"Homesteading" in New Hampshire (fit in, crime, houses)

[LPVICK]

Hi all,

My husband and I are currently military and looking to leave the scene and pack up our three small children and head to New Hampshire in the next 1-2 years. We plan to purchase atleast 10 acres and build a home and farm. We plan to have quite a number and variety of livestock to process and feed our family. Education is important for our childrens sake. Safety is important. And friendliness is important. We are having the absolute hardest time settling on a location within New Hampshire that can provide us with these things. Any suggestions?

[tidaldream]

Very beautiful ~ A long winter up there.
Have you given any thoughts to greener pastures and milder temps to places like Virginia, for example?

[nativenewenglander]

I'm not a farmer, but a gardener. You might first figure your budget for housing as it varies widely in the state. Schools also vary by area, unless you're homeschooling, how important hospital, shopping fit into your plan. You can see from Google Maps where most farming takes place in NH. The seacoast and river valley's are the most farmed places, but you can have a great garden on less than an acre. Having livestock gets more interesting as you have to follow the zoning in your town. We have chickens and had to go to zoning to have them legally on our property as our four acres is in the residential zoning and livestock is not allowed. There are a lot of farming organizations around that you could tap online. Perhaps contacting the UNH Cooperative Extension would be a good start for leads. It sounds like a fun adventure, good luck.

[jdhpa]

The University of New Hampshire *might* have useful information:

https://colsa.unh.edu/nhaes/

Good luck

[LeviDunn]

Originally Posted by LPVICK

Hi all,

My husband and I are currently military and looking to leave the scene and pack up our three small children and head to New Hampshire in the next 1-2 years. We plan to purchase atleast 10 acres and build a home and farm. We plan to have quite a number and variety of livestock to process and feed our family. Education is important for our childrens sake. Safety is important. And friendliness is important. We are having the absolute hardest time settling on a location within New Hampshire that can provide us with these things. Any suggestions?

Why are you having a hard time? Is it the education aspect? I know a number of families who are doing exactly what you want to do without issue, but they homeschool or unschooled.

New Hampshire is consistently ranked one of the safest states in the U.S. People here are friendly and helpful. In much of the state you can purchase 10+ acres and there are areas of the state with no zoning.

[KCZ]

While most people here are pretty nice, finding a town with no zoning then putting a pig farm in a residential area is unlikely to endear yourself to your neighbors.

You need to take a week and drive around the state to see what areas you like. There are threads on this board with discussions and links to towns with good schools, tax rate comparisons, zoning regulations, etc. This UNH site is apt to be more helpful.
https://extension.unh.edu/Agriculture

BTW, "homesteading" is not a commonly used term here. You're talking about "farming." LOL.

[in_newengland]

Originally Posted by KCZ

While most people here are pretty nice, finding a town with no zoning then putting a pig farm in a residential area is unlikely to endear yourself to your neighbors.

You need to take a week and drive around the state to see what areas you like. There are threads on this board with discussions and links to towns with good schools, tax rate comparisons, zoning regulations, etc. This UNH site is apt to be more helpful.
https://extension.unh.edu/Agriculture

BTW, "homesteading" is not a commonly used term here. You're talking about "farming." LOL.

Thank you for the clarification. I was wondering what they meant by "homesteading." Sounds like something from the wild and wooly west.

There are lots of farms in NH. I'd stay away from the seacoast where land is pricier and look inland and north. If you're raising livestock, then maybe the fertility of the land isn't as important as it would be if you were growing food. Most of New England has rocky soil, btw. Do you really need to build a house? There are lots of nice houses already standing and many of them need a loving family to live in them and preserve them. Why not buy a small farm instead of starting from scratch?

A few ideas:
http://www.landandfarm.com/search/Ne...Farm-for-sale/

[Nonesuch]

Friendliness is tricky; Yankees are not "friendly" in the same manner as in other regions. New Hampshire's small towns have long histories, and it could take years, if not generations, for your family not be be thought of as those newcomers from away. It'll help if you pick a town with an active grange, and one with a lot of local recreational events focused on families.

Safety is a non-issue, anywhere with +10 acre lots of land is going to be a good distance away from anywhere with personal-safety-impacting crime problems. You'll find yourself more worried about insect-born disease and 4-legged predators than about 2-legged ones.

Originally Posted by LPVICK

We plan to purchase at least 10 acres and build a home and farm. We plan to have quite a number and variety of livestock to process and feed our family.

New Hampshire used to be 80% small farms, now it is 80% forest; Having been developed so long ago, you probably will not luck into a 10+ acre chunk of land suitable for home-building and farming that does not already have a house on it -- if you do, it's probably newly subdivided (read the deed carefully for CC&R!), or can't pass a perc. test.

Originally Posted by in_newengland

Do you really need to build a house? There are lots of nice houses already standing and many of them need a loving family to live in them and preserve them. Why not buy a small farm instead of starting from scratch?

Well said! I have seen some great small farms and old farmhouses, barns, in southern/central NH. Buildings that have stood for over a century and could use some upgrading, but are structurally sound. You just need to be willing to put in the work and enjoy having "working cats" in your household.

Originally Posted by LeviDunn

In much of the state you can purchase 10+ acres and there are areas of the state with no zoning.

Even where there is zoning, enforcement varies greatly from town-to-town or even within the town. For example, in my town the Zoning Board really only takes an interest in the "tourist corridor" along the major "scenic highway" through town, otherwise they only get involved when there are complaints. You can learn a lot by reading town board minutes online, or you might even want to sit in on the public ZBA meetings before making a commitment.

Search this forum and the Internet for "current use", especially the specific rules around farm land. Find an agent who understands that you are only interested in property which is zoned for agriculture (e.g. "R-A" Residential & Agricultural), so you don't have to go to the zoning board just to be allowed a rooster.

[LeviDunn]

Only six states have a smaller portion of native-born residents than New Hampshire. Two-thirds of adults in NH were born in another state. You guys will fit in and be fine.

People do homestead here. Two recent transactions I was involved with was helping people from out of state purchase rural homes on land (40 acres and 26 acres) that they plan on doing chickens, small amount of livestock, off-grid power and other things you read about on the self-sufficiency and survivalist websites. If you come visit NH, I can introduce you to friends who have an off-grid farm/homestead and you can pick their brains about that lifestyle in the state. In fact, you can even sleep there for free if you want to help them out on the farm a little.