What should you do first on a new homestead?
Short answer
Secure water first. Without a reliable summer water supply, don't invest in a garden, a polytunnel or livestock. After that the rough order is compost, vegetable garden and hens, then fruit trees, soft fruit, a polytunnel and bees, and only then rabbits, table poultry, goats or sheep.
A rough five-year order
| Stage | What comes in |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | Water, compost, vegetable garden, hens |
| Year 2 | Fruit trees, soft fruit, polytunnel, bees |
| Year 3 | Rabbits, table poultry, goats or sheep |
| Years 4–5 | Harvest, processing, expansion |
Three rules behind the order
- Plant slow things early. Fruit trees, hedges, soft fruit and asparagus give a crop only years later, so every year of delay costs you later.
- Housing and fencing come before the animal, and compost and soil before a big garden.
- Add one or two new areas a year, never everything at once.
The free plot preview shows the climate and a food estimate for your location.
The full guide also gives you
What comes first: a five-year investment plan
In what order to bring in water, soil, the vegetable garden, hens, fruit trees, a polytunnel, bees and larger livestock so that every step helps the next
- Priority calculator
- Readiness for a new area
- Investment calendar
- My five-year plan
- Decision log
Sources: Mollison, Permaculture: A Designers' Manual; Holmgren, Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability; Falk, The Resilient Farm and Homestead; Yeomans, The Challenge of Landscape.
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