Question (Caribou: leases, houses, to buy)

[medievalbooks]

Going through the MLS listings, I am finding listing noting property is in Unorganized Territory, Off the Grid, or sometimes the property is on leased land.

Could someone please enlighten me as to what these terms mean/entail? Thin I know but better never to assume...

These properties are all in Northern Maine. How is the growing/growing season up there? I know this is a general question but would like to have an idea if I could do some very veggie growing up there. No idea of soil...one of the posters had me a little worried about soil viability thataways.

medievalbooks

[msina]

The Unorganized Territory of Maine (UT), is that area of Maine having no local, incorporated municipal government.

Duties related to providing services and property tax administration in the UT is shared among various State agencies and County government.

Maine Revenue Services: Property Tax -
Off the grid=

The term off the grid or off-grid refers to living in a self-sufficient manner without reliance on one or more public utilities.

Off-the-grid - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
see thread... https://www.city-data.com/forum/maine...row-maine.html

[medievalbooks]

Thanks for the UT and Grid replies...what I thought

Had seen the link as far as growing but it didn't address specifically Northern Maine and a poster noted in one of the responses concerns about the soil in Northern Maine for growing things. Or else I misread the answer.

[msina]

Northern Maine is a large area. Some areas are great for root crops, some areas are good for rocks. Where I live I have good soil and drainage, we'll try a garden next year, we just didn't have a chance this year to get organized. A neighbor down the road had a huge garden, well planned and it should have been extremely productive, the long wet spring (that ran into summer) caused a lot of loss to his tomatos and cukes though his root veggies have done fabulously well. Even his carrots (which for some reason I've never had luck with) grew like mad. We also have Rhubarb, blackberries, and apple trees, though thee apple trees have gone untended for so long the apples are best for the deer. I hope we can get them pruned right down, I've been told we have some nice heirloom trees out here.

[medievalbooks]

Yeah..need to know the areas that are good for rocks :P Got enough of those where I live here! Plus I got a ledge . The wet season did a number on us. Squash probably won't come in altho planted a second crop of zucchini hoping...so far so good but not sure if it will blossom and fruit.

Tomatoes are going early ((( Usually I have tomatoes into October. Will pick picking the last em (plants dead) in a few days. Cukes did alright under a shelter as did the cherry tomatoes - jerry-rigged some stacks with a tarp over em. The cukes that were in the open pretty much died.

Corn is iffy but first year for it. Pole beans have done very well. Should have planted more so I could preserve some.

Tried carrots..very wee still. Tried beets, but no go with those. Turnips are slwly coming up as a second crop, we will see.

When I was a kid we had an apple orchard with ugly apples too...but there were great for applesauce..yum!!~! So they might not be great eatting applesauce but they could be good for applesauce if you put anything up )

[Submariner]

Maine has many different types of soil conditions and micro-climates.

There are areas where drainage is an issue, and / or where rocks are the primary crop.

Our land is nearly flat; when it rains a lot the ground gets saturated and has nowhere to run-off to.

So we have learned to plant more and more in raised-beds. Even our apple trees are in raised-beds.



[We are also river-frontage so we experience the once a 20-year flooding from the river]

[atardie]

If Northern Maine is where u are looking, we can grow "short season" crops. Gardens are fine beets corn potatos and the like. An unoganized township is one without a town office ie garfield, nashville, and many many more. This does not always mean it is "off the grid" by any means. Property on leased land is generally camp lots that the big landowners have allowed camps to be built. Some have power, some do not. I hope this helps...I live here so it is all pretty common. Any more direct question please DM me and I will do all I can to help..

[Coaster]

Originally Posted by medievalbooks

Going through the MLS listings, I am finding listing noting property is in Unorganized Territory, Off the Grid, or sometimes the property is on leased land.

Could someone please enlighten me as to what these terms mean/entail? Thin I know but better never to assume...

The Unorganized Territory refers to areas of Maine without a local town government. They are instead administered directly by the counties and state.

Off the Grid means it is not connected to the electrical grid. You would need to rely on solar, wind, or generator for power.

Many of the major landowners in the UT lease camp lots rather than sell them, although this is a declining model. You may own the building, but not the land underneath it. One result is, if the land changes hands and the new landowner doesn't like to mess with camp leases, he can refuse to renew the lease or force lessors to buy the property.

These properties are all in Northern Maine. How is the growing/growing season up there? I know this is a general question but would like to have an idea if I could do some very veggie growing up there. No idea of soil...one of the posters had me a little worried about soil viability thataways.

medievalbooks

As already noted, the growng season varies, but generally it's short. There's a reason why potatoes and broccoli are major crops in northern Maine. I know people outside Caribou who routinely grow melons and peppers, but they use hoop houses and other season-extending methods.