Quote:
Originally Posted by dancingbear
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- east coast, not south
- inland, not a coastal area
- lots of trees within sight, lush and green
- hills or mountains nearby would be cool but not necessary
- least severe winter/snowfall as possible in this type of setting
- within an hour or two of a (decent, not dive) strip club - possible? yes, I am serious.
- is it possible to rent places in rural areas? what is real estate/properties like? what are monthly expenses like for maintaining this lifestyle? This is an area I know little about. ...
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I bought land for $900 per acre.
I built a house with large picture windows on three sides. So in our home we have a wide view of the surrounding forest. Our forest is thick with a canopy. So much of it is dark underneath the canopy. Looking up from my desk as I type this, I look out over a wooded marsh, and to both sides I see dense forest.
We have 1/4 mile of river frontage. The back of our home overlooks a marsh where we keep two kayaks in the water ready to go. When the water level goes down, about 5 acres of our flood plain grows fiddleheads [which we pick for market].
We have free ranging chickens and goats, that wander around in the forest.
To me this is very peaceful.
We have raised bed gardens and have been planting orchards in the clearings. This year was our first attempt at tapping maple sap.
Maine does have coast, rocky coast, but Maine also has a lot of inland forests.
Most of Maine is forested.
My land is flat. However Mount Katahdin is not far, we do have an assortment of small ski resorts North, South, and West of us.
'Winter', sigh. Well our first two years here I never touched a snow shovel. The 'storms' left a dusting, and I drove our car up and down the driveway and packed it down, and we were fine. You see most of Maine is well North of the 'snow-belt' which blows East from the great lakes region. However last year we did get one snow dump of a foot, which was a pain. And this year we got 6 snow dumps.
What I did, after last winter's one dump, was I became determined to own a tractor with a front loader. we shopped and shopped, and finally found a Massey Ferguson dealer selling new tractors for 0% interest. We bought this tractor in November and it was here for each of our snow dumps this winter. It made moving snow fun for me, rather than a pain. I can once again say that this past winter, I did not touch a snow shovel, not once. Even though we had a much colder winter.
Looking around in this area most farm houses have a tractor or an old pick-up truck with a plow blade. They are not registered, they only operate during the winter, and the snow is handled. It is simply what rural folks do to get by, and the end result is that an 80 year old living by herself is perfectly capable of clearing her own snow. You just need to have the right equipment. Which is NOT a shovel.
We have one strip club 20 miles South of us in Bangor and another 30 miles North in Millinocket. Though I honestly suspect that neither is up to your requirements.
Many folks do rent, in which case snow removal is done by the landlord.
I see homes selling for $40k on up to $200k.
What I like about this area: I moved here for the forest, the river, and the low cost of rural living. But we have discovered something that mis much better than what we moved here for.
Once we got here we discovered a large network of organic farmers. I was a vendor at a Farmer's Market for a year. I met a lot of great folks and I learned a lot. We simply do not have enough production on our farm yet to maintain a stall in a Farmer's Market, so I left that market. But we are working on increasing our production.
The network of organic farmers here includes Co-ops sharing seed, monthly workshops of how to produce various foods, livestock, wool spinning, and more.
They have organized a journeyman program, where someone interested in organic farming can go through their program, be placed as an apprentice on an existing farm, and once they complete so much, they help to locate a farm for the person and help to arrange financing.
Now I know, you are a dancer, and I am talking about farming. I must be an idiot right? What I have seen here is that there exists a group of really nice people. Who have disconnected from the commercial corporate ad-engrossed environment.
Some live in communes, some on Co-op farms, and some on private farms that accept apprenticeships. I have been approached by people asking if I would take them onto my farm in an apprenticeship.
Most of these 'farms' are only 5 to 10 acres and heavy forest with a thick canopy. They use clearings and greenhouses, and try to fit in with nature as much as they can.
This is entirely a different kind of lifestyle group than what I had anticipated when I moved to Maine.
I do hope that you can find a place where you can be happy.