Do you like living in the counrty?

Question

I have a 10 acre lot in Upstate New York . Some day soon I what to move there. Outside of Cooperstown

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2452876640057207681GoANVL?vhost=good-times

Answer 1

I live on 2.5 wooded acres in Port Orchard Washington and have a stream in the back half of the property loaded with wild Coho and Trout and occasional Crayfish.

My house sits well back from the stream and about 100 feet above it so flooding isn't a problem.

I built a full trail system so I can go down and enjoy the creek and woods as well as get access to haul fallen trees and such out.

The nice thing is that the property is full fenced so no stray animals can come unless invited which makes my cats happy, they can roam the property without any worries.

I have a good house, garage and workshop and don't landscape, just keep nature in control.

The upper half of my property gets good sun exposure and produces loads of wild blackberries, some wild (mini) strawberries and  four varieties of wild huckleberries red and blue, black caps, salmon berries and two varieties of large everberring black berries and more.

Yearly starlit nights have little incumberances from any city lights and the bats are fun to watch as well!

I do have fairly regular visits from some wild deer who jump the fence like it wasn't there and they are welcome.

All in all, it looks like you have some good property, hope you have good water (mine is fantastic) and place your home to take full advantage of passive solar and you can live well without wiping your finances out.

I wouldn't trade it or sell it for anything and when I croak, it is set to be donated to my local Puyallup Indian tribe to be used as a nature study center.

Answer 2

eric

as you've posted this in "green living" i'm assuming that one day you'd like to move there and be at least a little self sufficient using some form of alternative energy.

Let me start off by saying we (my family and I) live completely, 100% “off of the grid and are completely self sufficient” using alternative fuels / energy. I was in the exact same situation as you few years ago.

http://www.agua-luna.com/about_us.html

We do not leave our ranch except about once or twice a year, mainly for travel and vacations.

We raise meat and milk goats, chickens for meat and eggs, ducks for meat and eggs, trap havilina (wild boar pig), rabbit, quail. brew our own beer from home grown products, preserve our fruits, vegetables, etc. smoke and jerky the meat, make our own soap, cheese.

There are no utility lines, no water lines, no roads, tv, cell service, etc. on our ranch. EVERYTHING needed is produced here. All electricity comes from 27 solar panels, 2 main wind gens and a back hydrogen generator if needed (typically we can last 9 days with all luxuries of sunless windless weather, hasn't happened yet). Water is caught and storaged from the rain. Hot water is made with solar batch water heaters with an on-demand hydrogen hot water heater as backup. Even our vehicles use alternative energy (2 hydrogen trucks, 1 EV electric vehicle converted).

We’ve lived self sufficiently off the grid for over 5 years now. In 2003 I left an Engineering position with Boeing, sold 2 houses and most of our positions, purchased a small ranch in West Texas near the Mexican border, built a completely green home using 100% recycled and local (rocks, lumber, sand from the ranch) materials, built a wind generator and some solar panels, built a hydrogen generator and converted the vehicles to run on alternative energy, purchased some goats, chickens, ducks, lamas, etc, a composting toilet, water storage tanks, planted crops and fruit trees and settled down for the long run. We typically don’t leave the ranch for 6-8 months at a time, and only then to visit family.

The house is built utilizing natures natural materials, Woodburning stoves, solar chimney, solar AC, solar heating, solar water heating (pool and home), solar stove, solar power, wind power, hydrogen powered back up generator, hydrogen back up water heater, hydrogen stove, 2 hydrogen powered trucks, 1 EV (electric vehicle) and satellite internet.

To see some pics of the ranch you can check out my photobucket below, navigate with the tabs on the left (hacienda, misc, guest house, etc), we’re adding every day so be patient and don’t laugh at my scraggly winter beard..

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e88/ar...

We also built many small cabins on the ranch that we offer to family, friends and our on-site off-grid workshop guests, including one straw bale, one papercrete, earth bag and adobe, one cob and cordwood, one underground and rammed earth, one log and post and beam and one rock.

I later wrote a several guides on how to build with alternative materials, alternative energy / fuels using alternative methods for next to nothing. Anyone interested can check it out at..

http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

As we have no bills, no mortgage and do not pay taxes (buahaha don't tell anyone) we have little use for money (any extra money saved up usually goes towards vacations as we enjoy traveling to mexico).

If you'd like more info on how you can make the transition easily, let me know.

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit agua-luna com or email me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

I lived in Phoenix for years. I retired and moved to a lake in the Midwest. 10 miles from closest small town. 30 miles to a town with Home Depot, etc. 2 hours to any city.

Love it. Don't know why I stayed in all the pollution and crime so long.

Answer 4

I live on 10.9 acres in Alberta Canada, I grew up in the city and knew I hated city life.., been here 3  years now and love it (except for the time in january when a coyotes killed one of our pet sheep...that was sad - she was lame so was an easy target I guess.. )

also it is hard to find car mechanics if you break down its not like there is one just down the street and you can pop on a bus to get back home.. although I am sure in NY things are not nearly as remote as they are here...

this is a great link on things to consider..

http://www.gomestic.com/Rural-Living/Mov...

Answer 5

I love living in the country!  Some things took a bit of getting used to.. like driving 15 minutes to a real grocery store.  And I had to buy really good snow tires because country roads don't get treated as well as city roads.  But it is sooo worth it.  We used to go away for the weekends a lot, but now we don't because there is no place we'd rather be than enjoying our beautiful property with all the comforts of home.

Answer 6

Yes I certainly do.

I live along a small river in Wisconsin. Summer evenings often are spent outside. Often late sitting by the fire.

Lots of stars can be seen.

Answer 7

Well, I live in a small hit-town near NY-VT boarder.    Granville actualy and its peaceful.   I really don't know if the stupid gangs move up here, but it is peaceful

Answer 8

wow, thats just breathtaking. I'd love to live in a spot like that. The country is so much better than the city. I have NO clue why so many prefer the city. all that traffic and crowds and noise and pollution.

Good place for a few solar panels and a wind turbine too. if the place is kinda small you can get virtually all your energy from those

Answer 9

I live up in ohio, ny and would not move for nothing.  You can ride wheelers down the road and the people are alot more friendly.