Southern New Hampshire and Maine

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to start a thread for people living and homesteading in southern New Hampshire and southern Maine so we can all connect and build community. I know there are already a number of groups available in these areas for permaculturists, but this thread will allow for more communication about regional specific challenges and opportunities outside of the gatherings that other groups organize.

Maybe we can start by sharing some of the groups we are familiar with that are permaculture focused! (on a side note, my computer just marked permaculture as a misspelled word, meaning my computer didn't recognize the word! That should be a whole other thread)

The group I'm mostly involved with locally is Seacoast NH Permaculture Meetup which can be found at meetup.com

I hope to hear from a whole bunch of my neighbors about anything and everything local to us!

I live in north western maine near the NH boarder near N Conway. I have 129 acres of woods and my permaculture farm is much like Sepp Holtzer style farming. We have CEBE. Center ecology based economy in Norway about a half hour drive from me and Lakes region permaculture group

Hi Jackie....don't know how, but finally just stumbled across this thread!  Anyhow, I'm in southern Maine and have met you at Seacoast NH Meetup meetups.  I'm sure you already know about the Portland Permaculture Meetup Group, but thought I'd add it to the list for others as it's a large group.
Cheers,
Greg

Donanne Dean wrote:I live in north western maine near the NH boarder near N Conway. I have 129 acres of woods and my permaculture farm is much like Sepp Holtzer style farming. We have CEBE. Center ecology based economy in Norway about a half hour drive from me and Lakes region permaculture group

Donanne, I live just south of Conway, in Albany NH on 13 acres mostly forest.

Technically outside of the range, but I live in Greater Boston and I am a part of BFFC.

Nice to see like minded. Individuals in my area. I tried to buy a blueberry farm but no luck on finance since I got a little behind due to medical bills from cancer. As of right now I live in Danville NH-16 in a mobile and have a small garden. Have worked in the tree and landscape field for over 30 years.

Howdy folks.  Just coming across this post a year late I suppose.  I was wondering about some resources in the area for foraging and wild edibles?  We are a family who is generally interested in the topic, with a daughter who is ALL ABOUT it.  Unfortunately, we (I) don't know enough to tell the difference between most plants with any real confidence.  Although we have books and the internet, I think it is something we would feel better about learning hands on with someone in person.

Hi all,

I started this thread, and then life got really busy and I forgot all about it. Until now. Its great to see you all posting and sharing your permaculture adventures here. I'm not generally an overly sentimental person but it is heart warming to see a community budding here.

Greg, I do remember meeting you and figured you would turn up here at some point.

Brian, I strongly recommend you look into seacoast NH permaculture meetup. You can find them on meetup.com. They have hosted at least 3 different wild edible zoom calls this year. I anticipate that they will at some point be getting back to in person events. I don't necessarily consider myself an expert, but I am familiar with at least a dozen varieties and would be happy to share with your daughter if you'd like at some point. I now live in Rochester, NH.

I'd love to see/hear about what types of edibles you all are growing. I used to have a wide range, but recently moved. I have to remove a whole lot of multi-flora rose and bittersweet on the new property before getting serious about planting. I'm hoping next year to begin my planting in earnest.

If anyone has goats they want to lend, I have some good eating

Jackie

Hi everyone - I'm new here. I studied permaculture years ago, got a PDC, haven't done much with it. I am thinking about moving to New Hampshire and wondering about building codes there and natural building options. Can anyone advise? (Or if there is a better thread to ask.) Thanks!

-Susan

Susan, I live in NH, and building codes and setbacks are determined by each town. In our town, I worked on the Agriculture section of our town's master plan. We finally decided to be short and sweet "Agriculture is allowed in all parts of town. Period. Building codes can differ, but recently, a couple in Conway NH built a dome home with earthbags. You need proper building permits, snow loads are the biggest issue.

Just finding this.  We live on the coast of maine (9 acres) up in Washington County.  Just moved here under a year ago.

Scott there is a blueberry farm for sale in Columbia Falls.  100 acres, 25 in berries.  Electric at the road.  207-263-6757

Would be nice to see this thread keep going.

Silly me, its listed for 165K.  Yeah land is cheap up here.  Other tracts go for less.  This one has irrigation etc already in place.

Hey neighbors!

Susan - as Josephine said, building codes are locally controlled in NH.  They are here though, and unless you are an unincorporated area, you will have to jump through most of the same hoops as everywhere else (following pretty standard codes, or doing a lot of explaining/convincing).  I think this is especially true in the southern 1/3rd of the state (Northern Massachusetts).  That being said - the more like minded folks we have around, the easier it will be to do these types of things in the future.  Come on up!  

Scott and Ed - Is that the property across from the windmills?  I want to say it was on a road that started with an "F" - Farther or Farber?  I have also been looking for land up in Maine on and off, and recently had come across a property with a similar size blueberry barren.  

Susan Stuart wrote:Hi everyone - I'm new here. I studied permaculture years ago, got a PDC, haven't done much with it. I am thinking about moving to New Hampshire and wondering about building codes there and natural building options. Can anyone advise? (Or if there is a better thread to ask.) Thanks!

-Susan

Susan, I can't say much in specifics of the building codes, but I have seen or heard about a number of underground homes and straw-bale homes, which is promising.

I have a friend that didn't look into setbacks before putting up a fence. She has to take it down.

Conversely, my last home had a short wooden retaining wall well within the setback when we purchased it. The wall was less than 2ft from the road. When the town (Dover) was planning to re-do the road they were planning around our retaining wall! They were even considering making the road one-way in order to avoid having to remove our retaining wall, fortunately the owner on the other side of the road (an apartment building) gifted some land to the town so it could be widened on that side and kept as a 2-way road. It can really vary from town to town.

My best to you in your decision making...

Brian, I have no idea.  Advert in Quoddy Tides says Columbia Falls 100 acres overlooking Pleasant River and the ocean.  

We are newcomers here in Maine but from what we have experienced so far people basically just leave you alone.  It is a nice experience after living and farming in NY for the last 15 years

Thank you, everyone, for the input. It's interesting to read about your experiences - I'm not sure when a move would actually happen (summer earliest) but I'll keep this advice in mind.

Susan

I should also mention I'm interested in intentional communities or other perhaps work-trade share type arrangements, if anyone hears of anything. I like to travel so am not necessarily looking for somewhere to be full time, but just new home base options. Please feel free to get in touch. Thanks again!

Hey guys!  I'm also new here.  I'm a college student (remote learner due to the pandemic) who will hopefully be graduating in May.  I recently discovered permaculture as I was desperately searching the internet to find how in the world I am going to fend for myself in this exploitative economy without losing my happiness in the process.  I instantly fell in love and although I know it will be really hard work, I'm so excited to begin my permaculture and homesteading journey.  I have a lot of family in the Southern New Hampshire and Maine area and I've loved spending time here since I was a kid, so my dream is to buy some land somewhere in this area and start building.  If all goes well, you will be my neighbors in permaculture!  I'm very new to permaculture but very eager to learn.  I'm studying by myself using online resources, but nothing beats actually working with an expert.  If anyone needs an extra hand with their permaculture projects and doesn't mind teaching a newbie what to do, please let me know!  I plan to move here in April, so I could work with you then or anytime after, and I should be Covid-vaccinated by then.  I'm especially interested in learning what methods of building a house can work well for the region, but I also need to learn everything else that comes with a permaculture lifestyle.  If you're interested in some extra help, you can email me at efindell@msn.com and I can't wait to meet you!