Homestead portal — open to everyone
No password and no account to set up. Put your name and email on the badge card below, check off the record-keeping habits you already keep, and save. At six of eight you get a badge number a buyer can look up. Every planning tool on this page is free and works whether or not you ever fill in the badge.
1. Enter your name and email on the badge card — that is the whole sign-up.
2. Work through the eight record steps. Save any time; this browser remembers you.
3. At six confirmed steps your badge number is issued, and it stays good for a year.
What a worked acre looks like
Ten crops on roughly 5,700 row feet of beds, plus 25 laying hens. Planting dates follow Zone 7–9 extension guidance; harvest dates are figured from days to maturity. Change the season and household size and the whole plan moves with it.
| Crop | Row feet | Planted | Picking window | Total | Household eats | Surplus value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eggs 25 laying hens on pasture — 900 dozen a year, counted as units not row feet. | 25 hens | Jan 15, 2026 | Jan 15, 2026 – Jan 14, 2027 | 900 dozen | 208 dozen | $4,152 |
Head lettuce Early spring beds, transplanted under row cover. | 400 | Feb 20, 2026 | Apr 10, 2026 – May 1, 2026 | 480 head | 12 head | $1,170 |
Green beans Direct seeded; replant every 3 weeks to stretch the picking. | 800 | Mar 25, 2026 | May 20, 2026 – Jun 17, 2026 | 960 lb | 16 lb | $2,832 |
Summer squash Two plantings, spring and late summer, to dodge vine borers. | 600 | Apr 1, 2026 | May 20, 2026 – Jul 1, 2026 | 1320 lb | 36 lb | $2,568 |
Cucumbers Trellised to save bed space and keep fruit clean. | 500 | Apr 5, 2026 | May 31, 2026 – Jul 5, 2026 | 1250 lb | 30 lb | $2,440 |
Tomatoes Staked and tied weekly; the biggest single earner on the acre. | 900 | Apr 10, 2026 | Jun 26, 2026 – Aug 21, 2026 | 2700 lb | 64 lb | $7,908 |
Bell peppers Transplants after soil holds 65F overnight. | 600 | Apr 20, 2026 | Jul 13, 2026 – Sep 7, 2026 | 1080 lb | 32 lb | $2,882 |
Sweet potatoes Slips on plastic; cures in the shed for two weeks after digging. | 900 | May 15, 2026 | Aug 28, 2026 – Sep 18, 2026 | 1800 lb | 24 lb | $3,108 |
Collards Fall bed, picked leaf by leaf through frost. | 700 | Aug 15, 2026 | Oct 17, 2026 – Dec 26, 2026 | 630 bunch | 40 bunch | $1,770 |
Garlic Planted in fall, pulled the following June; mulched heavy. | 300 | Oct 20, 2026 | Jun 1, 2027 – Jun 15, 2027 | 180 lb | 2 lb | $1,424 |
| Surplus above what the household eats | $30,254 | |||||
Surplus value uses direct-market prices for Southeast small farms and does not subtract your growing costs, packing time, or the drive to a buyer. Price a real contract with the tool below before you agree to anything.
Seed-starting and transplant calendar, from your frost dates
Pick your zone — or type your own frost dates if you know them — and every sowing, setting-out and first-harvest date shifts with it. Twenty-one crops, spring through fall, drawn from NC, GA and FL extension planting guides.
January
Slow starters. Wait for soil at 65F overnight or they sulk for a month.
Takes light frost under row cover. Bolts once nights stay above 70F.
Set out hardened transplants; watch for cabbage worms from the first warm week.
Spring heads size up fast; a fall planting usually eats better.
Needs the warmest bed you have. Flea beetles hit young plants hardest.
February
Pot up once before setting out; bury the stem deep at transplant.
Direct seed as soon as the ground can be worked; they quit in the heat.
Cut seed pieces and cure two days before planting.
March
Keep the seedbed damp for two weeks — that is the whole trick.
April
Replant every 2-3 weeks through July to keep beans coming.
Plant in short blocks, not long single rows, so it pollinates.
Trellis them; picking every other day keeps the vine setting.
A second sowing in early July dodges most vine borer damage.
Give it room — one hill needs the space of four bean feet.
Loves the heat. Soak seed overnight before sowing.
Set slips once nights hold above 60F; cure the dug roots two weeks.
August
Frost sweetens the leaves. Pick from the bottom up and it keeps going.
September
Direct seed thick, thin for greens, leave the rest to bulb.
Overwinters under a low tunnel for late-winter picking.
October
Plant cloves around first frost, mulch heavy, pull in June.
December
Long-day types will not bulb this far south — buy short-day or intermediate seed.
Frost dates are long-term averages. A late cold snap still happens, so keep row cover ready for anything set out within two weeks of your last frost date.
Small-farm startup cost estimator
What does the first season actually cost to get beds, soil, tools and water in place on ¼–2 acres? Pick a size and a plan and see it line by line.
| Category | What it covers | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Beds & layout | Lumber, screws, hardware cloth for raised beds, or tarps/marking for in-ground rows. | $1,200 |
| Soil & amendments | Compost, cover-crop seed, lime or sulfur after a soil test, mulch. | $900 |
| Tools | Wheelbarrow, digging fork, hoes, rakes, harvest bins, sharpening — per acre, shared tools get cheaper as acreage grows. | $1,100 |
| Irrigation | Drip tape, filter, pressure regulator, header lines, timers. Assumes an existing water source. | $1,500 |
| Estimated first-season total | $4,700 |
Estimates are built from typical Zone 7–9 small-farm supply prices and assume you already have land and a water source. They are planning ranges, not quotes — check local prices before you buy. Not included: land, fencing, tractor or walk-behind tractor, cold storage, or certification fees.
What you are selling
Small lots cost more per pound to pick, wash and haul. Put in your real numbers and see the price a contract has to carry.
What to ask
Ask this per lb
$3.00
At or near the wholesale price of $3.00.
- Sellable after cull
- 1,080 lb
- Growing cost
- $1,320.00
- Driving cost
- $369.60
- Your time
- $720.00
- Total cost
- $2,409.60
- Breakeven per lb
- $2.23
- Season revenue at the ask
- $3,240.00
- Season profit
- $830.40
- Profit per hour worked
- $23.07
Your cost per unit sits under the wholesale price, so this lot can carry a contract. The suggested ask keeps a 20% margin after the drive.
Buyers can check any badge number on the public verification page.
Want your harvest records, prices and calendar saved to an account across devices? The homestead account portal keeps all of it, and it is free too.