Experienced homesteader looking for home

Thanks for taking the time to read this.  I’m an experienced homesteader looking for a place to grow.  Must be a long term situation.

I’ve had my PDC for ten years.  Experience in design and implementing.  I do no till gardening which has always been more limited by my access to land than my ability to plant and tend it, though my maximum was an acre and a half and very manageable.  I know how to can, craft, wildcraft, grow herbs, flowers, so much food and preserve it in innovative ways.  I love fermenting and making medicines. I’ve taught classes in many sustainability subjects and helped establish a local community garden nonprofit. I use regenerative and organic practices and dabble in biodynamics.

I’ve raised Nigerian dwarf goats for 6 years and poultry half my life.  I use holistic management practices and make the most delicious cheese.  I have experience with cattle, horses, pigs, rabbits and elk as well.  I adore animals, and I’m far from squeamish in all aspects of raising them.  I can give death with honor and respect though I have lived a mostly vegetarian lifestyle as well that I may return to.  A connection with my food is very important to me.  I hope to have fiber animals one day as I love to knit.

Would love to learn more about beekeeping and the market side of market gardening, though I’m happy to be the one in the background.  I can build a fence, but that’s about all I can build though I’m happy to learn.

I have a professional background in writing, social media management, nonprofit administration, event production, teaching, and as a musician (harpist).

I am spiritual, a practicing astrologer and taking my yoga teacher training this fall.  I don’t do doomsday or prepper vibes.  I live this way because I believe it’s how nature intended us to live.  

I have experience working and living in community.

I have 4 Nigerian dwarf goats, a few ducks, a small lab mini poodle mix dog and a cat I’d be bringing with me.  

I also have a nine year old son who loves animals and helping that I have full time.  We unschool.

I’m 34, rarely drink (though I can make a great wine), don’t drink or create drama.  I’m introverted and like some space and privacy to create, read and flow.

Open to a variety of roles and situations... volunteer, work exchange, land share, rental, community, creative alternative. My only must is a flexible schedule and clear agreements.  We would need separate housing with two sleeping spaces, small is fine but no rvs, running water and laundry access.  I do some online work but my need to continue that would depend a lot upon the opportunities available and costs.

I’m currently in North Idaho and looking to relocate as the yearly smoke season is really getting to me.  I’m drawn to the Appalachian mountains though I would consider other places.

If any of these skills sound like they could be an asset to your project, I would love to have a more in depth conversation.

May this find you happy and well.

Photos of goats and last year’s gardens.

How is your search going? What is your timeline? I’d be interested to chat.

Sara Peterson wrote:How is your search going? What is your timeline? I’d be interested to chat.

Patiently awaiting the right place.  Timeline is anytime between now and next April.  

Where are you located?  What kind of accommodations might you have available?

Feel free to email if that’s more convenient:  melid6@gmail.com

I have land you could live here and get an RV. You could live off grid. I could charge you 400 a month and you can have a garden area for the farmers market..make soaps etc.

or get a wall tent something safe for a child.
I just received my PDC. I am working on a diploma and PHD in Permaculture as well.
Please let me know
4696854553
Delayrachael2@gmail.com

Rachael Ramos wrote:
Please let me know

Thanks for reaching out Rachael. Hope you find the right match for your spot.

Hi Melissa, Paul has a couple options for becoming part of Ant Village via bootcamp: https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp/ and/or deep roots: https://permies.com/t/168047/permaculture-projects/Deep-roots-wheaton-labs-rent where you can trade either time or money for access to an acre or more of the 200 acre lab which has a running well and several people are building homes there. Being western Montana it's a short drive but doesn't help with that fire season air quality.

I'm heading up there in March after early retirement to start building and growing, and Fred has been there for years and is getting his acre up and running. I think there is one other person (maybe more? not sure) who comes out during the warm months to build, and spends winter in town earning money, and I think there are a couple people in the bootcamp working towards their rent-free plots as well. Bootcamp is like a full time job, and they have a way to earn money called the reverse kickstarter. Essentially you post at least 3 pictures or a short video once a day (when you want), and after you hit 100 such days you earn the current list of rewards, like a pledge list. It's around $1500 give or take a few, and there's a couple really large ones for hitting a higher number. So it's a way boots can earn spending money (room and board is free in bootcamp).

In the past people have had cows up there to graze and you have access to the whole space not just your acre, so I'd expect goat browse is an option there. There are also a couple of mostly/totally built cabins on the lab others have built, as well as a teepee, and those can be rented while you build if you go deep roots. It's highly recommended to listen to Paul's podcasts first to get a good idea if he and his building codes are a good fit of course. If you're a fan of organic or better food and truly natural building then it's an option I'd suggest.

Good luck with whatever you find!

Mark Brunnr wrote:Hi Melissa, Paul has a couple options for becoming part of Ant Village

Thanks for the recommendation, Mark! I think I mentioned the summer smoke is getting to me.  Montana wouldn’t be a great fit personally but I hope you really enjoy it!

Hi Melissa,
I may a place that could work for you. Problem is, I’m in southern Oregon and the seasonal smoke is likely to return this year. You can check out my older posts to learn more if you’re interested. Good luck with your search.

I like your post Melissa.  Perhaps one day we will live in community together.

hi melissa,
if you like to live in a farm,still close to a major metro and start a tropical fruit farm,with diversity,text me at 5412409104 or email me at npskumar@yahoo.com.good luck and thank you.
saravana kumar

Aloha Melissa,
I'm curious if you found what you needed or if you'd like to share anything about your journey here, or in a pm.

Im looking for people with experience to maintain this food forest. No animals though.

I hope you have found a place that meets your needs. Thank you for this thread, it's been interesting to read. Wish it were easier to get access to land to grow food on, for everyone

Hi Melissa,
If you're still looking for a place, please check out my post and message me if interested.
https://permies.com/t/274625/experiences/Housemate-Landmates-campers-wanted-Nineveh#2867149

Hi, Melissa,

I just found your post from 4 years ago and see your last update was 3 years ago, so I don't know if you are still in Idaho or have found something suitable or what.  Wish I'd found this a year or two ago as I had 30 acres in Appalachian Virginia and was trying to attract people to form a Permaculture community there.

In six years I found only two families, and the first was so God-awful I had to borrow money to buy them out and send them packing.  The second family was the opposite, a Godsend, but they had no capital to invest in the property or infrastructure so just rented a space for their RV and exchanged labor for rent.  Father was a master carpenter, mother had the greenest thumb I've ever encountered, and the two adult children were also very helpful.

But they never committed to the community idea, and I knew they would leave eventually.  I got tired of being broke, far in debt, and unable to develop the farm as I'd planned, so I decided to sell the farm and look for an established community to join.  I looked all over that area, TN, KY, and the Ozarks of AR, OK, MO but didn't find a community or a smaller farm that I could manage on my own.  I even went back to UT and NV where I had worked for many years.  Nothing met my criteria nor was as affordable to buy as Appalachia.

In the meantime, a house I had sold in Maine in 2019 came back into my hands after the buyer defaulted, and I returned to Maine to rehab and resell it.  It was a disaster, the buyers had been junkies who lived in absolute squalor.  Worse than any of the "hoarder" shows on TV.  Took me weeks just to bag up all the trash and haul everything to the dump, more weeks of scrubbing filth, patching kicked in walls, doors, windows, you name it.  Kitchen completely demolished.  I'll be all winter getting it livable again to sell in the spring.  This time without seller financing--I'm not going through this again.

Come spring I will be heading back to Appalachia to find a property that meets more of my 12 criteria than the last place did.  It was too steep, too far from a market for my produce, too far from healthcare and suppliers, and the only water source was a spring on a neighbor's property.  I had an easement to access it, but it wasn't mine, and it had to be pumped a considerable distance.  I won't make that mistake again.

That's a long story to get to the point I'd like to make.

I will be buying more property, a little flatter, a little closer to civilization, and with a good well or other water source(s).  If I can line up some people to join me, I will purchase enough acreage for all of us.  Working together, we can accomplish a lot more than I can working alone.

My vision is that the land will be in a land trust with the participants/members as beneficiaries.  The trust would lease plots to the members who would build their own homes.  Banks and other financial institutions, if needed, will lend on construction loans or mortgages for homes with 99-year leases.  Each individual would own his/her/their home.  A private membership association (PMA), operated like an LLC, would own all the community infrastructure (fencing, barn, workshops, community buildings, equipment, etc., and all members would share in the income/expenses of the PMA.

My plan is that the community would be self-sustaining and produce enough food for the members with a surplus for sale and produce products from other enterprises (pastured meat birds, pork, beef, lamb, etc., maybe cheese, herbs, nursery stock, honey, cash crops like ginseng, ginger, microgreens, mushrooms) to generate enough income to cover all of the costs of operation, tools and equipment, etc., and eventually pay members for their labor and cash invested.

Personally, I don't need much to live on and am willing to commit my savings and retirement income to the project.  I made a decent profit on the sale of the farm, and I'll have whatever I get from the resale of this place in Maine as it is debt free, and I have an 800+ credit score, so I won't have any problem financing the land acquisition.  I expect the property will have a livable house for temporary accommodations and probably a barn or other out-buildings.  I'd like to build a small earth-bermed house into the side of a south-facing hill with a solarium on the south side (think walkout basement with an earthen roof).  Anyone looking at it from a distance would see only a greenhouse on a terrace.

If this is of interest to you (or anyone reading this), please PM me with your email address, and I'll get back to you.