Dawn Compton

My calling to homestead motivates me to explore any and all possibilities to achieve the freedom of a simpler life.  This may be a far-reach, but what the heck, it never hurts to try.  

I’m wondering if there are others, such as myself, that are called to homesteading, saving every dollar for land, gardening, preserving food, learning about livestock, collecting necessities here and there that will be helpful on the homestead.  Are you such a person?  With the cost real estate skyrocketing, the value of my savings isn’t keeping up with the rise in prices and it feels a bit discouraging at times.  And then there’s the fact that I’m in my 60’s and single and female to boot!  And although I’ve always been a homebody, when I think about living alone in the woods, well I’m not a hermit for heavens sake.  We need community, helpmates, another soul or souls to share the toil, successes and the failures in life.  It’s in our relationships we find richness.  

If you’d like to share your hopes and plans relating to homesteading please contact me.  My search is not for romance, it is truly to find at least one like-minded soul that would be willing to live in northern Idaho on the land (I’m not there yet), grow as much of our own food (plant and animal) as possible using regenerative methods by 2023.  Together we could make the dream a reality.

If you’re inclined to respond, please PM me and describe your calling to homestead, and please touch on what you can or cannot contribute financially, your background or experience with gardening and livestock, what you know about regenerative methods of growing plants and meat.

If there are any ladies (alone or otherwise) in NE Washington/N Idaho who want to connect, let me know. It'd be great to have some local permie friends, and I'd love to see and/or hear about what you're up to!

Aimee - Hello!  Visited northern Idaho this weekend to confirm it is where my efforts of saving, learning regenerative food-growing, etc during the next 15 months is where I can finally call home.  Currently a dissatisfied Oregonian, my search for land and community led me to a gratifying trip to Bonners Ferry where the folks are down-to-earth and the land is stunning.  Making the decision to go have a look was worth the cash out of pocket.  I now have the landscape branded in my memory to keep the dream-fire fueled when the struggles of my present reality are burdensome.  

Finding like-minded souls on a forum such as this is helpful, but there's nothing like a firm handshake or a hug.  So my name is Dawn, it's good to meet you and here's my virtual firm handshake

Hi Jon!  Thanks for dropping by.  I have to admit I find navigating in Permies to be a bit hard to figure out, but then I'm not a great navigator on land or sea.  But wouldn't you know it I've been blessed with meeting someone on this very site that just so happens to be an excellent navigator and one of these days I'll find something that I can help him out with.  We were both in search of a like-minded partner, found each other here and are making future plans for a sustainable livestyle and change our world in our own backyard.  

I've been through Montana but not your neck of the woods.  After 20 years in Alaska I found folks from Montana to be a lot like Alaskans.  They're pretty darn friendly and there if you need a hand.  When it comes to permits bureaucracy can definitely be a befuddlement and costly too. Nice to know there's somewhere in this country where you can build what you want on the land you own.  Our hearts are set on Central Oregon and we're working at getting ourselves located there next Spring.  

Find pleasure in this beautiful Autumn and keep your snow shovel handy :)  Dawn

Hi Darrell!  Thank you for sharing Bioshelter Market Garden on Permies!

Stacey Witcher, thanks for the info.  We might be neighbors down the road.  We will definitely look for Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) (had to look it up - newbie on board) zoning as we will have goats and chickens and plans for a large garden.  Do you have animals?  Growing food?  What kind of shelter are you thinking about creating?  We would love to meet with you on one of our land hunt adventures!

Central Oregon is great, however living in Deschuttes County is very expensive tax wise. look at Klamath and  Lake Counties. There are straw bale and earthships in Deschuttes county but since it is the most rapidly growing county in Oregon properties are at a premium price wise.

Too right Robert Ray! Deschutes County is expensive all the way around:  the land, permits and taxes.  We're focusing on Klamath County for the moment as a realtor expressed the permit process was less stringent.  But looking into Crook and Jefferson counties as well.

Contacting local natural builders is a great idea.  Thank you Stacey!  Also hoping there are Central Oregon permies on this site that have navigated the process and can give us a boost.  Would love to hear from them!

We're looking for land.  One acre of land preferably to create a sustainable home.  Does anyone have experience with counties in Oregon that embrace (or even accept) buildings that do not adhere to standard practices (and are far better environmentally).  We would like to land in Central Oregon, but are open to other parts of Oregon that would give us some reign to build a sustainable home.  It would be nice to at least narrow our search to areas that have already done what we want to do.  Any help, comments, advice are always appreciated.  

Thank you Cristo for sharing your experience with off-grid living.  My goal is to live sustainably but not isolated.  Before moving to NJ I was living in the wilderness with a 70+ year old woman who was stung 9 times by ground bees last summer while working outside on her property.  She would treat the wounds with bee pollen and go about her business.  The neighbors in the area discouraged me from raising chickens and goats because the livestock attract bears and the area has a dense bear population.  The previous tenant had to shut down his beekeeping because the bears always got to the honey before he did.  It was an interesting experience and definitely not a lifestyle I would do alone.  Your advice on knowing electricity is appreciated.  I do want to use solar and have zero knowledge about how it works so that will be researched thoroughly.   Appreciate you for your thoughtfulness to share the realities of off-grid living with me and others.

Hi Mark!  You are a saint!  I ran across information on the Cob Cottage Company a couple weeks ago, and then couldn't for the life of me couldn't remember how to find them again.  Thank you for leading me back to them!  Their website is now bookmarked and I'm excited to reach out to intern or attend a workshop possibly this summer or fall.  I believe the universe directs us if we are receptive to its guidance. Do you have land? Are you planning on staying in Cali?  Will you be building with cob? I dream of the satisfaction of putting my hands in the dirt and creating a space to live life and feel alive.  Stay in touch if you like and thank you again for guiding me back to the path.
 
Best wishes to you and your endeavors.