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I spent the last week running a bulldozer to clear a few paths on my land. One of these paths will be a fenceline for our hogs. It is just wild how land that was once grain fields, can later become such dense forest. This does not happen in Oklahoma or Missouri, Kansas or Nebraska.
Submariner, Just mac will do.... On line every where mac was all taken by the time I got on line.. Buck Skinners move slow, and now i am a old Buck Skinner and move real slow That Muz is for muzzeloaders. It was the best thing I could think of to describe me.
A little tip to fence in hogs with i assume electric fence is to 'nail' a small section of white pine or spruce board to a tree before you add any insulators and wire.
In this way as the tree grows it pushed the board out, away from the tree and will not grow around the board.
Not doing this causes the tree to suck up the insulators, nails and wires, and also allows the wire to be closer to the tree and assorted other weeds which are likely to become a real pain.
You have the rest right... let the hogs work up the land which they do very well.
CD is a strange site..... So far i have met no one off this site, but off the motorcycle sites i go to i have met lots and lots of people. The strange thing is most people would say bikers are dangerous...
I did meet one guys wife off here, but i never met him yet and it was us who were friends.. he owns a house upto Lancaster way, and that place needed a look see from the point of a local who knows a little house trade/ construction. That old place had wiring from the dark ages too.
I took my wife along on the bike and the other guys wife thought he and i were personal friends, so she kissed me on the cheek as a greating LOL
She was a very cool lady by the way... We hope to get invited back up there some day. The house was Killer cool old Victorian too...
Submariner, Just mac will do.... On line every where mac was all taken by the time I got on line.. Buck Skinners move slow, and now i am a old Buck Skinner and move real slow That Muz is for muzzeloaders. It was the best thing I could think of to describe me.
A little tip to fence in hogs with i assume electric fence is to 'nail' a small section of white pine or spruce board to a tree before you add any insulators and wire.
In this way as the tree grows it pushed the board out, away from the tree and will not grow around the board.
Not doing this causes the tree to suck up the insulators, nails and wires, and also allows the wire to be closer to the tree and assorted other weeds which are likely to become a real pain.
You have the rest right... let the hogs work up the land which they do very well.
These tree embedded nails are a big problem to any saw mills in the future, and or to you if you ever do have cut up a tree with a chain saw. A nail will ruin your chain, but it will explode a mill saw. That makes for a real poor day to the fellers in the mill.
I like the land Maine is made off, but i am not as fond of Maine poly tics.. Not so bad as Mass, but not as good as NH. Still land locked behind NY.
I agree with that, Mac!
However, I will soon be a legal resident of NH...just one who has a camp in Maine! If you think Mass is bad, try RI! Yep, home of the crooked-est politics in New England! I don't give a dang what the politics of Maine are. We'll be far enough out that I doubt it will affect me that much. I will be relieved, however, that I won't need to pay RI income taxes any longer! And as a 'resident' of NH, I won't be payin' them anything in Maine either...just property taxes, which are lower than in NH!
Well for a fact no one here grows wheat and no one here could afford too. Anyone here with any land grows corn for people food... a bit for domestic critters too, but nothing like out west.... of course near me is mostly rock piles of 2,000 ft to 6,288 ft. Get off some from these little rock piles and there is flat lands again.
I have been up to Presque Ile which is about all rock piles and trees, looking for Munsungun Chert
Google that
For a fact I know maple products are the first crop of Spring up there as well as right here....
With the right land, the right trees a decent arch and a ok shack one can make a tidy profit of that, so long as they don't go at it Full Time
Most self-sufficiency types probably are not growing wheat up there but farmers are which is what we were discussing - you know, as in an occupation. Farmers were growing wheat there over 100 years ago and they grow it today.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChrisC
Thanks! There's no telling what I might do sometimes, so you never know. I would let you know ahead of time of course.
As an added benefit, I could see how someone who really knows what they are doing with this sufficiency stuff does their stuff!
Well, he has explored all over and you see where he ended up. If it weren't for the harsh cold, I'd be up there, but you say that's right up your alley.
Personally I wouldn't dump ND just because there are trees in Maine but if you have a sincere interest in that area - you MUST see it. However, there are trees everywhere east of the Mississippi, you can grow wheat just about anywhere, and there are places all over where you can have an outhouse. From my POV, you appear to have too many misconceptions and preconceived notions about many places.
The question is can you be content with ND without ever having explored other options. It's difficult for me to grasp what that must be like - I can't imagine buying property without exploring many other options.
I have never visited northeast ND but if it's similar to where you are, there are advantages to sticking with what you know - you'll get up and running much faster. In UP you would be surrounded by lots of fresh water which isn't a bad thing except that it draws lots of visitors. If you are tucked away well off the beaten path, it might be OK. You talked about having a root cellar but depending on exactly where you are in ME or UP, that may not be possible.
This is all unsolicited advice, I know, but you can't go by other people's perceptions. My perception of ME and UP may be the opposite of yours. Mac's perception of No. ME is that there are no wheat fields up there. You know that isn't true so you can't go by any of this. You have to even take what the *residents* say with a grain of salt. What doesn't affect them in those locations may affect you. There may be laws/regulations that they don't even know about because it doesn't affect them but it may affect you. My best unsolicited advice to anyone is to open the mind, eliminate preconceived notions and do detailed independent research and drill down to specific locales. All things are not equal within imaginary state lines.
The above is why I think your suggestion of a best places thread has little to no value. Perceptions *and* experiences for every location vary greatly for each individual.
When someone comes here and asks a general question about where to go, I have to question the sincerity. To me, self-sufficiency means being proactive and figuring that out yourself, not expecting to be told where to go and follow like a sheep.
I didn't end up here, but every time I leave i come back. I don't like it any place better is why...
I checked post 1 and we are off topic from that going to farming from survival farming I guess.
My world runs in circles and i am always in trouble for being off topic, but when everything is circles everything is off topic, but it all comes back.
I am no sort of any plainsman, and i can't see how people living in tree less ND can stand the winters there.
The places i saw with fir trees was a joke with folks burning logs 4 feet long and not even split..... At least they had trees. Burning hard wood is a lot better than any other kinds of wood for winter heat.. Coal beats that but not in NH or Maine where you can't go dig any.
I don't yet understand why Chris wants to grow wheat, but it can't be to bake just enough loaves of bread to suit his table. And i have never personally seen any wheat I know of yet grown in Maine or NH, and so wouldn't know why anyone here does either, unless it is means money...
What we used to grow here, and what does has changed a lot over the past 300 years....
I am just a little guy and don't know all about wheat and or it all, in upper New England other than I like these rocks and the sugar maple trees.
I am a little nipmunkish sort of finding hidden places to grab a snooze and pass quite times. Gardens in my world are measured in feet, and not all that many feet, not acres. None of my gardening is for dollars either, and I hope never will be.
I have been around the USA so much as i can and have and always come back to here. I like other places but I could not live in many of them.
The plains have too much sky, the south and Cal too much sun. Some places have no seasons or just 2, or very short growing seasons like AK as my best guess.
I also crave shellfish and i find if one gets a tad too far from the coast any shell fish isn't really what I have become accustomed too.. So I am sort of stuck here.
From my POV, you appear to have too many misconceptions and preconceived notions about many places.
Yes, east of the Mississippi is definitely somewhat mysterious to me. I've just never spent any time there. Actually the farthest east I've been is southern Louisiana (bayou country) for a time (HOT!... HUMID!)--interesting place, but not for me, and Missouri (my mother was born on a backwoods farm near Eldon)--I actually liked the area, but again, just too consistently hot and humid; I can only take so much of that, I'm afraid I'd suffocate! But farther east... nope, never been there.
I have been all over the west, though--ND, SD, MT, CO, MN, AZ, WY, ID, UT, NV, WA, OR, CA, TX, OK, KS, NE. The thing that bothers me about much of the west is the lack of water in most places (other than the Pacific Northwest, which is beautiful, but overcrowded in all the best areas, of course!). Sheesh, around here, farmers still get mad enough to kill one another over irrigation disputes--actually happened several times (not the killing, just the temper) with a couple of neighbors when I lived on a farm in my younger years. The real "sufficiency people" and survivalists around here generally are way out in the desert wastelands or in the high mountains--there really isn't much good farm land with available water left that hasn't been subdivided or that can be afforded by anyone less than a millionaire. I like to call my area "Los Angeles East Annex."
The thing that attracted me to ND originally was that they do get a bit more water (in the east part of the state), the generally cooler climate (and the cold winters), the land is much cheaper, staple crops grow well... and ESPECIALLY the seclusion and very sparse population up there. And... I may well still end up there. Just tossing around other options as I save up for the big move.
scarlet i can export some cold any time you say! Too late, I'm settled now!
I didn't end up here, but every time I leave i come back. I don't like it any place better is why...
I checked post 1 and we are off topic from that going to farming from survival farming I guess.
My world runs in circles and i am always in trouble for being off topic, but when everything is circles everything is off topic, but it all comes back. We got into details about Aroostook County in No. ME
I am no sort of any plainsman, and i can't see how people living in tree less ND can stand the winters there. I couldn't live anywhere treeless. Well, no actually I could, but I don't want to!
I don't yet understand why Chris wants to grow wheat, but it can't be to bake just enough loaves of bread to suit his table. He said he wants to grow what he uses. I'm with you on that thinking but if he wants to try, more power to him!
And i have never personally seen any wheat I know of yet grown in Maine or NH, You may have missed the posts with links related to it, but you can google it too and so wouldn't know why anyone here does either, unless it is means money... It means money to farmers - especially when they are receiving wheat subsidies.
Yes, east of the Mississippi is definitely somewhat mysterious to me. I've just never spent any time there. Actually the farthest east I've been is southern Louisiana (bayou country) for a time (HOT!... HUMID!)--interesting place, but not for me, and Missouri (my mother was born on a backwoods farm near Eldon)--I actually liked the area, but again, just too consistently hot and humid; I can only take so much of that, I'm afraid I'd suffocate! But farther east... nope, never been there.
I have been all over the west, though--ND, SD, MT, CO, MN, AZ, WY, ID, UT, NV, WA, OR, CA, TX, OK, KS, NE. The thing that bothers me about much of the west is the lack of water in most places (other than the Pacific Northwest, which is beautiful, but overcrowded in all the best areas, of course!). Sheesh, around here, farmers still get mad enough to kill one another over irrigation disputes--actually happened several times (not the killing, just the temper) with a couple of neighbors when I lived on a farm in my younger years. The real "sufficiency people" and survivalists around here generally are way out in the desert wastelands or in the high mountains--there really isn't much good farm land with available water left that hasn't been subdivided or that can be afforded by anyone less than a millionaire. I like to call my area "Los Angeles East Annex."
The thing that attracted me to ND originally was that they do get a bit more water (in the east part of the state), the generally cooler climate (and the cold winters), the land is much cheaper, staple crops grow well... and ESPECIALLY the seclusion and very sparse population up there. And... I may well still end up there. Just tossing around other options as I save up for the big move.
Yep, may as well.
Have you used Google Earth or Google Maps to look around at ME or UP? You can scoot up and down the highway on Maps and take it all in.
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That Muz is for muzzeloaders. It was the best thing I could think of to describe me.
If you think Mass is bad, try RI! Yep, home of the crooked-est politics in New England! I don't give a dang what the politics of Maine are. We'll be far enough out that I doubt it will affect me that much. I will be relieved, however, that I won't need to pay RI income taxes any longer! And as a 'resident' of NH, I won't be payin' them anything in Maine either...just property taxes, which are lower than in NH! 
