...and you inheritrd his 10 billion dollar fortune! Whats the lay out of your new spread? I would go out and get around a 1000 acre place and if they werent already there build a couple of small lakes around 5 to 10 acres and several watering ponds. Well fence and cross fence the place into say 100 acre sections for live stock pasture, crops, orchard, hay fields, and timber land. Build about a 3600 sruare foot partial earth contact home that would have high windows just above ground level and a walk out side faceing the south where there would be a mud room and a summer kitchen. Install wood stoves that would also heat the water for the house in cold weather and would be heavily lined with lava rock or soap stone. Set the place up on solar with wind and generator back ups. Build a water tower with at least 1000 gallon capacity and a windmill to fill it so as to have gravity fed water and enouph for fire supression if needed. Then add a desil powered pump and a hand pump as back up in case of no wind. Put up a large barn with full hay loft stalls and the whole bit. Put up the smoke house and grain bins and so on. Get one of the pigyback containers that they load then transfere from rail to ship and so on, in the 60'x8' variety and have it burried near the house as a cellar. Line the sides with 2' deep shelves on one side and 2 1/2' on the other to better hold 5 gallon buckets and stock up on everything includeing canned goods, staples, seasonings, ammo, fasteners, etc., etc., etc. and several barrels of water at the back wall as well as an extremely well stocked reloading area. Then I would have to set the place up with live stock. Since they would also need feed for the winters set aside at least 200 acres for hay and grain fields to feed the critters and get it planted. Get highland cattle and have a few of them trained as working oxen. Get all needed machinery to work the place in the old fashioned style where the wheeles turning powers it and can be done by animals or a tractor pulling it. Have around 75 head of highland cattle which are rugged and work well as oxen in spite of being a bit small (short), have long soft spinnable hair, are a long horned variety capable of thier own defence but well tempered, give milk high in butter fat and excelent meat. (Great breed!) Then I would have to get 6 or 7 sow pigs and a couple of boars, not as sure on the breed of them for meat and 'tilling' any fields I needed cleaned up as well as snake controle. Have a couple of hundred rode island red laying hens and several roosters in a large chicken house with a chicken yard that would be around 150' x 150' and have chicken wire across the top at 7 or 8 foot as well as the fences and burried 2 inches under the fence (which would meet and be tied to the buried wire) and running 2' in each direction from the fence. Have a dozen or more each of turkeys, geese and guinies to run the yard as guard dogs and bug control as well as an ocasional change in meat. Add in a heard of say 50 to 75 goats and we're in good shape. I may add a bit more later but I just saw our donkey walk by the window and need to put him in. So what would your place be like?
Lot of things to think about. I'd say that I'd start with around 500 acres. I don't really need much more and I'd just feel the need to patrol more if I had it... I think I'd put up an underground like one of these. Check the gallery. pretty cool: http://www.formworksbuilding.com/ I'd want the usual assortment of Livestock... Chickens, goats, cattle, horses etc. and a big stock of supplies and goods. I'd also want to set up some more high end communications. That's off the top of my head. I really don't think I need much more. I like simple
Yup, I just figured the 1k acres so that if I had others joining me or found refugees that I determined to be reliable enouph to add to the tribe then it allows room for growth as well as plenty of room to have enouph critters to supply our needs and still have plenty for trade but then need enouph area for hay fields and such to harvest for sustaining them in the winter. Have to say that my toy collection would also grow considerably, and would also have at least a 500-1000 gallon underground fuel tank put in and filled to run the gas/desil powered machines, vehicles and so on. Im also into keeping it simple, just makeing sure I have all I need to take care of things in the most efficient manner I can. Oh and Ild also have to add a good manual/motorized (the type driven by a V-belt to a motor than can also be hand cranked) meat grinder and grain mill.
My aunt and uncle have 7K and it feels about right, so that is what I would go with. Lots of room to run livestock. Lots of cows. A man could eat well, for a long time. Not to mention lots of room to raise assorted crops.
I think this would work. http://www.fayranches.com/Props/?PROP_ID=6 or this one: http://www.fayranches.com/Props/?PROP_ID=54 this is kind of interesting given seclusion: http://www.fayranches.com/Props/?PROP_ID=44
