Salem

I'm a hermit, hoping to do a bit of everything, but I don't even have a house yet. What's a reasonable size for a claim? I need space for farming, mining, tanning, and carpentry. And I guess a bread oven?

Does it matter? Just find a spot with room to grow. You won't be able to afford a huge claim right of the bat.

Just claim whatever you have first, then expand when you starts to build new stuffs. Slivers are quite hard to get when you are playing alone.

I found 600 m2 to be a good size, but that includes a double wall so it's probably better to start off small and expand when you need to.
Also savage charms are an easy way to make money once you have Indian tracking.

Ok, well I've been playing for a week and a half and I already have 1080 m2. My issue really was that I desperately need to start working on my fence, and I'm not sure how easy that is to adjust later. So I didn't know whether to just fence what I've got, or wait until I have more silver to fence, or just fence the area I want and claim it all later. If that makes sense.

But it looks as though maybe I've got enough land to start with, so maybe I'll just fence that. Thanks

A fence not on a claim might as well not even be a fence at all as anyone with enough phlegm can come along and tear it down.

I suggest aiming for double stone walling at least 25x25 (that's the exterior dimensions, roughly 20x20 inside give or take with room for braziers and a walking path). That's enough for some fields inside and everything a hermit needs.