What are some of the best states for homesteading?

Terrabus · #21 07/28/12, 01:39 AM

Tonight, I was telling a friend that I was looking for about 5 acres or so of the crappiest, nastiest, most unusable land I could find. Covered in rocks, weeds, ghosts, or whatever. Something so out of the way and middle of nowhere that somebody would be glad to get rid of it.

He laughed and said if he knew where that was, he'd be living on it.

Around here, folks talk about going to Missouri. The land is cheaper. But yeah, they get drought, too and it really messes stuff up for them.

Maine sounds good but the short growing season makes me wonder what I'd do. Plus, I'd have to spend a long time clearing trees and digging up trunks and roots so I could use the land.

Dusky Beauty · #22 07/28/12, 02:24 AM

I'm curious what the winters are like in Maine.

Alice In TX/MO · #23 07/28/12, 06:50 AM

Winter in Maine:
Winter in Maine - Maine Office of Tourism

geo in mi · #24 07/28/12, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GDAWN

I'm looking to buy 1-2 acres of cheap, undeveloped land and develop it on my own. I want to put myself somewhere that gets a decent amount of rain, isn't dry all year, and doesn't have a lot of restrictions. Any recommendations or experiences shared would be greatly appreciated.

Welcome to the forum. Do you plan to have an outside job, or just live off the land? Do you have an outside source of income? Do you know how to garden, build housing, fences, shelters, how to raise small animals? Do you know how to judge soil quality?

You might get lucky if you look long enough, but you'll have to sort through a lot of suburban type acreages with restrictions or already built housing if you are only looking at a couple of acres. There aren't very many places left that don't have zoning, building, septic, and well drilling regs.

Otherwise, I am still partial to SW MI......

geo

Batt · #25 07/28/12, 08:54 AM

Even Maine's Dept. of Tourism touts the long snow season. Just too far North. My daughter loves the snow, but me not so much. That is why I chose Missouri. 4 Seasons and all.

Now last year was dry, and this year is a terrible drought. But that is not the norm. I built this place (1600 s/f, barn,garage,large shed and greenhouse)and only had to pull 1 permit. I started with a cow pasture. That was because the septic was less than 1/4 mile from the lake. Taxes are reasonable <$900 /yr in my county. I have a separate 47 acres in another county that are $90/yr. You can still find land for <$2000 an acre for 20+ acres. Smaller parcels will cost quite a bit more.

Sorry, don't know where your from, but around here 1-2 acres is a house lot size.

Anyway, welcome to the forum.

ErinP · #26 07/28/12, 09:13 AM

I would look at any of the High Plains states, from Texas up to North Dakota. Most areas will have very few, if any, rules and regs and be relatively tax friendly.

materursa · #27 07/28/12, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

There are a few portions of the USA that are not drought-prone.

Out of curiosity, where else besides Maine would you consider not drought-prone?

ET1 SS · #28 07/28/12, 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusky Beauty

I'm curious what the winters are like in Maine.

When we moved here in 2005. A lot of snow mobiles were up for sale. It had been 3 years since the area had gotten enough snow to run them. Then we have had a few years with enough snow so those folks are happy. It is a natural cycle.

Winter Tourism [ski resorts] ALL have snow making equipment [towers, fans and nozzles] up and down their slopes. So when it is 25F they make snow for that industry.

Generally we get a snow storm that blows through the area, once each week. Followed by 6 days of clear / sunny skies.

Once a blanket of snow is on the ground, it gets very bright. Winter is the only time I wear sunglasses.

Our state does have a massive snow mobile trail system which inter-links every town and all backwoods destinations. There is a lot more travel into the willy-wags in the winter simply because the trail system allows for easy access into places where it is hard to travel in the summer. An hour on a snow mobile can get you into territory that would take six hours in the summer.

The roads are all cleared up within an hour after each storm passes. Some areas use salt, other areas do not. [My township does not use salt]

Winter is a good time to get outdoors, hiking, fishing, or sledding.

ET1 SS · #29 07/28/12, 10:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by materursa

Out of curiosity, where else besides Maine would you consider not drought-prone?

The USDA has maps that show all of this.

I would never take an individual's opinion on such a topic.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

andabigmac · #30 07/28/12, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrabus

Tonight, I was telling a friend that I was looking for about 5 acres or so of the crappiest, nastiest, most unusable land I could find. Covered in rocks, weeds, ghosts, or whatever. Something so out of the way and middle of nowhere that somebody would be glad to get rid of it.

He laughed and said if he knew where that was, he'd be living on it.

Lots, Land and Farm Properties
MLS#: 12189
There you go. It's a little more than 5 acres though. Notice the complete lack of water.

**highlands** · #31 07/28/12, 11:04 AM

Alaska.

Astrid · #32 07/28/12, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusky Beauty

I'd throw rural washington out there-- the seasons in the pac NW are very mild winters and summers, have a lot of rain and easily farmable. Douglas county in Oregon is the cheapest "good" land (surrounding Roseburg) but the rest of the green part of the state through Eugene to Portland and hours around it is quite spendy. The dry half of the state is probably too dry for you.

I hear Missouri is pretty free from restrictions, and is fairly green but subject to drought.

You wouldn't think it, but my little spot in Arizona may not get a lot of rain, but we have underground lakes and incredible farming if you can irrigate-- so keep in mind that there may be more than face value in many places you'll see.

I don't know about MO. When my husband and I were researching places to buy we decided against Missouri because of the large amounts of lead in the ground water. We chose SE Alaska because we are in a rainforest so no issues with water, in the summer there is a long day length which means that you can grow huge veggies and it never really gets that cold-we rarely go below zero although we do get a bit of snow. We have a microclimate and we use greenhouses with a rocket mass heater system to keep one of them warm into winter. We also have a RMH in the house as well as gravity fed water from a seep in the back as well as a rainwater catchment system off our metal roof. We have lived in Illinois, Maine and North Carolina but I can't say I'd want to be anywhere else but here.

Terrabus · #33 07/28/12, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andabigmac

Lots, Land and Farm Properties
MLS#: 12189
There you go. It's a little more than 5 acres though. Notice the complete lack of water.

I'm in love! That would be perfect for me! Of course, I'd certainly get myself into trouble there, but it would be worth it. And yeah, I saw there was absolutely no water. I would have to wonder about how deep the well would have to be, or even if you could drill one.

am1too · #34 07/28/12, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GDAWN

I'm looking to buy 1-2 acres of cheap, undeveloped land and develop it on my own. I want to put myself somewhere that gets a decent amount of rain, isn't dry all year, and doesn't have a lot of restrictions. Any recommendations or experiences shared would be greatly appreciated.

There is no such thing. The smaller a plot of land is the more expensive it is even in the boonies. One can get 10-20 acres for the price of 2 close in. My mom sold a 5 acre parcel for twice what I gave for my 10 acre plot only 6 miles away.

am1too · #35 07/28/12, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dusky Beauty

I'm curious what the winters are like in Maine.

My neice says cold. But I wager it is still warmern than the Dakotas.

ErinP · #36 07/28/12, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET1 SS

The USDA has maps that show all of this.

I would never take an individual's opinion on such a topic.

US Drought Monitor

The Drought Monitor isn't the USDA's, it's the University of Nebraska's. And it only shows current drought conditions. Not historical trends... (though it does have links to various sites that show historic trends all the way back to Paleo era.)

ET1 SS · #37 07/28/12, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ErinP

The Drought Monitor isn't the USDA's, it's the University of Nebraska's. And it only shows current drought conditions. Not historical trends... (though it does have links to various sites that show historic trends all the way back to Paleo era.)

I stand corrected. I stated the wrong government agency. Google fixed it. And we have the right agency. hamburger / cheeseburger.

Whether the Federal government does it directly or other government entities [which all link to each other and share each other's data]. We can all see where droughts are now and where they were each decade.

It is not rocket science to know that some places get hit with drought over and over again.

My parents were children when my grandparents lost their farms in the Dust Bowl. Places like: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas are known for their horrible droughts. Then we see many other areas that also get cyclic droughts.

But not everywhere.

Annie · #38 07/29/12, 01:21 AM

Google Historic Palmer Drought Indices. It can be searched by year and month all the way back to early 1900's for the whole country.

Raven12 · #39 07/29/12, 06:04 AM

According to Annie's post, we are all screwed. Lol.

Annie · #40 07/29/12, 08:01 AM

Haha...it sure looks that way Raven! Looks like most every part of the country can be subjected to droughts....maybe some more than others...but no matter where one lives, the weather will likely be in a constant change from year to year.