Country Living 101 :: 30 Acres and a Mule

Well, sort of....maybe not 30 acres and a mule, but how about an acre and a Saint Bernard? Hehehe...

Our property sits on 30 acres, we own 3 acres and are preparing to buy the other 27 from the folks who originally sold us our home back in 2003. At the time, we couldn't afford the additional cost for the land but Darrell and Sharon, the couple we bought the house from agreed to let us have the first shot at it when the time came. They moved to South Carolina but come back at least once a month to maintain the rest of the property.

It's been our dream since we moved here to own all 30 acres and each day we move closer and closer to realizing that. Since our neighbors are rarely ever here, they basically let us do whatever we want as they know we're going to buy the rest, it's only a matter of time.

This year business is so slow it's practically at a stand still, I've basically become a traditional housewife. This is not a bad thing and I'm actually enjoying it. I never realized how peaceful the house is during the day when all the kids are at school and Mike is at work. It's just me, the animals, and the sounds of all of this country nature...pure bliss.  My husband is simply the greatest man alive. He lets me spend my days doing whatever I want and has pretty much given me the go ahead to take my little homesteading project a little further than I had intended. He's something else I tell ya. I married a prince.

Now that the weather has warmed up, (we're enjoying temps in the 70's much of the time) I've had time to go outside and really take a look at our property and the property that surrounds us. Our house is partially built into English Mountain and much of the land is wooded, but there is plenty cleared that I can work with so long as I leave the front yard, which is about 2 acres, alone and looking nice Mike is pretty much letting me decide what I want to do. The problem is, I'm not sure what I want to do. The downstairs of our home is completely finished with a second full kitchen, but now that Ashley is in the Navy, it's just Cassie and her cat down there. It could actually be another 1500 sq. foot home with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the kitchen, a fireplace,  and tons of open space. As of now, it;s just there, unused and unloved. I need ideas to put this space to work!

I'm a newbie to the homesteading movement, but I've got the bug bad! I know I need to be doing something so I figured I'd reach out to all of my homesteading, gardening, country living, and just plain creative buddies to see what you suggest.  Whatever projects I choose to undertake, I'm going to produce an eTV segment for Under the Willow Tree eTV (or more) and I'd love to feature some ideas from my fellow homesteaders.

Some of my ideas include:

- Raising dairy goats
- Making artisan cheese
- Bee keeping

So tell me... what would you do with an acre of good land and 1500 extra sq. feet of house?  Anybody? Anybody? (says this in the best Ferris Beuller voice)