Jeremy and I are starting our farm search and I am so excited. I’m using the term farm a bit loosely – there’s a lot we don’t know, and where we end up will be a combination of what we feel we can handle and what becomes available. As of right now, we’re looking for more of a “homestead” than a farm. We have some basic criteria:

• 10+ acres, with 4+ acres already cleared (there is a lot of woodland property here in New England)
• A right-to-farm town (obviously)
• A large enough house where I can have my “loom room” and Jeremy can have a music room
• Room to grow

We also have some bonus features:

• Fruit trees (Jeremy’s particularly excited about this idea)
• Water near or on the property (we need to use our canoe more)
• Workshop/barn already there
• A house built in the 1700s (We looked at a fixer upper property like this and wow it was beautiful)

I already started daydreaming about the types of chickens and ducks I would love to try out, and obviously the breakdown of sheep I want to have eventually. And bees!! And goth vegetables!!

Anyway, I want to keep some notes here as our search evolves, and also put it out into the world in case people have leads or shepherding-related advice on what to look for or avoid in a property, if our acreage seems too low, etc. – we’d be happy to hear as much advice as possible.