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Off-grid in its strictest sense is an ideal that you can never meet; you have to have a source of water, spare parts, seeds, livestock materials and services, etc. In your case I'd add medical services on top of that.
Given your preferences, you need access to a fair amount of water (I'd say that rules out every parcel of land not within 20mi of a decent-sized river), and something low altitude and warm.
I think that limits your options to the lower Pecos valley (Ft.Sumner/Roswell/Artesia/Carlsbad) or the lower Rio Grande (Hatch, Las Cruces, Anthony). Since they're facing an exceptional drought in the Pecos area right now, you can probably pick up land cheap.
You could live off-grid in all sorts of other places, but trucking in water or shoveling snow (when it's dipped negative and the wind won't stop) doesn't sound like your cup of tea.
Come-on Mort? Where is your spirit of adventure? Your sense of, hmmmm...
Rich
I side with mortimer in that I think it would be a sense of masochism.
Living off-grid in a place where nature provides a bounty (e.g. Kentucky, Oregon) makes a small amount of sense. Living off-grid in the desert doesn't sound very smart to me.
I side with mortimer in that I think it would be a sense of masochism.
I can think of one good reason... if you want to live far from people who would never consider living off grid. And you are too poor to retire in style... but getting a social security check, have decent savings you can retire on (in poverty), or have some way to make money in the boonies.
My "ideal" of living off grid though is a small hovel at 5-7k ft elevation in the southern part of the state, catch water off the roof and use very little (no well), minimal solar panels and batteries, a wood stove for heat, a computer and satellite internet... and drive to town every couple weeks to get supplies. I most certainly would not be gardening, tending livestock, or acquiring other hobbies that require constant maintenance.
My "ideal" of living off grid ... [ ... deletia ... ] ...
That is not living off grid.
It is living with a high degree of self-sufficiency. It is living mostly under the radar.
If you are driving your vehicle, using gasoline, getting medicine then you are not
off the grid. People like the Earthship people near Taos delude themselves into
thinking they are off the grid, but ... well, they are delusional.
If you have a solar panel to keep your electronics going, you are on the grid.
Please note that I don't think there is anything wrong with living in a shack in the
woods, only going into town every 3-5 weeks or so and collecting Social Security.
Such a lifestyle might even have a smaller impact on the environment than most people
have. ... It also might not.
It reminds me of people in high school who dressed to irritate their elders and thought
they were a rebel as they dressed like every other person in their group.
I think that limits your options to the lower Pecos valley (Ft.Sumner/Roswell/Artesia/Carlsbad) or the lower Rio Grande (Hatch, Las Cruces, Anthony). Since they're facing an exceptional drought in the Pecos area right now, you can probably pick up land cheap.
There are quite a few other places where small farms have been viable in the past, but in my lifetime I've seen many of these areas dry up and the farms, orchards and pastures disappear. In recent years (last 2O) there have been several fairly large operations in Lincoln county that "seemed" to be making it only to have been sold or up for sale now. Lavender farms were the rage for a few years, and there are some raspberry and other berry varieties currently struggling to survive in the Rio Bonito drainage. Similar small farms were once scattered along the small streams coming from the Sacramento Mtns. in Chavez County.
In Otero County, At High Rolls and Mountain Park, there were once very productive commercial apple and cherry orchards, but few remain today. The city of Alamogordo has grown substantially, meaning ever increasing draw off of waters that once were much more plentiful. There are pistacho orchards and vinyards that CONTINUE to be installed in the drainage areas to the north of Alamogordo. There is a very large relatively recently planted pecan orchard north of Tularosa, along with several vinyards. How profitable any of these are I wouldn't know.
If you are driving your vehicle, using gasoline, getting medicine then you are not off the grid.
I thought maybe I was mistaken so I looked it up.
"Off-the-grid homes are autonomous; they do not rely on municipal water supply, sewer, natural gas, electrical power grid, or similar utility services. A true off-grid house is able to operate completely independently of all traditional public utility services."
So "off the grid" means not using public utilities... which is what I thought. What else could the "grid" refer to? Living off the land or with minimal impact is something else.
We do not want to "irrigate any acreage"...we only want a small green house/garden. Enough to sustain our family.
Yes "Off Grid" living definetely has its challenges and if grid power is available we would definetly connect but would like to be self-sufficient with respect to power at some point.
I will have to look at the thread "off the grid" that you posted. Thank you.
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