Homesteading in Eastern Washington

[Jukes23]

Hi group,

I am hoping some Washingtonians can help this east coast guy out! I am looking to purchase property in the Western US. I have narrowed my search to a couple locations; one of those being eastern Washington. I have seen some nice properties online in Stevens County. However, I cant seem to find alot of information of what Eastern Washington is like. I was wondering the following:

1. Is water an issue? Both quantity and quality (contaminants,etc). How much rain does this area get?
2. How is gardening and growing fruit trees in this area?
3. What are summer and winters like? Heat and cold dont bother me, just trying to understand the dynamics.

That is what I have so far. Any help would be graciously appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

[houndlover]

I lived in Newport and my family still farms there. Cold and dry in the winter, but with some snow, hot and dry in the summer, but irrigation available on some properties. Deep wells, you pay by the foot to drill, beautiful country and lots of not out of control building laws. Some people do have sulfur in their water, but a good filtering system can take care of that. Fruit trees do great with adequate watering, as do gardens, and my grandpa grew alfalfa and had a dairy herd, of course, he had irrigation from one of the big dams.

[Jukes23]

Houndlover,

thanks for the quick reply. I know that wells range from property to property, but on the average, how deep do you typically have to go? I live in Florida and my well is only 60-80 feet down.
once again, thank you for any information provided.

Joe

[10kids]

I live in Eastern WA. It is very diverse. The northern area gets more moisture, has more evergreens. The central southern area is very desert like, and gets much warmer. We live in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, which is the south eastern corner of the state. We are about 45 minutes from Oregon and a little over an hour to Idaho. All of Eastern WA pretty much gets 4 seasons, although unless you are in the northern part, you will not get a lot of snow. Gardening is great, and fruit trees excel here. Eastern WA is known for it's fruit orchards. We do not get much humidity, so even in the basin (the southern desert area) when it's hot, it is not bad. The winters can get pretty cold in January and February. Spring is windy and some rainy. Fall is spectacular, warm days and cool nights, leaves turning colors. I know the state pretty well and if you had a specific area in mind it would be easier to describe. You will find property much cheaper on this side versus the west side. This is considered farm country.

[manygoatsnmore]

What do you do for a living? A lot of the eastern side, if the land is really cheap, it's a long commute for work. Water is definitely an issue. You have "household" water, but if you want to water your fields, you'd better have "irrigation" water rights. A lot of wells are very deep - and there is no guarantee of hitting water, much less good water. The east side is dry. The west side of WA is wet. Land is expensive on the wet side. A lot of the dry side is also windy. If you don't like the wind constantly blowing, check out the various areas before plunking down your hard-earned $$.

[Jukes23]

I work in technology, so as long I can get online, I can work. I know that water is an issue in most western states. I am not looking to farm acres and acres. Probably farm 1/2 to 1 acre and pasture for livestock.

[Gymno]

Originally Posted by Jukes23

Hi group,

I am hoping some Washingtonians can help this east coast guy out! I am looking to purchase property in the Western US. I have narrowed my search to a couple locations; one of those being eastern Washington. I have seen some nice properties online in Stevens County. However, I cant seem to find alot of information of what Eastern Washington is like. I was wondering the following:

1. Is water an issue? Both quantity and quality (contaminants,etc). How much rain does this area get?
2. How is gardening and growing fruit trees in this area?
3. What are summer and winters like? Heat and cold dont bother me, just trying to understand the dynamics.

That is what I have so far. Any help would be graciously appreciated.

Thanks,

Joe

Well hello Joe! When you mentioned Stevens county, you got my attention. My family has moved to stevens county (10 miles south of Colville) to our family acreage that we are developing . This came after researching areas all over the west US. It is absolutely perfect for us. As i was in the development business earlier, i like to help others get the most from their property and i am now working with some folks from southern california, that after doing a whole lot of research, bought 20 acres in the same area. They are now building a small home that they will homestead in hope to get here later this year.

We came here for a variety of reasons, bought the property 4 years ago and haven't regretted it a minute. E washington in general is generally considered much drier than western washington and the Seattle area where you need to have web feet to survive. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the central and southern parts of e washington are drier than NE washington. I couldn't live in the central parts (no trees), but where we are, there are thick forests of Pine, and fir. We get about 18 inches of rain a year. We enjoy 4 seasons here, but they aren't so intense and extreme like you see such as in Montana or Colorado. Prices for real estate are reasonable, and i think this area is really an undiscovered secret!

Water wells can be variable. there are some places that are subirrigated and you can have a surface well. Our well was deep, but my neighbors was about 250 ft deep. that is something that varies from place to place. Gardening season is a bit shorter than some other places, but again, the specific season is dependent on the kind and location of the property you have. South facing is better for gardens than north spacing. Our family just planted 50 fruit trees. There are specific areas west of Colville that are very very good for fruit trees.

PM me if you have any other speciifc questions...i can send a few pics of our place which can give you the lay of the land. I would highly recommend you make a trip out and see for your self. One of the big benefits is no state income tax!

Good luck to you

Jim

[Jukes23]

Thanks your response and insight Jim! PM sent.

[houndlover]

The family farm in Newport has three wells, one is 120', and two are around 200'. The family has irrigation rights though, so water is pumped via lots of small canals and pipes running all over the county-side. Land with water rights is 3-4X the price of "dry" land, so choose wisely. While there is no income tax, they get you other ways, high sales tax and enormous vehicle registration fees.

[Jukes23]

Houndlover, what is the need for 3 wells? Is this based on how much water each one produces? I know wells are typically rated on how much water (per gallon) they produce per minute. Ideally, I would want to have enough water to water a garden and livestock and supply my house. I am not looking to irrigate 20 acres of crop land. maybe water 1/2 to 1 acre at most.

[Betho]

Oh and Stevens county is lax on building codes... which is always a bonus.

[rootsong]

To Jukes & anyone else- do you find Craigslist to be the best place to search for land in this area? Are there other sites I should check out as well?

Thanks!

(We haven't decided yet whether we'll be purchasing raw land or land with a home on it)

[Jukes23]

Originally Posted by rootsong

To Jukes & anyone else- do you find Craigslist to be the best place to search for land in this area? Are there other sites I should check out as well?

Thanks!

(We haven't decided yet whether we'll be purchasing raw land or land with a home on it)

I havent looked on Craigslist...yet. I have used http://www.landsofwashington.com/washington/

[insocal]

Originally Posted by 10kids

I live in Eastern WA. It is very diverse. The northern area gets more moisture, has more evergreens. The central southern area is very desert like, and gets much warmer. We live in the foothills of the Blue Mountains, which is the south eastern corner of the state. We are about 45 minutes from Oregon and a little over an hour to Idaho. All of Eastern WA pretty much gets 4 seasons, although unless you are in the northern part, you will not get a lot of snow. Gardening is great, and fruit trees excel here. Eastern WA is known for it's fruit orchards. We do not get much humidity, so even in the basin (the southern desert area) when it's hot, it is not bad. The winters can get pretty cold in January and February. Spring is windy and some rainy. Fall is spectacular, warm days and cool nights, leaves turning colors. I know the state pretty well and if you had a specific area in mind it would be easier to describe. You will find property much cheaper on this side versus the west side. This is considered farm country.

I love SE WA/NE OR! I lived in Hermiston OR many years ago when I was fresh out of vet school. And I fell in love with the area, and especially the area around Walla Walla WA. I have considered it as a possible retirement spot.

[Gymno]

Originally Posted by rootsong

To Jukes & anyone else- do you find Craigslist to be the best place to search for land in this area? Are there other sites I should check out as well?

Thanks!

(We haven't decided yet whether we'll be purchasing raw land or land with a home on it)

From my experience, there is so much land / homes for sale, that you only get a small portion of those on craig's list and often they are by Owner. There are many places on the internet you could look at literally 100's of parcels or houses. Just Google "stevens county real estate" and your off and running. same for any other location.

As for buying just land or a farm, there are large differences. With land, you can start from scratch and build, plan the way you want. And what you build is NEW. Or getting a farm, will include a house that often needs to be remodeled, and other structures as well. This could be a big plus though for the right place. Having all the out buildings, fences, wells, septic systems , etc all is very cost effective. Most likely, you can buy a place cheaper than if you bought raw land and added alll the extra features. We bought land so we could do what we wanted, but sometimes i think it would have been really nice to have a big old red barn.....

Jim

[rootsong]

Thanks for the tips Jukes & Jim! I look forward to broadening my searches beyond CL.

Yes, those are all the very things I have been debating, Jim. Already having the septic, well, fencing, etc in place would be extremely convenient & time saving. But then, we'd have an older house that probably needs plenty of work & nothing would be set up exactly like we want it....

I think what it comes down to for me is simple impatience. We've been talking about & planning this dream for several years. My husband will be working FT & we have 5 kids plus I am pregnant now. Actually getting the work done to build up our homestead on raw land will take several years & here I sit just wanting to move in & go buy some goats the very next day. LOL!

I'm sorry for the thread hijack.

Regarding your original questions, Juke, I'm can't really be helpful there. But my father-in-law lives in Spokane on just one acre, doesn't have a greenhouse, and wow does he grow a lot of veggies! He grows an enormous amount, cans, dries, & shares with us. I'm always impressed. (he is on city water)

[oregon woodsmok]

Every drop of water is owned by someone, so you have to be sure you get water rights.

I'd be surprised if any undeveloped land came with water rights. In Oregon (east of the Cascades), it is use it or lose it. If you aren't using the water, they take it away. So rights from undeveloped land are lost. I'd be darn careful about buying undeveloped land and be absolutely certain that it came with water rights.

Also, you can usually get a permit for a domestic well, but that permit will not cover irrigation water. So you need to be certain about how much water you can take from a well and what you can use it for.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

I have a bunch of friends who live in the Deer Park area of Stevens County. Very pretty. Thy all have thriving gardens and one has an orchard as well.

[LisaInN.Idaho]

Originally Posted by houndlover

I lived in Newport and my family still farms there. Cold and dry in the winter, but with some snow, hot and dry in the summer, but irrigation available on some properties. Deep wells, you pay by the foot to drill, beautiful country and lots of not out of control building laws. Some people do have sulfur in their water, but a good filtering system can take care of that. Fruit trees do great with adequate watering, as do gardens, and my grandpa grew alfalfa and had a dairy herd, of course, he had irrigation from one of the big dams.

Hey neighbor!~
I live in Priest River.

[houndlover]

Originally Posted by Jukes23

Houndlover, what is the need for 3 wells? Is this based on how much water each one produces? I know wells are typically rated on how much water (per gallon) they produce per minute. Ideally, I would want to have enough water to water a garden and livestock and supply my house. I am not looking to irrigate 20 acres of crop land. maybe water 1/2 to 1 acre at most.

No idea, ha ha, I think it's because the "farm" is 1000 acres and a couple of the wells are for stock in remote corners of the ranch. There are two homesteads joined into one parcel now.