Tell me about Georgia

[Quiver0f10]

We are looking at the possibility of relocating to the Rome, GA area. We would like to live rural and prefer 10+ acres. We will rent for a while, but when we buy we like to be @ 20-30 min at the most from Rome.

We are just in the initital stages of this idea and I am not sure it will even come about.

So tell me @ living in GA. How is homesteading there? What about homeschooling? Is it legal to buy and sell raw cow's milk? Growing season? Prices of land or houses ( 4 bedrooms, 10 acres)?

Anything else?

[Quiver0f10]

Anyone?

[Ezrandi]

I just moved here myself, in the Metro - atlanta outer area.
I love Georgia!

The weather is glorious, the change of seasons, The wildlife (I came from Cali so its a huge change) Its just beautiful.

This is what I know..
It is not legal to sell or buy raw cow's milk.
Land and houses are relatively cheap but going up every day (as everyone is moving out this way) I have a 3 bedroom, on 1.5 acres of land and it was under 100,000
If that gives you any idea.


Ezrandi

[AngieM2]

It's very close to the AL state line, so you may want to look just inside of AL also.

Angie

[comfortablynumb]

hot humid bugs snakes southerners grits.....

the list of problems goes on and on.

lol

[Quiver0f10]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

hot humid bugs snakes southerners grits.....

the list of problems goes on and on.

lol

Well I am in Arkansas now so it can't be much worse LOL

[Quiver0f10]

Originally Posted by AngieM2

It's very close to the AL state line, so you may want to look just inside of AL also.

Angie

Thanks. We will consider that, too. Ezrandi, thanks for the info. That sounds reasonible for housing.

[redwall]

there is a large home schooling population in ga. Im me if you want links and stuff. hum home steading, I'm looking at that option myself, land can be low or high all depending on what you can stand.

[Meg Z]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

hot humid bugs snakes southerners grits.....

the list of problems goes on and on.

lol

Gee, for me those are all positives! I love the heat and humidity! I'm a biologist, so the bugs and snakes are great! I AM a southerner...a Georgian, in fact, and grits are the PERFECT food! Woohoo!

Thanks for bringing up all the good points!

Meg

[sidepasser]

The closer to Atlanta, the higher the land prices and housing prices.

Get over the border into Alabama and property taxes go down, waaaay down.

I don't know anything about homeschooling other than I know it is popular - my son goes to a private school. Public schools are "iffy" and quality totally depends on what county you are in (and has nothing to do with funding by the counties either)..

lots and lots of Baptists of every sort and ilk, lots of Methodists too..usually a church or three on every corner.

One reason our plant manager came to my town is that there are more churches than bars (exact quote!!)..good place to raise kids.

hot, hotter and blazin..and 2 weeks of winter. Muggy, steamy and hot the rest of the year. I have worn shorts and went barefoot in December. We pray for rain every year and some years get way more than our share.

home to tornadoes..hail..drought..bugs..big bugs, bats (thankfully), and people who have no idea what a blinker on a car is supposed to be used for. Interstate signs suggest the speed one should do on the interstate rather than tell you what route you are on. I-85 for example means 85 mph is the slowest you can do and not get run over..

all in all, not a bad place to live..jobs are sort of ok..many service jobs, some high tech jobs. Average wage is around 28,000 - 32,000 a year (if you combine averages of all jobs/careers).

hope this helps.

[Dahc]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

hot humid bugs snakes southerners grits.....

the list of problems goes on and on.

lol

Sissy.

[red hott farmer]

I'm a Farming- Chemical free/ Grown with Love. here in Carroll county Ga. 1 hour west of Atlanta and a hour south of Rome GA. 5 minutes from Alabama. Land is a lot cheaper in Alabama. But not too bad . Going up every year. we bought around 5 G's a acre. now we see 7.5 a acre. Takes ain't too bad. We have many friends who are homeschooling there kids.
Growing summer vegies start tomatoes etc in March in green house and put out corn April 1 st and rest of veggies in last week of april and in may . Second crop in june and july. Harvest thru sept. Fall veggies out now. Collards, brusselll sprouts, Broccoli, Turnips, Rutabegas, Greens, winter peas, etc. and harvest thur. Dec.
you may avg. 2 dustings of snow a year. as of last several years.

[Windy in Kansas]

I have never been to Georgia but have perceived it as being pretty with nice folk but hot and humid during the summer.

Since Alabama was also mentioned you should check into taxes for both locales. Alabama doesn't have one tax--perhaps income tax.

[AJ Williams]

QuiverOf10,

Go to www.realtor.com and enter Rome, Georgia. You can search homes, manufactured homes, farms and land. Will tell you a little about area too.

AJ

[turtlehead]

Rome is a nice town with rivers going through it and two colleges (Berry and Shorter) so you should have lots of opportunity for seeing plays and hearing concerts if you're into that sort of thing.

The countryside there is rolling foothills of the Appalachians and it is very pretty.

The growing season is long; you'll probably have to grow your peas and brassicas as winter crops rather than summer crops. Tomatoes, peppers, and melons should do great.

I don't know about home schooling or cost of real estate.

[Quiver0f10]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the info and we should know soon if this is going to work for us or not.

[GingerN]

I am probably the closest one to you in that area, being that I am in Cartersville, about 25 minutes from you. I like Rome, we do alot of our shopping there. The land is pretty, not too high, and the people are nice (my previous insurance rant over).

PM me if you want to.

[Ramblin Wreck]

I live about 30 miles south of Rome. It's a neat town with a downtown area that is reviving, and it has a great minor league baseball park/team. Farming is still important in the area, but I haven't priced any land up that way. Many folks commute from east Alabama (Centre area) to Rome for work. Property taxes are much less in Alabama, and land prices tend to be more affordable...but prices are on the rise. Rome has good health care facilities, I think anyway. Home schooling is common in Georgia, but I'm not sure how that affects the Hope scholarship. In Georgia, if a student maintains an "A" or "B" average in school, their tuition (at State school rates) and some book costs are covered by the lottery funded Hope program for as long as they maintain at least a "B" average in college.

As for Summer, if you'll check the high temps for many mid-western cities (and even into the Dakotas) on any given day in July/August, you'll find it is hotter there than here. We once had colder Winters, and it was common to butcher hogs/pigs in November after the cold weather set in. It didn't get cold here last year until January. Summer highs were generally in the 80's until August, when the temps really soared. August, 2007 was the hottest month ever recorded in Atlanta, but Nashville beat us by a degree or two on average.

The further you are out in the boonies, the more "stuff" you can do for yourself. I sawed much of the lumber and framed/built much of my home. It was inspected along the way by the county folks, but there was no requirement that I hire out the work to licensed or union shops.

We have a long growing season, if you have water! We've been in a drought since February. Parts of Tennessee and north Alabama fared a little worse than we did, but the grass is about the same color brown everywhere. Access to a good water source would be a big plus for any land you are considering.

Best wishes, whatever you choose to do.

[cindyc]

Do you homeschool? You might want to check out the hsing laws there. There are a lot more restrictions in GA about hsing than here. Does anyone know if hslda ever won their suit against GA? They were requiring homeschooled kids to take a test that was not required of public schooled kids in order to access college funds from the lottery. HSLDA was challenging that. At the time, they had some ps kids take the test, and the ps kids could not pass it, but hs kids HAD to pass it to to get the same access to college funds that the ps kids get without any test at all!

Anyway, if that is a concern of yours, check out GA laws at HSLDA. If not, disregard this message.

I grew up in GA, and it is beautiful, but I would have to factor in HS law before determining to live there again.

Cindyc.

[halfpint]

Alabama taxes are usually lower than Georgia taxes, and our home school laws are a little different so you may want to check on both of those. My parents and brother live in GA, and their taxes are significantly higher than ours in Alabama.

I have a son going to college in GA, and several of his previously home educated friends do have the hope scholarships - I believe they had to take a test to qualify though.

As far as home schooling in Alabama, the law requires you either be a certified teacher, or be under a 'cover school'. The cover schools in the B'ham area vary greatly in their expectations so that is what will determine your requirements more than anything.

I like the long growing season. I've just planted a lot of my fall garden, and will usually harvest through December, although we've had some warm years where I've been able to get lettuce, spinach and greens throughout the winter. If we only have a few short cold spells, I can sometimes keep the garden going through them by placing some plastic over the garden.

I know people in Alabama that sell milk for animal use only. What people choose to do with it after purchasing is their business.

Dawn