Looking for strongly conservative, rural setting with major airport access(within an hour) (Knoxville: sales, houses)

[usagisan]

One more thing. With so many happily retiring in Tennessee, one things gives one pause: the Tennessee Estate tax. Has anyone found a good way to minimize the impact for someone with a modest estate in the 1-5 million range? Any Estate Planner recommendations for modest estates as indicated above, Hard to tell where I'll end up as I am 47 now, but I figure I'll probably check out in that range, probably closer to 3 million. - thoughts?

[kingchef]

Originally Posted by usagisan

Gang:

I have an additional question about a couple of areas I have been looking at as a result of the leads in this forum. We will be probably doing an exploratory trip this fall so I am trying to target some areas to visit. Now I understand both these areas are far apart but when you are talking of jumping states the distance is insignificant. That being stated does anyone have any idea how good the soil is around Cookeville or around Oakland? I am an avid grower and as I move more to retiremnet I expect to do even more. But I learned long ago not to fight bad soil.

Most pleasant regards...

memphis, has w/out a doubt, the best soil in the state. much of west tennessee and most of memphis and shelby county is composed of three major soil types: memphis silt loam, lexington silt loam, and dulac or is mix of dulac, sand, and the other two loams. dulac is found in several of the extreme west tn counties. dulac is composed of a majority of clay.

lexington and memphis silt are very good growing soils, w/ the edge being given to lexington. both are excellent for major crops, for curciferous vegetables, tomatoes, onions, carrots, etc. dulac is helpful in the right mixture for some of the flowers which like to hold a little more water under them. lining fish ponds, pools, rock gardens, etc. are a good choice for this soil. glads, peonies, all early spring flowers, hydrangeas, snowballs, climbing roses (some of these like some dulac w/ sand, gravel, and charcoal in this area), so they can be somewhat tricky. of course, humus from the fallen trees in the woods, chicken manure, and compost are wonderful for most things, particularly for woodland fern, which is native to tennessee. of course, as a gardener, i'm sure you know the need to balance the soils w/ nitrogen, potash, lime, etc. for those beautiful yews, evergreens of all kinds, and hydrangeas, in order to get the best colors, will need that extra bit of acid.

best of luck if you choose tn. you will love gardening here. btw, all types of ivy do well here, even through the winter months. several times during the winter we will have single digit weather, and that knocks it back a little, but it really seems to makes it prettier in the spring. some of the old hands call it "hardening" the stand. again, best of luck.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by usagisan

I can't say it strongly enough, think twice before you move to IL unless you are some sort of parasitic liberal degenerate or an illegal alien who wants to prey on the efforts of others and use the coercive force of Government to deprive honest men of the just fruits of their labor. The State of Illinois robs the honest man.

I'm going to caution you about something. Tennessee is a very liberatarian state.

Granted, I haven't travelled the entire state but regarding at least East Tennessee, people may lean conservative but they are - above all - polite. We get the occasional person that rubs their hands together in anticipation of getting with "their people" when they moved to our state, only to find that it isn't quite what they expected. We are known for our kindness and we never call names or get into people's face about politics or religion. We don't spew hate and we frown on other people that do.

Regarding taxes, we are 44th in the nation for tax burden, which means that overall it is very, very nice to live here. I currently run two businesses and opening the brick and mortar one was a breeze with little paperwork or fees. Regarding estate taxes, though, yes, you are correct. You will definitely want to get with a tax professional. Depending where you end up I am sure you will be able to find someone to help you. http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/335.html

Also, I found some interesting information regarding estate taxes. It looks like we are 21 which isn't as bad as I thought. Illinois is 16, by the way. http://www.taxfoundation.org/taxdata/show/959.html

[jabogitlu]

The people of TN I'll agree with hik on. Unfortunately our state government is starting more and more to try to dictate too much "stuff" (re: gay marriage, gay adoption [failed], seat belt laws, smoking in public, English-only in Nashville [failed]). I hope they stay out of the business side of things but as far as social politics go they're starting to embarrass themselves.

[usagisan]

Greetings all:

Thanks for the detailed soil information much appreciated. I have been looking at a couple of state university sites trying to figure out what type of fruit trees will do well, I figure it must be tricky on the varieties with the humidity and all.

Where I am at I grow Sweet and tart cherries, plums, peaches, apples, pears, gooseberries, currants, strawberreis, elder berries, black berries, and raspberries so it sound s like most of that will grow in TN, but I'll have to go through that long variety and test process. For instance I cannot imagine HoneyCrisp doing well in TN where as it is exceptional in my area.

As for TN being Libertarian, I certainly have no idea. All I know is I just want to be left alone, to myself. I am neighborly but just think folks should pay attention to how they conduct their own lives and less so on how others conduct theirs.

I am not much for rubbing my hands and trying to get with my people, unless that means wandering the country side and talking to some gardeners and growers about the techniques and varieties they are growing. Got to admit that comment about curciferous piqued my interest as I figured it was too hot for many of them. Maybe you grow them in the winter season? Just guessing.

Anyways thanks for the tax links also.

Most pleasant regards...

[Wordy]

I think if honeycrisp grew here it would make a great thing nearly perfect. Yum! I think apple, pear and maybe peach would do OK here.

It has been my experience that Tennesseans tend to be Democrats, at least in middle Tennessee. However, they are generally very conservative. Here in Cookeville, they are very much against raising property taxes. I would say it's pretty easy to be left to your own devices here, although Tennesseans are quite friendly and neighborly.

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by Wordy

I think if honeycrisp grew here it would make a great thing nearly perfect. Yum! I think apple, pear and maybe peach would do OK here.

It has been my experience that Tennesseans tend to be Democrats, at least in middle Tennessee. However, they are generally very conservative. Here in Cookeville, they are very much against raising property taxes. I would say it's pretty easy to be left to your own devices here, although Tennesseans are quite friendly and neighborly.

I agree! They tend to be friendly without being pushy, neighborly without seeming nosy. It's a bizarre feat to pull off, but they do it with aplomb.

We just opened a business, and although I have loved Knoxvillians for five years their kindness in the past two weeks has absolutely left me speechless. I am quite sure I will someday write a book about this area and its people. I think folks here can be friendly, but it comes from the heart, so you quickly realize that there is NO ulterior motive.

And our property taxes are crazy low. And the services that we get are incredibly good.

Someone once asked, so how do they do that? What is the catch? Wisely spending money is a great start.

And all this talk of fruit has me hungry.

[kingchef]

curcifiious veg in tn do well in early spring and late mid to late august. asparagus beds do very well in early spring. remember green onions, shallots, kale, mustard, turnip greens, etc. all do well in both seasons. let the frost hit the greens, and try them w/ smoked meat---wonderful bitter taste. try hot bacon fat and fresh side bacon poured directly over early greens. very similar to a good arugula said. enjoy.

[usagisan]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

And all this talk of fruit has me hungry.

Well for what it is worth I just munched a handful of giant sugar sweet blackberries (Triple Crown if anyone cares) and some grapes (Interlaken seedless) as I mulched in my plum tree (Ozark Premier) and cleaned it up after the harvest. So I am psychically sending you good fruit viibes across the net - LOL. The first of the summer pears should be ripening here soon and then my late peach followed by more pears and then my fall apples.

Of course here in the midwest I have yet to get my first tomato of the season. Probably still 2 week off. I am growing 12 varieties this year and just can't wait.

The comments about Tennesseans being Democrats is interesting. The areas I have looked at demographically have not indicated that, so I am looking in the right areas for me I suppose.

BTW hiknapster, what type of business did you start? I am a businessman and have started many concepts over the year, though now I derive most of my income from a consulting practice. It is lucrative but I miss being in the trenches so to speak.

All the best...

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by usagisan

Well for what it is worth I just munched a handful of giant sugar sweet blackberries (Triple Crown if anyone cares) and some grapes (Interlaken seedless) as I mulched in my plum tree (Ozark Premier) and cleaned it up after the harvest. So I am psychically sending you good fruit viibes across the net - LOL. The first of the summer pears should be ripening here soon and then my late peach followed by more pears and then my fall apples.

Of course here in the midwest I have yet to get my first tomato of the season. Probably still 2 week off. I am growing 12 varieties this year and just can't wait.

The comments about Tennesseans being Democrats is interesting. The areas I have looked at demographically have not indicated that, so I am looking in the right areas for me I suppose.

BTW hiknapster, what type of business did you start? I am a businessman and have started many concepts over the year, though now I derive most of my income from a consulting practice. It is lucrative but I miss being in the trenches so to speak.

All the best...

Over here in Knoxville they lean heavily to the right. But they are very libertarian.

It's auto repair.

Thanks for the good wishes and the good fruit vibes!