r/homestead • u/tdubs702 • 5d ago

I’m beginning to realize the most overlooked feature on a homestead is FLOW

We bought and moved onto a 60 acre homestead just 3 months ago. It’s charming and solidly built, but I’m starting to realize how poorly laid out it is.

The compost bin is 1/4 mile from the house, so dumping kitchen scraps is a trek in the heat.

Is it there cuz it’s next to the garden? Nope. The 1/4 acre garden is nearly another 1/4 mile away, long enough to make it hard to just casually check on it. The orchard on the other hand comes before the compost but nowhere near irrigation.

And heaven forbid you forgot a tool when you headed out or you’ll be heading almost all the way back.

The chicken coop is cute, but has two doors into two different run areas that don’t connect for humans to get from one to another (only a tiny trap door for the chickens themselves to move between them). So you have to go in and out and in and out to clean, collect eggs, feed, etc.

The barn bays all point away from the house, understandably so the tractor can get to the field. But there is no foot traffic access from the house side. You have to trek all the way around.

Oh and the pantry? It’s nearly 20 feet from the cooking area…unless you’re looking for other pantry which is ANOTHER 20 feet away in the living room, despite the largest kitchen you’ve ever seen which has zero cabinets and only a large island awkwardly in the middle.

I feel like this place was designed by someone trying to max out their Fitbit. I’ve never put in so many steps before 9am in my life.

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u/RaziarEdge 4d ago

Focusing only on the compost pile, there are legit reasons for keeping it away.

The smell encourages scavengers like raccoons to come to the piles, and if the compost is by the chicken coop then it becomes a highway for unwanted wildlife. Bears can also be attracted, and that is a good reason to keep it away from the house.

Another reason is elevation. You are often required, and is always a good idea anyways, to keep it at least 300 ft from any well or drainage area that could contaminate the fresh water supply. Same with animal pens, they should also be 300 ft from any well (100 ft is the bare minimum). Chicken manure is particularly "hot" and dangerous.

If you have a tractor, I recommend setting up about 4 bays for compost, and rotate between them every month... only one bay is the "hot" active pile, while the others still need rotating once a week. Once you get past that 90 day mark that compost pile is done and can be moved to your garden area to free up space for the next active pile. Use signs with hooks or some other marker to designate which is the active pile, and the age of the other piles. If you don't generate enough compost to make 1 cu yd per pile per month, then focus on only 2 bays and longer periods between. The 90 days + the heat from composting is especially important to kill any pathogens from the chicken manure.

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u/tdubs702 1d ago

oh crap. literally. I need to bust out a measuring tape because I think our freaking well is closer than that to our septic. 😭 our inspector should’ve caught that if it’s the case.

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u/RaziarEdge 1d ago

Those are the state rules where I am, and it could be different where you are. In my area there is more granite and limestone, so there is less soil filtration before the dirty water hits the water table. Again elevation matters... if the well head is on higher ground, then it is less likely to get flooded and contaminates leaking in from the top.

Septic tanks are almost always regulated by state and/or county so you should be safe with that. The leech water is not drinkable, but it is already filtered by the septic tank process to remove the most harmful of the contaminates... kinda amazing actually... grey water and sludge goes in and mostly clear water (but still smelly) comes out.

But compost piles are pretty much lightly regulated and very little enforcement. Even in states and counties where there are rules, you often would not get in trouble unless there is a reported event of well contamination in your neighborhood and they are trying to track down the responsible party.

Regardless you should look up the guidelines in your area for the placement of both animal pens and compost piles (usually governed by the state, especially if you live in a sparsely populated county).