Sorry... I had thought I read upthread that you were wishing to homestead in AK - My mistake, I guess... Sounds like you've got it made, right about where you are anyway, and I wish you the best of luck! And I can understand that - There ain't nothing short of God above that could pull my roots out of this rocky ground.I haven't been more than 100 miles from right here in the last 20 years, and have no desire to leave. Been here nearly all my life, and there is still so much of it I have never seen, that I could never be bored, nor need a vacation other than that provided by simply turning down some gravel road I haven't yet explored...
I enjoy construction work much more than I enjoyed being a case manager anyway-my customers don’t whine as long as I provide good service...
Yup. I was in construction for a good part of my life - general contractor for a while, and owned landscaping and painting companies too. I love jamming a deal, making it come together, and still get the need now and then, but for the most part, I am trying to slow it down and step out of stress. I will probably wind up making really beautiful things out of wood (thinking maybe high-end billiard tables) out of a shop behind the house... and focus more on gardening and fishing - I want more life than money anymore (not that I can't make a really decent buck in a wood shop... but the money would be incidental).
I prefer to heat my house with a fireplace or wood stove-there’s plenty of wood around here just from limbs fallen in storms-and I grill the meat I eat over that or charcoal most of the time.
Ahh, and mesquite is probably everywhere! That makes a tasty smoke! I envy you. Up here it is mainly fir, larch, pine, alder, and birch... Though one can get at apple and cherry now and then. Hickory and mesquite are not real available except through chain stores in smoking chips.
I’m busily looking at available solar systems and storage batteries-may I ask which one you are going to use?
I'm a tinker, and I picked up this wrecked Prius, see... :P ... But I digress - I should probably just say I don't know... But I DO have 50 ft of south facing roof. : ) And I do know that I will be happy to see the day that the electric meter starts spinning the other direction : )
But that is probably not the emphasis - I am trying to go lo-tech... I need electricity to power the greenhouse for sure (though it will have a manual pumping system), and what little I need to keep connected to the internet... The rest is gravy. I would rather focus on oil and kerosene lamps for auxiliary lighting, and smoking, drying, and canning... I want to be comfortable in an electricity-free environment rather than looking for free electricity - Systems break, and high tech parts may not always be so easy to get. I want to figure out how to shut the fridge off, not worry about how to keep it running, see?
I was seriously thinking Alaska, but I realized I had no idea how to make a living up there, and was not keen about being so far away from my family and friends.
I’m just a sub-I work for a general contractor who has been a friend for 20 years and we were co-workers at the same company for several years.
MrT5’s side job was woodworking-tables, sofas and such mostly, rustic style. He was getting ready to chuck his 9 to 5 and go into woodwork fulltime when he died.
Not much mesquite here in the hills, but there is plenty where I grew up-one of my cousins brings me some from the ranch for grilling when he is up here on business. The forest/woods here is mostly oak and cedar-aka ashe juniper, with some walnut, and lots of smaller trees-15-20 ft like mountain laurel, persimmon, a type of deciduous holly, etc as an understory-the road I live on backs up to the river and woods below a cliff-I hike there just about every morning before I go to work.
The only internet out here is satellite-Hughesnet or one of the others-there are not enough people here for AT&T or someone to bring high speed in the immediate future. There is only satTV, too.
I want to have it set up so that I can be off the grid with solar-including powering my water pump, so I’m pretty set on finding the batteries with the best storage capacity, and the least costly panels that are replaceable without having to order from BFE-but I’m going low tech with a solar water heating system with just an electrical backup...
There is a place in Florida called Eco-Smart that has reasonably priced cool conservation/off grid stuff. They have an on-line catalog you might want to check out...