any SC homesteaders?

[Gypsy]

Well, my fiancee and I have decided to move to SC at the end of the summer/beginning next fall to live and work her grandpa's 210 acres in Bamburg. We spent the last week there camping, getting to know the place and planning. The place is great with alot of resources, but it occurred to me that I've never really worked land in that climate and there is plenty I don't know about. I've had little places in ME and PA, but am completely inexperienced homesteading in this climate - e.g. fire ants!!! these are horrible little creatures aren't they?

The climate I'm told is sub-tropical, which I've never gardened in before and the earth is more sand than soil (we're going to tell people that we live on the beach - just without the ocean). The nice thing is though - no rocks! I actually was looking for a rock as a makeshift hammer and literally could not find one on the property. Anyone who has gardened in Maine or Pennsylvania knows exactly how bizarre this seems to me.

It's still not entirely clear to me what predictors I'll be dealing with when it comes to livestock - snakes? hawks? weasels? fox? coyote? etc. I'd like to plan our guns around what we're up against but am unsure (right now I'm thinking a .22 for garden vermin and for her boy who will be my stepson to learn on, a 30-6 for bigger problems, either a 12 or 20 gauge and/or a .38 snout with snake shot)

I've learned a lot about keeping coops warm, but never about keeping them cool.

Anyway, I know I'm just rambling. Was just hoping to find some folks in the general area that might be able to give me any heads-ups for stuff I might not be aware of.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice.

[whiterabbit454]

good luck with your homestead!

[Kmac15]

We are going to be almost neighbors YA,
My DH works at the hospital in Barnwell, the next town over, PM me if you want to exchange personal info and maybe meet.

[Kmac15]

OK some gardening info,
We plant on Good Friday, any earlier than that and you have a 50-50 chance of loosing in to a late frost.
soaker hoses are your best bet for watering as, yes, we have more sand than we did when we lived close to the beach.
We have snakes, hawks, opossums, raccoons, and fire ants.
Fleas and ticks are almost a year round worry

I have been able to grow squash and blueberries the best, but anything that can stand a bit of heat does ok.

Good Luck

[Gypsy]

Originally Posted by Kmac15

We are going to be almost neighbors YA,
My DH works at the hospital in Barnwell, the next town over, PM me if you want to exchange personal info and maybe meet.

Oh that would be great! Toni and I don't know anyone there except her grandpa in Summerville and a couple of folks we met last week, while down there. It would be so nice to know someone ahead of time.

Originally Posted by Kmac15

I have been able to grow squash and blueberries the best, but anything that can stand a bit of heat does ok.

How about pomegranates, Toni's grandpa has a notion to grow a bunch, but I've never grown them before. Do you know of anyone having success with them there? The blueberries seem weird because they were such a staple in Maine. I guess I've always thought of them as more hearty cold weather crops.

Do the ants give your chickens any problem? Or (hoping) do your chickens help keep the fire ant population at bay?

If it's not too personal, may I ask if you have a church home? Seems like your golden if you're a Baptist or Methodist, but not much to choose from beyond that?

Do you know anything about the schools in the area? We will be on the Bamburg side of the Edisco which puts us in the Bamburg school district. Any experience or warnings?

I saw in your user profile that you keep bees, I never have but have always been interested and Toni's grandpa has been doing it all his life and has agreed to teach me to build the boxes and tend to them. I'm very excited about that.

Oh, they told me that a tornado came through Branchville last month!!! How common is that?

Anyway, thanks so much for answering. It's real nice to meet you.

[BlueberryChick]

Welcome to the south! I'm not sure I qualify as a "homesteader", but I have a garden and chickens and there's been talk of goats. I also do a lot of home canning.

We're just a little north of you and also have sand, sand, sand. The good thing is, it's easy to dig. I always add peat moss and compost to my garden beds. For vegetables, I have raised beds.

Kmac is right, blueberries can do well. Try a highbush variety. We used to live in Wagener with some old blueberry bushes in the yard--they were six to eight feet high and we picked berries by the gallon. The other thing that may do well for you is tomatoes. They need a long hot summer and we have that.

And, oh the fire ants! I was bitten twice last night while putting up a volleyball net at church and once today at the clothesline . For most people, unless they are allergic, the pain only lasts a few minutes.


Again, welcome. South Carolina--a place where winter comes late and never wears out its welcome.

BlueberryChick

I missed your question about church until after my post. If you are willing to drive, you can find almost anything. You're right though, Baptists and Methodists are the most common. I think there's a Catholic church in Springfield (Orangeburg county). You'll also find Presbyterian and Lutheran churches without going too far from home. As to schools, we homeschool so I'm probably not much help. If you're interested in homeschooling though, contact the South Carolina Association of Independent Home Schools (SCAIHS).

[Kmac15]

My chickens do ok with the ants, but I do use a bit of poison under the nesting boxes to help keep them in check. We cannot free range because of the predators.

The bees do good here, with the mild winters.

I have not heard a lot about the schools there, sorry I can't help there.

Tornadoes are very rare here, but we do get our share of pop up thunderstorms and 100 + degree days.

Winter is going to bowl you over, we close all the schools as soon as snow flurries start, it does not even have to stick.

Most produce that you grow during the spring or fall you can do here during the winter.

[PollySC]

I'm on the other side of the state where our biggest predator problems have been hawks, bobcats, snakes and coyotes. I'm originally from PA too and other than the heat, the biggest adjustment is probably fireants. Plant early or late, because the heat is too much for most crops. Learn to love okra and butterbeans, and enjoy winter garden crops.

Welcome to the South!

[PD-Riverman]

Hello From Conway----20 miles from Myrtle Beach SC---------Yep got them Fire Ants and them Yellow Flies are bad right now. Welcome To The South!!

[Gypsy]

thanks everyone for the warm welcome.

It looks like our move might be sooner than later - around mid august now.

Can anyone reccomend a reputable used mobile home dealer in the area?

[SCRich]

Welcome to the Palmetto State..don't know why still why they call it that since we had more of these in Florida than here. We grew up not too far from you in PA then spent 17 years in FL and are now a "Half-Back" which is 1/2 back to the NE from Florida.

Come up to the Upstate, it's tough to plant and build here since everything is rock. I am just oustisde Charlotte NC and built this house last summer. NOTHING but rock and hard pan clay. I can't even build a good lawn round the house since every time I rake, disk or whatever to add stuff to the soil so something can grow well I have tractor buckets full of rock. Once we pick everything up if we return a week later the rocks have grown back!!

All in all I do like the decision to move to SC. The weather is great and I hear people complaining about the heat...visit Florida in December and in August...not much of a change, count your blessings. The only thing I miss is some of the stores and such. Supermarkets in this part of the state are really poor and it's tough to find different restaurants to pick from unless you go into the big cities. I am happy to give that up for the weather, I was on the back deck last night at 10pm and it was 80 degrees. I did not even know, I was cool as can be thinking right now back in South Florida I would even avoid going to the truck now to get something I forgot due to the opressive humidity!

[MushCreek]

We're right behind you, Rich. Grew up in CT, 27 years in FL, and now we have acreage over past Travelers Rest, almost up to Rt 11. We hope to get our little place started in the next year or two. The house design is coming along even as we speak, and we have a path cleared for a future driveway. We have 7 acres, and are planning a big barn, a modest house, and a big garden with a few critters. I'm tired of living with folks right on top of us, and more restrictions than you can shake a stick at. The Upstate is noticeably more comfortable than the lower areas. Our property is at 1200', and is cooler in the summer than Greenville. We can't wait to get started!

[SCRich]

Well there are a lot of us up in these parts. I spent my childhood in NJ, a few months in West Hartford and was born in Boston. As soon as I was an adult and worked for a few years to make some cash I moved to Florida. It was great, I lived in Jupiter Farms and we only had a few paved roads in 15 square miles. When I left 2 years ago most roads were paved and we only had a few dirt roads. Everyone followed me but I stuck it out, too long we lost some cash on the house, even though we made some we waited 2-3 years too long to sell and we still have 2 homes we can not sell in Vero Beach.

We have been happy here but we do miss a few things that after 2 years does matter but the only thing that bothers us are a good supermarket with a good meat market and the widespread availability of cable and or DSL. I do not get over to your part very often but I do go to Greenville and the Hendersonville area during work hours when I am on-call. We homesteaded in the Sharon area just outside of York.

What I do not like is that even this area is becoming the city again with a lot of northern values, and so is every other part of the Carolina's and TN. Fast driving, home owners associations, anti-gun activists, and crooks for builders are just the start of it. We need more people to maintain Southern VALUES and way of life, no matter if they are a Northerner or Western'er. We moved South since we did not agree with the way things were done up north, I just hope that more of us try to maintain it. We see what is happening in Florida right now, let's try not to have that happen here.

I hear the low country where I belive Gypsy is moving to is even slower than here and more layed back, maybe I made a poor choice on where to buy the property! Up in your neck of the woods I hear (and see) the construction booming and land prices in the Hendersonville area at least are out of this world! I got a bargain at $8K an acre when Florida is still $125K or more even during this depression which some call a recession.

[SCRich]

Gypsy I just looked the town up on Google, you would be almost on the opposite side of the state from us directly South. As far as game I think you are still good, low country deer is awful small but the season is a bit longer, I am not too sure if your season opens up in August or not, that was a big shocker to me when I heard that some parts of the state can start hunting in August. You can head west towards GA if you want a bit of hill country or east if you want the ocean. I am guessing Columbia is about 1 hour away or a bit longer and that is about the same for us. We have not explored Columbia yet but it is a big city, we went there about a year ago for the state fair and on occasion I have been known to drive over to Sportsman's Warehouse in the suburbs of Columbia. I had lived just off of the interstate back then, now I am about 30 minutes away plus the trip to Columbia with the price of gas..I don't think I will be visiting anytime soon if ever.

I really think that the old way of life with smaller stores closer to home or ordering by mail will become the norm again. I think this state has a lot of great things going for it and I wanted to venture out and visit, now we just feel like prisoners on our own property, if it's not for work we don't go anywhere outside of town. Again welcome to the state.

Amazing, SC Rich. My daddy was the preacher at Hillcrest Baptist Church, about halfway between York and Sharon in the late 50's.

[SCRich]

More amazing is that the church is the closest building to my home that is not a house. I think I am 1 or 2 country roads from the church on the way to Sharon just when you crest the hill.

It's still rural here and probably more rural than in the 50's. When the textile industry crashed so did the whole region. I eat breakfast every Sunday at the Sharon Grill right next to the merchantile mart. It's a historic building, and even the whole town if you can call it that is a historic district. It's a shame, impressive building and it shows that Sharon was a major town in the early 1900's but all you have now is a bank, a grill, a wrecker service and 2 no-name gas stations all within' throwing distance with a tennis ball from the one and only stop sign in town. The merchantile building has a garden center/corner hardware store on the bottom floor and everything else is abandoned. The whole town would do well for a re-making of Mayberry RFD or some horror movie.

[Randy Rooster]

Chiggers