After a long stretch of planning, saving, and second guessing everything, we finally made the jump and moved out here.
Woke up this morning to this view. Quiet water, little islands, nothing but trees and wind. Feels like the kind of place where time slows down whether you want it to or not.
There’s a rough path down toward the water I’m hoping to turn into something more usable. Thinking dock eventually if the shoreline allows it. Soil looks decent in spots, but I’ve got a lot to learn before planting anything serious.
Still no idea how harsh the winters are going to be here, and I’m sure I’m underestimating the work ahead. But standing out there this morning, coffee in hand, it finally felt real.
If anyone’s got tips for starting out in a coastal, forested setup like this, I’m all ears.
by Terrible_Toe8371
16 Comments
You bought land in an area where you don’t know the average temperatures thru all seasons?
I’m confused about your comment about having no idea how bad the winters are going to be. Was this not in your research? I guess I am what you would call a weather fanatic and that’s the very first thing that I would research about a place I was thinking about moving to.
I guess now that you have the property, just queue up a ton of YT vids and get after it.
Where is this
No one knows exactly how something is going to be until they’ve lived it. I think that’s what OP was saying about the winter there. It’s a beautiful spot!
I think OP means there’s a difference between reading the average temperature of a place on a website and experiencing that same temperature or weather there in person.
In any case, the scenery is superb.
“Let things grow the first year and see what you have.” That is advice I heard a lot and 6ish years into my homesteading I mostly agree with. I will add however, especially since you’re in a completely different country- look up “annoying invasives your area” and “noxious plants your area”
I would have been a lot better off I started taking care of some of my trouble plants early on. Instead, I excitedly let them grow an entire year and did not understand the extent of the issue until the 3rd year.
reminds me of the game Age of Empires
im so jealous
My advice is spend the first year watching everything. You learn about the land and what belongs where.
Start with building your sauna
Stunning!
OMG Orcas Island flashback.
Wow! You’ll never tire of that view! Congratulations!!
Beautiful, congrats.
I’m guessing the priorities are the usual.. shelter, water, power. From there it all gets more specific of course.
Enjoy the journey…
Looks like Maine, US, but your leaves are further along than ours. As for general advice…
1) Plant fruit trees RIGHT NOW.
2) Root crops are probably gonna be best for you as far as calories per acre; if you have well drained soil try potatoes.
3) Find out where you can rent a wood chipper. Wood chips make great paths, suppress weeds, and are basically free.
4) Look at getting some solar. It looks like you’ve got a pretty good amount of sky there, so it should pay off even at your latitude.
5) Get a canoe dolly. Canoes *are* light, but they’re even lighter when you don’t have to carry them.
Other than that, hard to say, but it looks like a nice place. Enjoy it.
STUNNING!
Seeing your comment about this being in Western Norway near Bergen, my top tips would be:
1. Avoid siting any gardens in areas that might be cold sinks (near the bottoms of hills, especially).
2. Precipitation will likely come to define your homestead experience. Y’all don’t get the same depth of cold that we do in U.S. 4b but you do get snow and coastal rain (quite a lot of it, I think, if my bestie’s au pair stories stack up). Siting outbuildings, paths, and drainage accordingly (especially if you put up a high tunnel) will be such a boon.
3. Fish guts are your friend if you have a flock of chickens – so get that dock and take up fishing if it’s allowed at your location! Our neighbor fly fishes spring through fall and ice fishes in the winter and the way his trimmings cut back on our flock’s food budget is impressive!
I am SO PUMPED for you. Can’t wait to see your homestead unfold! And I’d be super grateful for any tips y’all have if you emigrated from the US…we’re considering a move ourselves, though we’d be sad to say goodbye to our homestead here in Vermont.