Homesteads - Only for the Rich

Heineken

Today's young people are in a tight spot. They've got their whole lives to live, but that prospect is colliding with a fast-narrowing future. Not unlike the young romantic couple in "Titanic."

If I may borrow from another film, they have my sympathies (as the android said in "Alien").

I suggest that today's young get together and get angry. Not that it will help much. We're ALL going to go down in one giant ball of suffering humanity.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

Daphne64

Revi: I took your advice to heart a week or two ago and have been looking at listings in Northern Maine.

I am gravitating toward more expensive places: a 145 acre farm (60 tillable) with house for $125K or 223 acres (100 tillable) for 130K. I am a little dubious as to the quality of land on properties that are so cheap. Do you have any idea of how much formerly farmed land has been abandoned due to it being played out or not suitable to start with?

Also, I have mentioned this idea to several people (most with masters degrees or more) and the reaction has been uniformly negative, with the blessed exception of my husband. I started to wonder if I was crazy, but then I realized that none of these people showed any desire to look into the methane clathrate issue at all. Is it possible that 90%+ of even intelligent, educated people are willfully stupid when the conclusions are appalling?

I do figure that there will probably be, at the least, a year to act before any panic could start. I am hoping our silver investments will kick in in time to get something suitable. As it is, we could really stretch to get one of these now, but bankrupcty would stand a good chance of reclaiming it before we could move and claim the property as our homestead.

JPL

Here's something for people in the UK :

The Land is Ours Campaign

JP
_________________
I see a dark sail on the horizon
set under a black cloud that hides the sun.
Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.

Jethro Tull

pedalling_faster · Intermediate Crude Joined: Dec 10, 2005 Posts: 946

Ludi

Daphne64

I would like a fair amount of tillable land because I think it would be better to have at least a few families living on it. That way we could have someone on armed guard duty at all times during the die-off phase, and also it would just be more fun and less work with more companionship and some specialization in duties.

I'll admit I don't know how much land is really necessary to support each person using modern organic and petroleom free methods, but I'd rather have some extra land than not enough.

FoolYap

Heineken

Daphne, do you have farming experience?

Are you familiar with rural land and rural living?

Acreages like 145 and 223 are enormous. You'll need an ATV just to get around on it.

You could live on 223 acres for several years and never even see all of it, if it's at least partly wooded.

And who are these "families" and "armed guards" you plan on having?

Quality matters more than quanitity. Even just 10 acres is more than any family can fully handle (without lots of mechanized, fuel-guzzling equipment).

I live on 25 acres. It seems like a good size, though I'd prefer something in the 30s for a little more privacy. Even after going on three decades (off and on) I haven't begun to meet my goals for this place.

I have a 50-acre tree farm and it seems positively enormous. I've gotten lost on it.

You don't live on just land (unless you're an ant or a deer). You'll need a house with solar or wind power, a well with a hand pump, a barn or storage building or two, maybe a greenhouse or two---infrastructure. They cost money and
end up consuming much of your time.
_________________
"Actually, humans died out long ago."
---Abused, abandoned hunting dog

"Things have entered a stage where the only change that is possible is for things to get worse."
---Me and my brother

mos6507

energycity · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 22, 2008 Posts: 126

kellan1776 · Coal Joined: May 16, 2008 Posts: 14

Daphne64

Heineken:

I have zero farm experience. Which is ironic, since we live in Kansas and a lot of people from other parts of the country assume we must have a farm background. But I am willing to learn, if that's what it takes to ensure our daughters have a chance to survive.

For the most part, we would want current friends and family on the farm. One of the other families I would approach includes a guy that grew up on a farm, another specific one I would approach has an MD. We would save slots for my nephews, hubby's niece and a a sister-in-law. When TSHTF, I would imagine we might get some panicked calls from friends and we would only be able to say yes to people that could bring lots of food and/or build buildings.

Would you want to head off to a survivalist farm and know all your friends are going to die?

As for the armed guards, I meant just having the adults take turns on watch. How active we would have to be about it would depend on how many zombies are roving the area.

As far as acreage goes, the farm Revi linked to is an outstanding buy in that price range - 45K for 80 acres with 20 tillable, if I remember right. But hey, if the bigger farm is more than we need, we could sell some. I do have half a mind to throw 10K at some of the cheaper woodlots up there, just in case the panic hits sooner than I would imagine. I am still hoping to get a co-investor for a larger chunk of land though.

Re: how far from civilization, I don't know about the two plots that look the most promising on paper. I found the satellite photos of three plots of 130 acres each near Fort Fairfield(?). They look a little bit too close to town in my opinion, but might be possibilities.

We might possibly be looking for someone to live on the land and work on conditioning it (and stay when TSHTF). We couldn't really afford to do that for a year or so, though.

HappyFace · Tar Sands Joined: Jun 23, 2008 Posts: 26

energycity · Heavy Crude Joined: Apr 22, 2008 Posts: 126