May as well start now

[Corn Woman]

Yippe!!!! I finally did it, I closed on my house and property and got my keys yesterday. I'm so happy I could burst. I have wanted to get some land of my own for so long and needed it to be close to my home so travel would not be a issue. I have looked for 3 years and when something seemed perfect it was always "under contract" BOO, take the sign down and don't get my hopes up for heavens sake. Well after months of stalking every area that I wanted to purchase in I found it, and this time there was another offer but as luck would have it the offer fell thru and my offer was accepted.

Now for the details I am the proud owner of a shack on 1/3 of an acre with 6 hours of water rights 4 blocks from my house that I paid for in full, no mortgage and no interest. Said shack was built in 1923 has aprox 957 sq ft upstairs, 220 sq ft basement ( concrete and gas furnace with water heater) and a small root cellar.

My small slice of dirt heaven has great potential with some native plum trees, golden delicious apple and the "Lady of the lot" as I call her, an old apricot tree in need of come TLC.

I know this tiny little bit of property is a postage stamp compared to some of the beauties I have read about on this site but I'm thrilled just the same and it's one more goal realized on my path to self sufficiency.

Now I have some decisions to make regarding what to do with the shack, BTW it has hardwood floors. It's in need of new electrical ( solar perhaps) plumbing and roofing. Previous owner appeared to know nothing about anything in the home improvement department. Or if the fix up is far too expensive then maybe demo???? If I fix up then I could rent out the house and have a small income coming back in and still garden the property.

All ideas are welcome!!! #yeame

 

[Britesea]

Yay for you! We are in kind of the same category as you- we only have 1/2 acre and an 850 squ foot house built in the '20s with a few sheds. 2 apple trees and 2 greengage plums. I wish we had a root cellar, although we do have a crawl space that's about 4' tall that I've been thinking of setting up for food storage of some sort.

We had to upgrade our electrical, and over the past 10 years we've had to come up with the money for replacing the roof, the septic tank and leach field, and the well pump and tank. Thank goodness those things happened a little at a time.

Give the thought of renting the cottage out lots of deep thought. Renters can be a real pain, and if you choose wrong they can cost you a LOT of money. A friend of mine had a renter that stayed only 3 months; he skipped out without paying (other than the first and last of course) and she found $3000 worth of damage to the bathroom and bedroom (the toilet and sink were broken and leaking and the water destroyed both rooms).
On the other hand, you might end up with a jewel of a tenant, like I have- She treats the house as if it's her own home, and always faithfully lets me know if something needs attention. Even though she had 3 dogs (she's down to one now), the pale beige carpet throughout the house is still spotless after 3 years. In return, I've never raised the rent as I fully appreciate what I have.

 

[Corn Woman]

You are truly lucky with that renter Britesea. I am not wanting to be a landlord but I do want to have enough income from the property to pay the taxes every year. With good planning I should be able to do that at the seasonal Farmers Market . If I put enough into the house to have a commercial kitchen I can get my cottage foods license and sell in the year round market which would be even better. Bonus is the home has natural gas already so finding a gas stove 2nd hand will be fairly easy. The electrical is knob and tube so it has to be done for safety.

 

[Britesea]

I suspect that the commercial kitchen is a safer bet than a renter. In all the years I was trying to sell jewelry at shows and fairs, the vendors that did well no matter how miserable the show were the food vendors. For some reason, people are more willing to lay down their cash for "tomorrow's compost" than for a piece of art that they will be able to enjoy for years.

What sort of things are you thinking of making in the kitchen?

 

[Corn Woman]

Seriously?? A year since I wrote in my journal, what have I been up to? Life goes by so fast. Well it was a very busy year. The little house still sits as is while I save money to do something with or to it. Good news is the garden was amazing this year. In fact I am still trying to get the tomatoes harvested. We have had killing frost but I bought several large tarps during the spring and summer that were on clearance and covered the tomatoes to extent the harvest so I have a huge amount to can. My youngest daughter was married in September so that's where the majority of my time and money went. It was a beautiful wedding and I love my new SIL. The ceremony took place right outside Zion National Park which is only an hour drive from my front door. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day and the location was gorgeous. So much natural beauty and so close home. But what a relief to have the wedding over. Now I can focus on the "holidays". I love Thanksgiving but every ad I notice is trying to cram December 25th down my throat!! I can't even say the C word yet. Please let me enjoy Thanksgiving without rushing.

 

[Corn Woman]

To answer Your question from so long ago Britesea I was thinking that I could get my Cottage Foods license and market my home canned items at the Farmers Market for extra income. I already sell garden produce at the market and to do anything else I have to be licensed thru the state and have a kitchen inspection. Just seems easier to have a different location that isn't in the home. Too many regulations as far as that goes. I have had a few people inquire about renting a commercial kitchen as well so there may be a potential source for more income. They rent the space do their canning or preserving, clean up and go. That could pose another problem because not everyone's version of clean is the same.

 

[Britesea]

The wedding sounds like it must have been wonderful!

I'm envious that you have such a good tomato harvest- my tomatoes did squat, thanks to a mistake I made about what soil to use in the earth boxes-- I accidentally used soil that had been contaminated by weed killer. I hope that emptying the boxes and washing them will be enough to be able to re-use the boxes.

A couple of ways to deal with cleaning a rental commercial kitchen come to mind: One is to have a poster detailing exactly what needs to be done. You could ask for a cleaning deposit with the rental, which would be refunded once the kitchen is cleaned satisfactorily. Another would be to just add the price of a thorough cleaning by professionals to the rental price?

 

[Denim Deb]

That's a good idea.

 

[Corn Woman]

Those are great ideas. A poster with detailed instructions should leave nothing to question. And the deposit insures that it will get cleaned either way.

I had also tossed around the idea of freeze drying equipment but the prices for the units are crazy expensive.

 

[Corn Woman]

Spent the morning in the garden and still picked a few ripe tomatoes, unheard of for the middle of November. There are plenty of green ones and everything is getting gleaned. The storm forecast looks ugly and freezing for the next week with temps 18 degrees at night so no amount of covering is going to protect them. Dug up the carrots and I need to get them ready for storage. I had considered leaving them in the ground and covering them with a tarp and leaves but then reconsidered. I would just have to drive to my property and shovel snow off the tarp and dig the carrots. A major pain when I want some good carrots so out they came. I planted 4 varieties and all of them are just beautiful. So thrilled to finally have a good carrot harvest, let the juicing begin!! As well as other carrot goodness.