Your first year on the homestead, step by step
Interactive lesson: from keys to first harvest — safety on day one, paperwork and neighbours, a first no-dig garden, the first winter and the review of the year.
Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with the Your first year module. Already bought? Unlock
This lesson is general guidance, not professional training. Local regulations and expert advice always take precedence. Read our disclaimer.
The whole lesson as text
1. Day one: safety
On day one, don't start cleaning and working; walk round everything with the list.
- Electrics — Old wiring, bare cables, rewireable fuses. Until a qualified electrician has checked it, switch off circuits you don't use and ask for an RCD (residual current device; GFCI outlets in North America) to be fitted.
- Chimney and stove — Don't light a fire until a chimney sweep has inspected and swept the flue. Fit a CO alarm and smoke alarms.
- Drinking water — Water from a well, spring or private supply isn't safe to drink until a lab test says so. Until then drink bottled or boiled water.
- Asbestos — Old corrugated roof sheets, asbestos-cement pipes and boards, some old floor tiles and lagging. Don't break, drill, brush or burn them. Trained contractors remove them.
Why: An old house and barn hide dangers you don't see at first glance. Electrics, the chimney, drinking water and asbestos come before everything else.
- Fit a carbon monoxide (CO) alarm and smoke alarms before the first fire. Have any gas appliance checked by a registered gas engineer.
- If asbestos sheets are intact and undamaged, the safest thing is to leave them alone until you have a quote for proper removal.
2. Pits, waste and overgrown land
Open wells and pits, old chemicals and overgrown land need attention before any work.
- Cover pits and wells — Open wells, septic tanks, old slurry pits and unguarded cellars: cover them at once with a strong lid and fence them off.
- Never go down — Never go down a well, septic tank, silo or slurry pit without a gas detector, a harness and rope and another person above.
- Old chemicals — Don't pour pesticides, poisons, paints, oils and batteries on the ground and don't burn them. Pack them in a closed box, label it and take it to a hazardous waste collection; ask the council or county.
- Overgrown land — Before going into dense scrub, woodland or ruins, find out about hidden hazards: old wells and shafts, dumped waste and, only where it is known to exist, unexploded ordnance. Long trousers and sturdy boots.
Why: A well, septic tank or slurry pit can hold carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulphide or too little oxygen. A person can pass out in a few breaths, and often the one who tries to pull them out dies too.
- Leave cleaning wells and pits to properly equipped people. In an emergency call 999 or 112 (UK, Ireland) or 911 (US, Canada).
- In summer watch for snakes in stony places and for ticks in the grass: a tick check every evening.
3. The first 30 days · Locked
Buy the Your first year module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.
4. A first no-dig garden · Locked
Buy the Your first year module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.
5. The first winter · Locked
Buy the Your first year module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.
6. Patience and the review · Locked
Buy the Your first year module and you get the PDF to download and print, plus lifetime access to this interactive lesson: all 6 chapters, 24 steps.