Interactive lesson

What comes first on a homestead, step by step

Interactive lesson: in what order to bring in water, compost, the vegetable garden, hens, fruit trees, a polytunnel, bees and larger livestock over five years.

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The whole lesson as text

1. Why the order matters

On a homestead the order matters more than the speed.

Water comes first — Without a reliable summer water supply, don't invest in the garden, a polytunnel or livestock. A polytunnel without summer water is a sauna for dead plants.
The garden stands on soil — The garden stands on water and soil, and the soil stands on compost. Compost stands on scraps and manure.
Hens need a foundation — Hens stand on a house, a fence and feed. A hen house built before the garden produces manure with nowhere to go.
Start slow things early — A fruit tree needs 3–8 years from planting to full crop, and money can't hurry that. An orchard planted in year five only bears in year ten.

Why: Every part of a homestead stands on something else. When you bring something in before the thing it stands on, you pay twice: once for the new thing, and again to fix what was missing.

Ask: “Which of these is a precondition for the others?” That goes first.
Ask: “Which of these can't be hurried with money?” That goes straight after.

2. The scale of permanence

Plan from the top down: from what you can't change to what you change every year.

Climate and landform — Hardiness zone, frost, rainfall and drought don't change. Slope, aspect and frost pockets change only with difficulty and at great cost.
Water and access — A spring, a well, rainwater and where water flows are hard to change. The track to the house, paths and a tractor gate are expensive to move.
Trees and buildings — An orchard, hedges and windbreaks take years to grow. The house, barn, hen house and polytunnel are expensive to move.
Fences and soil — Fences and runs are moderately hard to change. Soil changes slowly, but through work, so improve it every year.

Why: The Australian farmer P. A. Yeomans proposed planning in order of how hard each thing is to change. Permaculture still uses his scale today. It gives a rule: water, access and trees first, then buildings and fences — and improve the soil from day one.

You don't change the climate or the landform; you choose what suits them.
Reading the land in detail is in H01-03, and the layout of zones in H01-04.