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We plan on rain harvesting. Even in Texas where we presently living we are in a major drought. So I understand water is an issue.
As far as "why would anyone want to live off-grid?"...I guess that would be someones personal preference. If you can and are happy with that life style why not? Our biggest issues with this is what are people going to do when they can't buy or sell, can't access electricity etc.?
I have family that live in Mississippi and Louisiana and for months after Katrina that's the position they found themselves in. My uncles took shifts sitting on their front porches armed with guns because people were starving and breaking into houses and stealing stuff because there was no food ect.
We want to be as sufficient/reliable as possible in the event that something happens like this or worse takes place. Its better to be prepared and nothing happen than not be prepared and something horrible happens.
My husband has already built a saw dust toilet and actually works very well! I was very skeptical about it when he first started talking about it. He also has built a portable chicken coop with rain harvesting system and solar panels etc.
Right now he's building a portable shower/bathroom with a rain harvesting system and solar panels etc also.
My husband and I listen to this podcast: Survival Podcast
Jack Spirko has lots of information of survival and lots of other topics...very interesting stuff. We do not agree with everything he has to say but he has a lot of great information!
Check out the east mountain area between Moriarty and Estancia N.M. its a nice area with very friendly people and close to Albuquerque and Santa Fe and very fairly priced with a country Atmosphere. Plus theres a Wal Mart and Walgreens and Smiths not too far away plus they have nice Food Stores and fast food places close by and lots of mountain areas to go hiking and exploring. Tomahawk
Based on your previous posts I see that you want it to be warmer than Springerville in winter. You would need to be in the southern part of the state regardless of elevation to achieve that. And the "conservative" small towns in NM are generally hispanic... which may or may not be what you are after.
I think the Sierra Vista and Tombstone area of AZ would be a good fit for you. Conservative high tech military town and retired people, very mild climate (60 in winter, low 90s in summer), lots of land in the area, and probably decent medical. It is pretty dry and the vegetation is dominated by whitethorn mesquite... which is an invasive and gnarly plant.
I think the Sierra Vista and Tombstone area of AZ would be a good fit for you. Conservative high tech military town and retired people, very mild climate (60 in winter, low 90s in summer), lots of land in the area, and probably decent medical.
I am familiar with Sierra Vista, AZ, was out there in the 70's and then a few times after. Owned a home in Bisbee for a while. Have not been back to the area in over 10 years... Decent, good medical in that area. Sierra Vista population is 43,044, a bit over the "town (2-5000 population) with greenery (trees and grass)"
Tombstone is smaller and SV is bigger... doesn't it average out? I guess I don't understand what the population of the nearest town matters when you want to own 5-40 acres and live off the land... seems like the bigger the town and the closer to it the better... so long as prices are reasonable.
10 years ago I was looking to buy land between SV, Tombstone, and Bisbee. Plenty of land and reasonable prices at that time... like 40 acres for $40k being pretty common for off-grid land. Don't know how much it has gone up, but an MLS search would give an idea.
Tombstone is smaller and SV is bigger... doesn't it average out?
No...
But it appears that the Sierra Vista, AZ area. Might be worth looking at... But in the past 10 years I've seen more people come to the Albuquerque area from the Sierra Vista area than visa versa... Some of them (like me) tired of living in rural areas...
I learned that on buying land in New Mexico you have to watch for places away from flooding, Forest Fires, dirt roads where fast moving cars push the dust to your house, water issues, good neighbors, how far you are from the nearest paved road, Wild Animals like bears and mountain lions, wild dogs, too many neighbor dogs running loose, how bad roads get when it rains or snow, several different roads to your place so that if you cant get in or out you have alternative roads to take. Somewhere on here i read a post where someone wanted a pueblo style home. I like stucco but i hate flat roofs they always tend to leak, the Best Roofs are tin and sloped or pitched they last forever. Forget Tile or Rolled Roofing roofs they only last a few years because of the heat or hail damage and Dark Red Roofs and orange or dark brown tend to fade and get discolored. Light colored roofs or White tend to not get so hot and dont fade as fast. Someone mentioned Silver City for buying a home but its so far from any of the good places like Albuquerque and Santa Fe something like 300 miles also i dont know if theres lots of copper in the air in that area from the Chino mines also not too long ago they had Milk Rain there which im not sure that is too good for your health and the water supply but Silver City does have great scenery and lots of good people in that area but to close to the border. And to me the southern part of New Mexico is too hot. Also any places near the Rio Grande tend to have some Earthquakes now and then and seems that i recall a little town south of Soccoro was completely buried by a flood many years ago it was called San Marciel. Ruidoso is very Beautiful but at night the Bears and the Deer come into town and half of Ruidoso was flooded a few years ago not to mention about the dangers of Forest Fires in my opinion its Castastrophe waiting to happen and it does get very cold in the winter and they get plenty of Snow which makes driving very hazardous on those winding and very high roads but it is a very beautiful town. The East mountain area is still my preference but away from the forests because of the dangers of forest fires and wild animals who right now are very hungry and looking for food whether it be human or domestic animals. If you like trees in your property i would suggest buying trees and landscaping your property with trees. Oh someone mentioned black widows but theres also the Brown Recluse those are very dangerous also and move very fast and one must always be watching for Rattlesnakes which should not be taken too lightly either they can be very dangerous for your kids or pets or even your horses and the anti venom for a small bite can cost 20 grand thats not including the ambulance and doctors and hospitals. Tomahawk
Thanks for the suggestions!! We have 4 years before we can move but want to buy property and start building in the next 2! Seems like we still have a lot of research to do!
I'm thinking Sierra Vista is too far South. We lived in Vail, Az for 2 years and loved it but I wouldn't want to go South of that due to all of the issues in Mexico!
Can anyone tell me anything about Silver City and the surrounded area? Recommendations?
Off-grid in its strictest sense is an ideal that you can never meet; you have to have a source of water, spare parts, seeds, livestock materials and services, etc. In your case I'd add medical services on top of that.
Given your preferences, you need access to a fair amount of water (I'd say that rules out every parcel of land not within 20mi of a decent-sized river), and something low altitude and warm.
I think that limits your options to the lower Pecos valley (Ft.Sumner/Roswell/Artesia/Carlsbad) or the lower Rio Grande (Hatch, Las Cruces, Anthony). Since they're facing an exceptional drought in the Pecos area right now, you can probably pick up land cheap.
You could live off-grid in all sorts of other places, but trucking in water or shoveling snow (when it's dipped negative and the wind won't stop) doesn't sound like your cup of tea.
Good grief.
People lived OFF GRID for about a gazillion years before Tomas Edison was even a twinkle in his fathers eye. It's NOT impossible at all. In fact, in today's modern society the Amish do it every single day.
Now....is it easy? uh. no.
Is it possible? Well, certainly it is.
Quit being such a nay-sayer.
20yrsinBranson
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Tomahawk
