even if you find you have to move the hen house later. Be flexible and ready to adjust things, because most likely you'll have to anyway somewhere down the line.

Dan

First and foremost draw on paper what you already have. Draw in run off direction and even the prevailing wind though that will change with the season. On wind think of the stronger winds. Down here thats summertime with the possibility of hurricanes coming in from the south.

Now where will you place the house? From there you create zones. The zone nearest the house should contain any thing that will need daily attention. Then you work out from there to those things you will need the least. For me nearest the house are the veggies, then animals (chickens) and barn, next out fruit trees and finally the wood lot.

Swells by the way are a great idea to slow down that run off and to capture a bit of it to boot. It takes a while for clay to absorb water so slowing down that run off is a must.
If you have hilly land plant on contours.
Up north I don't know what you would find important as to solar aspects of your house but down here we want shade on the south and west sides of the house over summer and sun in the winter. I have trees that drop their leaves over winter to allow that sun through along with trellis that I grow vines up for summer shade. Also a solar hot water heater is easy to put together and cheap to build or purchase.
I believe up north wind breaks are much more important than they are down here. You'll need to ask someone with more knowledge than myself about a windbreak.
Oh and keep the barn downwind!

There is so much to learn and you bet you'll make what you feel will be mistakes. My advice is don't sweat it. Try to work with what nature wants to naturally do (like paddling down stream rather than up). Think of the big picture but break the big projects into small tasks.

HA!!! I could go on and go.
Most of all ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE. Sweating and cursing are all part of the package but at the end of the day remember to be happy. :o)

Mike

Mike, Your last bit of advice is important - and so easy to forget! Thanks for the reminder. ;-)

Marys1000, how is the planning coming along? Are you still with us? How about an update....

Another book I like, in addition to those already mentioned, is Country Life: A Handbook for Realists and Dreamers by Paul Heiney. It is a bit idealized, but it shows layouts for different sized pieces of land and what you might expect to grow and raise there. It is a good source of information -- and a terrific inspiration if you are feeling discouraged.

I agree with everyone!! Also, while the actual agent may not be helpful, the Cooperative Extension handouts for your region can be invaluable. Also, don't draw buildings, gardens, what not on your plot plan. My advice? Take your land survey (if you got one when you bought the land) or a drawing as accurate as you can reasonably get it, into a printer and have them blow it up to posterboard size adn laminate it. THis way you can make to scale cutouts of your various desired outbuildings and move them around. You can make the drawing roughly topographic...allowing yourself to see how things fit will help you work out a lot of issues. But don't be afraid to get a rough idea then start. If you are a typical homsteader, you certainly won't be able to build even a QUARTER of all you want to do in teh first year--heck maybe not even the first THREE -FIVE years. Good luck.

I hope that Marys got that farm build years ago.

Since this post has been brought to the top again, I will add:

Arrange the farm so that anyone coming in must go past the house before they get to the barns and livestock. You don't want strangers messing around in your barns when you don't even know they have driven in.

I learned the hard way to have mesh gates across the driveway. That was to keep all the abandoned animals being dropped off in the country by jackazz owners out of my fields and away from killing my poultry and chasing my livestock.

If you have livestock, don't forget to have a dry lot for them and a good grove of big trees where they can get out of the weather. They are unlikely to go into a barn voluntarily unless the weather is outrageously bad.

the U.S.D.A. has some publications on how to build a pond and other things you might be interested in . First put your leaching field down hill from your well and AT LEAST 250 FEET AWAY FROM THE WELL. The further away the better. That I reemeber from my 1971 ecology clsss .
2)I recommend a horseshoe driveway this gives you less problems Backing out less of a problem with off street parking.
3) I would place my house on the highest point omn the lot this can give you the best view and the least problems with flooding
4) If you need a wind break, You should plant fir trees on the north side of th structure and apple tress on th south side because in the winter thr leaves will fall off and you can stiil get sunshine on your house to warm it .
5) you might want to place a pond near a barn in case there is a fire . some insurances give a discount for this chek with yours.
6)See if you can find the boy scout merit badge pamphlet entitled "farm arrangements" in you local llbrary it is out of print But you might still be able to fid it.

Some things I like about our place:

Barns are away from the house. House & barns are upslope from the pastures, runoff water runs away from the barns. Barns are both cement & dirt, barns are situated together with electricity and water, barns have good distance (3 or 4 car lengths) between them for working space but also just in case of fire. Driveway to barn is asphalt(easier for snow). Barns are accessible from several pastures. Barns are fully enclosed if need be. 1 barn is heated for workshop/birthing stalls/sick animals. Barns are either wide open inside(just support beams) or very large stalls so we can section them off as needed. Barns all have either double wide dutch doors or garage doors for horses, tractors, or just extra light/breeze in the summer. 1 barn is 1/2 underground which holds a cool 50* during summer. 1 barn is dedicated as a walk-in - meaning animals have free choice access yet it can be closed if need be. Additional Pole barn (4 sides open) serves as additional shelter & feeding station easily cleaned out with a backhoe or bulldozer. Trees are situated so one whole side of the property has shade 100% of the time, good in summer, not so good in winter but the pastures are large enough it doesn't matter. Pastures are large enough and enough of them for rotational grazing.

Water runs off where we want it, french drains take care of problem areas. Fences all have minimum 12' gate for large equipment (plus small people gates). Fences are either 4' high stock fence, 5' chainlink, or 6' chainlink, to serve the animals they contain. Electric fencing is utilized to help keep fences in good order.

Brendasue