North Carolina for homesteading?

[NamasteMama]

Anyone hear that lives in NC? Can you tell me about it? The good the bad and the ugly please.

[Windy in Kansas]

Welcome to the forums. Windy in Kansas

[NamasteMama]

Thank you Windy! I LOVE these forums! There is so much great information!

[TSYORK]

It's a great place to live, for the most part... I've been here all my 35 years. We have a small farmstead. We garden, raise chickens, cows, have had goats and are in the process of looking for a couple of Lamancha milkers now. The winters aren't usually too bad, although some years are worse than others. The heat and humidity sometimes can be a little opressive. Today it's near 100 and the humidity is pretty stifling. I think it's supposed to be like this all this week, pretty much. NC has a pretty long growing season, which will allow you to raise a broad spectrum of produce. We start our cabbage in February and harvest our sweet potatoes in mid-October, usually. Most land in NC seems to grow pretty good, although there are places that growing can be more difficult than others. Sometimes drought conditions here styme gardens, etc.

What part of NC are you in or looking to be in? We're in NW NC, in the foothills. Land sometimes can be expensive, but depending upon where you want to live, sometimes you can find decent deals with fairly good acreage that will allow you to homestead. What type of homestead are you looking to have? What are your plans for growing, such has your own beef, chickens, goats, garden?

Feel free to ask away. There are several HT'ers that are from NC in here.

[agmantoo]

I am a native North Carolinian. Have cattle and timber land and have traveled extensively. The only place that compares to here is Oregon but with less rain here. We have had a major inflow of people in the last 5 years. Land prices will frighten those not from developed residential areas. Building codes and enforcement prevail. We have 4 distinct seasons with August and January being the extremes. The other months are great. Growing zone 7 with a few thermal areas permit most things to grow. We tolerate outsiders but we are smart enough to build departure lanes in our highways for those that want to come here and turn the place into what they just left.

[Parrothead]

Here's the ugly...I left several years ago and will never move back. The state has changed drastically in the last 15 years. Too many people have moved in and brought all their problems (and created new ones) with them. Cost of living, taxes, crime, etc. have all increased. And that is pretty much statewide.

[Beeman]

I left 15 years ago, the state itself is great. I lived in WNC in the mountains, it became overrun with tourists and people relocating from Florida. Prices went crazy along with taxes. There were no jobs, just seasonal tourism or service jobs.

[TSYORK]

Originally Posted by Parrothead

Here's the ugly... crime, etc. have all increased. And that is pretty much statewide.

I keep a loaded 9-mm right beside my bed for that nonsense!

[Woodroe]

I left the Raleigh area because tooooo many people moved there in a very short time. That area is ruined in my opinion. Lots of new folks with ideas they brought down with them. I said they can keep my town and their new ways.

[chickenista]

Hi! And welcome to the forum!
I too am a WNC native. My family came in the 1700's.
I can only tell you about the mountains and the foothills, where I live now.
NC is made of two basic groups..natives and non. The nons are winning and the taxes are astronomical as is the price of land in some areas.
Granny's kids sold the land next to you to a developer who decided the land was worth up to a million and acre. (yes..in some places, but many are around $20,000 and acre which is still screaminly high!!!)
Then your land was decided to be worth that much as well and you should be taxed accordingly. You couldn't afford the taxes and had to sell and the only folks that could afford to buy is.... developers!! They creep across the land like mold.
I had to leave the mountians becaue I couldn't afford to live there anymore and I found a great school that we moved to be near.
But I go all the time to stay with family.. I am leaving tomorrow.
Some of the nons are awesome and yopu can find great comunities full of people that are like minded. Madison County, for instance! Great farmer's market adn everyone I hung out with homesteaded. The men were all carpenters and the womenfolk manned the farms. We traded seeds and helped each other can and there was always a quart of fresh goat's milk to be found. It is a great place to live! I really miss it and still talk to them almost daily and we talk gardening and livestock care and the like.
The mountain weather is about perfect for growing as is the dark rich soil.
The flat land..not so much. More clay and heat and not as much rain. And it is HOT! Oh holy cow! And the streams are few and far between adn they don't rush over rocks and they aren't clear and cold. I just can't bring myself to touch the slow water where I can't see the muddy bottom.
I am not so happy here and haven't found many like minded folks. It is more suburban in my area and I am lonely. If it weren't for the exceptional school, we would move away.

All in all.. NC is an Ag state. But mostly big AG. They did pass the NAIS..100% though it is not enforced at the moment. If you can find a place away from the big cities and the sprawl, yoiu can find a place of beauty and joy. Good soil..even here. I just have some clay, but clay is heavy in nutrients and minerals and holds water well..you just have to amend it to loosen it a bit. There used to be good rainfall adn I hope we can get back to that. Tourists are a menace, but tourists bring money and buy produce and honey and handwoven stuff. Yeah! tourists.
I love NC. It is truly in my blood. I lived away for awhile, but woke with an ache in my chest from homesickness. I am glad to be home. It is a good place with good folks and it is a good home.

Did I mention that it is a stunningly beautiful place????

[shellrow]

We did live in Harnett County and it was getting too crowded. Lots of farm land being sold to developers to build houses on to support the troops on Ft. Bragg. We moved to Robeson county which is still a farming county. Lots of farm land out here and fewer subdivisions. We rent right now and hope to be able to buy this house and land. Fewer restrictions as we have chickens and ducks. Our neighbors have horses, cows, pigs, chickens (pretty much anything). Land is slightly reasonable compared to some parts of the state but not much of it is for sale at the moment. We do have a long growing season. It is hotter than Hades and humid most of the time but only a bit away from the beach. Both Myrtle and NC beaches. I have always lived in NC and this county is one of the best in my opinion!

[NamasteMama]

Thank you all for the information! It sounds lovely. My family is from Virginia and Kentucky so we still have a ton of family back east. It sounds like you all had happen what we did here. Libral Californians moved in a RUINED our state. Now we are amassed with forclosures and crappy laws. The reason we are looking to NC is that my company might possibly be relocating there. I am happy to hear that there is good schools though, our state has some of the worst in the Nation. Not at all happy about the NAIS thing. What about gun laws, homeschooling laws, water rights?

[Bearfootfarm]

What about gun laws, homeschooling laws, water rights?

State gun laws are pretty reasonable, homeschooling is accepted, and as far as I know water rights arent an issue at all.

Depending on which part of the state you choose, you can go from BIG CITY to "backwoods", or even "desolate", and land prices will vary greatly according to location.

It gets HOT in Summer, but Winters are pretty mild in most of the state.

At one end you have the highest peaks East of the Mississippi River, and at the other you have some of the best beaches in the world.

I cant think of anywhere I'd rather live.

[wildhorse]

While I love NC there are a few things that bug me especially about the mountain region I live in.
#1 lots of poisonous plants that are trouble for animals
polk,mountain ivy. rhododendrons,cherry trees milk weed etc.
#2 Should you decide to move this way talk to you prospective neighbors and find out about the area ticks,widows,rattlesnakes,copperheads you could find some nasty surprises.
#3. Christmas trees have taken over along with all of the nasty chemicals it takes to grow them.
#4. poor job market.

[Tricky Grama]

Welcome to HT!
Add me & my DH to the list of those intriged w/NC.

Patty

[partndn]

So far, I agree fully with all the responses here. I'm a native North Carolinian too.

The sad parts are true, developers, etc.

But the good parts are true too, good "dirt" mostly, both beautiful mtns and beaches.

There are no decent jobs, well maybe 8 or 10 in the whole state. So it's good your reason for possible coming is work related. I have not been able to find full time work (of ANY KIND) in 18 months of hard effort, and I have professional skills and experience.

You will also find some "pretending" homesteader types or posers, so to speak. These are folks who like to dabble in herbs, purchase organic produce and meat, recycle everything, etc. But when it comes down to it, they would never sacrifice their Escalade or their kids' sailing camp or their housekeeper.. if you know what I mean.

It is 98 today with heat index of 110.

I wish you luck. Just do good research on not just the properties you look at, but the whole surrounding area atmosphere of those. Run as fast as you can from areas where towns are moving more and more to restrictions and limitations.

I won't be surprised if a community pops up around here where some livestock is allowed, but are mandated to have their pens, coops, etc. "look" a way that is in keeping with the area! "All poultry containment structures must be pre-approved designs and meet community approval, not visible from traffic traveling public roads, ......."

Hilarious, but I can see it coming.

[Parrothead]

Originally Posted by partndn

You will also find some "pretending" homesteader types or posers, so to speak. These are folks who like to dabble in herbs, purchase organic produce and meat, recycle everything, etc. But when it comes down to it, they would never sacrifice their Escalade or their kids' sailing camp or their housekeeper.. if you know what I mean.

Thanks for the laugh today. I know exactly the type you are referring to. I had a lot of friends like that. "Homesteading posers", lol...I will have to keep that term in mind.

[NamasteMama]

? Funny! Yeah I wouldn't move just move right now. The heat is no biggy to me, I live in the desert! It was 120 one day this summer! Its sounds good. ;0) Atleast I could grow a garden unlike here where it burnt to a crisp!

[Bearfootfarm]

Atleast I could grow a garden unlike here where it burnt to a crisp!

This time of year here, we grow STEAMED vegetables!

It's ONLY 97 here now (Heat Index 102)

Caswell county, NC here. now the proud home of 3 stoplights for the whole county. Up from 1 only 15 short years ago. A place where it's to much work to get mad. Santa comes every day, and people never get sick! Front porch sitting is mandatory.
warning: a lot of folks from all over the world come to research triangle park to get jobs, and don't mind driving 50 miles to work. They are moving here, paying too much, and changing the tone of the county.