Desert homesteading?

[Loquisimo]

Anybody have a homestead in say Nevada, Utah, Arizona? I'm looking at some land near Lovelock, Nevada, for possible purchase when I have the money. It has a spring 30 feet from the SW corner of the property, so water should be no problem. It doesn't look too rocky. It also has mineral rights, so I could dig up some gold (there are several active mines in the area) and legally sell it for as long as the govt will allow it. I'm looking to free range chickens and possibly rabbits (anybody free range their bunnies?) and maybe grow some potatoes. I know I have several more important things to do with my money first, but it's always important to keep dreaming.

[julieq]

We have friends in Pahrump, NV and they just love it. No spring, but they have a nice well with water they can drink (unlike here in southern Idaho).

[HillBunker]

You might think about growing mushrooms in a shade tent or simple greenhouse/shadehouse.

[HillBunker]

Here's the video I was looking for...

YouTube

[Cyngbaeld]

Is the spring on the actual property? Would you own the water rights to it? Be sure the water rights include agricultural as well as domestic rights.

[mtnmenagerie]

I've done free range bunnies before. They did surprisingly well. But the kits didn't stand much of a chance unless I caught them and momma, and put them in a hutch for a while. I've seen lots of free-range goats in that area too!?

[PhilJohnson]

Loquisimo, you might find the book "Rancho Costa Nada: The Dirt Cheap Desert Homestead" interesting. Basic gist is the guy buys some land dirt cheap and tries to live on it without spending hardly any money. I've always wanted to try my hand at desert homesteading since the land is so darn cheap but I'm afraid my body doesn't agree with the heat I was out in Arizona this summer and got heat exhaustion more than once.



I will say Arizona has some awesome scenery and one thing I like was how easy it was to bike off-road. Here in wet and muddy Wisconsin one can forget about trying to bike cross country. You'll get stuck pretty fast. I did have to avoid cactus with my bike tires out there. Luckily I didn't run any over while out there.

[dragonjaze]

ok, just reading this thread has me dead of heat stroke.

nope, not me, uh uh, no way, no how.
But good luck! Land is cheap, for sure. And I've read some very successful stories of desert homesteading.

[Loquisimo]

Actually, Northern Nevada is actually quite chilly in the winter-highs around freezing. There's only a couple months of real hot summer, and Las Vegas it aint-the all time high for Reno (elevation 4500 ft) is about 108-109 F. Sacramento, CA, is regularly hotter. Reno tends to get chilly during summer nights-down into the 50s. It gets lower in the open desert. In fact, I was going over climate info, and tomatoes would seem to be out of the realm of possibility-too cold at night.

As for water rights, I'll check. This guy says that he's exhaustively researched the land.

[||Downhome||]

I love me some dessert, favs are German chocolate cake and pineapple up side down cake followed by Boston creme pie and lemon meringue, dont get me wrong i love some apple pie and any kind of fruit pie as well as pumpkin but just a little partial, oh and cookies and brownies and Ice cream! goodness just made myself hungry.

oh wait desert, nope. got to have water lots and lots of water.

that spring may only be seasonal best make sure! you will also want to factor how many gallons a min and the quality, I would make all three a contingent in any purchase
agreement. like cyngbaeld points out make sure you have rights to it also.

[julieq]

Originally Posted by dragonjaze

ok, just reading this thread has me dead of heat stroke.

nope, not me, uh uh, no way, no how.
But good luck! Land is cheap, for sure. And I've read some very successful stories of desert homesteading.

We're actually thinking about it. DH has an invite from a realtor friend to visit Southern Nevada this summer. We're absolutely sick and tired of freezing Idaho winters and bone chilling windy spring temps, frozen water lines and faucets, milking our goats when our hands are frozen and super short gardening seasons. I think our livestock and poultry will heartily agree that we should at least give it a look see!

[texican]

Originally Posted by Cyngbaeld

Is the spring on the actual property? Would you own the water rights to it? Be sure the water rights include agricultural as well as domestic rights.

That'd be my #1 concern... a spring may be there, but that doesn't meat the landowner owns the water. Wars have been fought over water.

[MARYDVM]

A year round spring in the desert is rare. If it truly runs all year you should see some mature trees all around it. Otherwise be sure to check water quality for salts and minerals.

Free ranging anything in the desert is feeding the coyotes and other predators unless you have good protection for your stock. I homestead in southern AZ, and my chickens free range during the day inside 2 acres enclosed in field fence with a hot wire around the bottom outside. And I have a lot of trees and bushes that provide shelter from hawks.

[ErinP]

As others have mentioned, water will probably be your biggest issue.
Look into a rainwater harvesting system. There are people in desert areas who have nothing but rainwater for their water needs.

So far as growing things, look into soil improvement options like forerunner's Extreme Composting thread stickied at the top of this board.
And you can't beat goats for being able to live anywhere...

[oregon woodsmok]

Desert isn't automatically hot. "Desert" just means very little rainfall, nothing to do with the temperature.

I'm in the desert, but it is cold and dry.

Water is the big issue. Drip irrigation and mulch and water conservation are a way of life. Water rights are critical and they are enforced.

I find fruit easy to grow because the dry air discourages fungus and virus and a lot of bugs.

We've got no fleas and no mosquitoes. Big plus for the desert.

Coyotes are huge and always super hungry. But for comic relief, we have jack rabbits. I love the jacks. They slow you down, though, because they will run down the road, jinking and ducking instead of running off to the side and getting off the road. At least they are going 25MPH, so it could be worse.

[nodak3]

Be sure that "spring" isn't surface water exiting an old mine.

[MichaelK!]

Originally Posted by Loquisimo

As for water rights, I'll check. This guy says that he's exhaustively researched the land.

First off, who is "This guy"? Is he the realtor showing you the property, or someone doing a title search? Being only 30 feet from the property line is too close when people want to fight over water. I very much agree with Texican about water disputes. I myself have two homestead neighbors fighting tooth and nail over the rights to a spring the flows over both properties. The realtor that sold us our homestead made important errors in telling me what was and wasn't my property. I didn't feel cheated though because I thought he was wrong from the beginning but went along with the sale in spite of that.

Originally Posted by Loquisimo

Actually, Northern Nevada is actually quite chilly in the winter-highs around freezing. There's only a couple months of real hot summer, and Las Vegas it aint-the all time high for Reno (elevation 4500 ft) is about 108-109 F. Sacramento, CA, is regularly hotter.

What is the habitat type right there? Is it pine woodland or sagebrush? One thing I would advise is looking into desert adapted crops and trees. IE: pomogranates rather than apples, and carob rather than peaches. Mesquite is a vigorous legume that is both water wise but produces nutritious pods you can grind into meal. Also look into edible cactus varieties. I'd expect though that winter lows are a lot lower than just freezing. Look into it more carefully. It's doable, but I myself am finding that some of my choices just don't work. Either they don't like the winter chill, or the summer drought, and I just can't say what will happen after reading out of a book. You won't know till you have it in the ground yourself.

One thing to investigate very throughly is how much water does this spring produce, and what is the year-round output like. You CAN NOT make a homestead in the desert work unless you answer the water question FIRST!

[SolarGary]

Hi,
You might check out the By Example website -- about a homestead in AZ:
http://www.byexample.com/

lots of good material.

He posts here sometimes.

Gary

[ErinP]

Originally Posted by oregon woodsmok

I love the jacks. They slow you down, though, because they will run down the road, jinking and ducking instead of running off to the side and getting off the road. At least they are going 25MPH, so it could be worse.

I've always had this theory jacks are suicidal.
They will see your headlights coming and come charging out of their perfectly safe hiding spot so that they can run down the road in front of you.

[texican]

Originally Posted by ErinP

I've always had this theory jacks are suicidal.
They will see your headlights coming and come charging out of their perfectly safe hiding spot so that they can run down the road in front of you.

Back when I was a young jackrabbit, it was a rite of passage to charge, dodge, and weave with oncoming traffic... woe to them that wussed out... they were shamed out of the tribe... or ran over...