11/28/11 Starting a commune.

Royal-Since you are the Post-Apocalyptic Librarian and Keeper of the Knowledge I'm wondering where you think the safe zones are...yeah the Ozarks are constantly mentioned but don't the nuke plants throw a monkey-wrench into that?? When you say Ozarks, are you meaning mainly western Missouri?? I recently read the Army Corps of Engineers are without funds to dredge the Mississippi properly and it's been closed to barge traffic here and there because of all the silt runoff from those HAARP rains that have drenched the whole New Madrid Fault Zone...AND that new vast areas of Missouri cropland will be flooded...so I'd think staying away from the Mississippi River would be smart...something you've looked at??

Hope you're doin' well...thought, based on some postings, that you might be headed to a new commune in I think it was Washington state??

TryingAgain is up in North Dakota working on that oil pipeline...lots of jobs around Williston but you can have the minus 8 BELOW already ... not even winter yet!!!!
mike in Virginia
matapeake

 

Mike,
I'll let you and Royal debate the nuclear plant issue.
But if I may interject a word about flooding, you need to keep in mind that the area you are worried about is in the bootheel of extreme southeastern Missouri, a relatively small area of alluvial land that is barely above sea level.
(Although there is some danger of flooding anywhere along the Missouri-Illinois border in the narrow flood plain).
Most of the Ozark plateau is 1000 feet or more above that, safe from any flooding on the Mississippi River.

The Ozark plateau extends from the western outskirts of Poplar Bluff all the way to the Kansas border and a few miles beyond. It also continues into northern Arkansas and reaches it's apex at the Boston Mountains.
This southern area is more rugged and offers fewer places to settle, but there are always important exceptions to the rule.

South of the Arkansas River, there are highlands as well, but they are called the the Ouachita Mountains. They are not a plateau, but are a ridge and valley region similar in appearance to the Great Appalachian Valley that runs from Pennsylvania through the Virginias and into Tennessee, Georgia and northern Alabama. I don't hear as much about the Ouachita Mountains from homesteaders, but it might be worth looking into as well.
I used to work with a guy from the Oklahoma portion of the Ouachita Mountains and he loved that land like it was a bit of heaven dropped down to Earth. He showed me some pictures and I must admit that it was a side of Oklahoma that I didn't know existed.

Changing the subject just a bit...
What's the advantage in starting a new commune rather than joining an existing one?
For the nation, the more we have, the better, so I am not trying to discourage you, but I am wondering why those of you who are inclined to start a new commune want to start a new one rather than join one?

 

Hey Mike, pretty settled in Chicago for the time being, good spending time with Mini-Me here. But when I do take off anywhere in the future, it will be with my own wheels and enough tool's to content myself in doing the thing's I want to do freeing me from worrying about the intentions or motivations of others.

South Central Missouri is where my familiarity with the Ozarks is, like near Cabool or Licking MO. Pretty much Northern Arkansas,,, Abundant game and wild forage, and tons of sandstone / limestone for building structures.

I think the constant flow of new communes probably stems from both frustration searching for one on ic.org and the fact that when one is starting their own,, they aren't restricted by existing community guidelines to some extent.

 

Sounds interesting.

I'm doing something similar soon, in Mexico

 

Logistics. Feeding x amount of people, healthcare for x amount of people, shelter for x amount of people. Only after the bare bones have been constructed can there be a solid foundation to keep it going for more than a month or two. This is why I prefer the small homestead to a large commune. Logistics is much simpler and there is more to go around. However if you get it up and running, expect to see me show up for a month or so to check it out and help out where I can.

 

i got 250 ac. in the yucatan with the same idea. got the land and an r.v. just no money(good farm land aint cheap even in Mex.)if you want a place to start we could use the help. I an even to do a fractional ownership with others to finance the big stuff(wind generators and the likes)

 

I am under the impression that foreigners are not allowed to own land in Mexico.
Is there some way around that law?

 

From what I've read on wiki there have been alot of outsiders buying up and renovating stuff in Merida for a little while now.

 

Is it possible that while constructing and owning buildings, they are merely leasing or renting the land on which it sits from Mexican nationals?

 

Or perhaps one of the partners there is a National and title holder?

 

Or we can all find Mexican brides?
I really wouldn't mind doing that!

 

I'll Giggidy Giggidy Goo to that.

I really need to lay off the Family Guy.

 

you can own land in Mexico it just has to be more than 50kl from the coast and 100kl from the boarders. if it is like beach front you have to get a "fedicamiso" from the bank. essentially the bank owns it and you get a open ended least on the property for a yearly maintenance fee of about $500.
There are many way to own land here as a foreigner. I choose the simplest way, just buy inland past the restricted zone and own it out right.

 

IF you want to grow your own food then soil and rainfall is your most important concerns. Make sure the land is tillable and has the right ph. Soil amendment is near impossible for the short term.
With global warming the Midwest isn't that cold in the winters. Rarely does it go below 30F. Of course the growing season isn't as long as Arkansas but greenhouses take care of that for most plants. I chose the Midwest for the loamy soils, rainfall average's and I actually like the winter time off. Freezing is great for breaking down soil nutrients. Of course firewood chores suck but we stay warm with the woodstove, using renewable fuel.
Good luck!

 

The Midwest is a huge region. Rainfall is unreliable in the west and firewood is impossible to find on the high plains, flood plains near major southbound rivers have enormous floods every year as the ice breaks up in the north.
Summer heat in North Dakota is hotter than Georgia and even much of Florida.
Energy may be an issue if you use fossil fuels on the frigid Great Plains. I think wind, solar and biodiesel may have the answer for starting seed and vegetable plants such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers.

If you stretch your definition of the "Midwest" to include Tennessee and Kentucky, you'd have a longer growing season. A lot of crops simply cannot be grown in the greenhouse due to space constraints. No wheat fields under glass!
Middle Tennessee and Central Kentucky are blessed with rich soil and that includes good pH. But they don't have the bug and humidity problems of coastal regions.

There's a reason that "The Farm" commune was built in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee: Good soil, good climate, and reasonable land prices.
Vegetable prices drop through the spring and into the summer as more and more farmers bring their crops to market. If you have a warm climate, you can sell while prices are still high and farmers in colder regions are still starting seed or at least have no ripe fruit to sell.

 

Excellent suggestions! Also, I'd like to point out that while it certainly helps to have farming, construction, etc etc skills, it is also helpful to have experience/skills in areas like consensus decision making and living communally. IMHO these are areas that often turn out to be problem areas for communities - the group might fail because of interpersonal problems not because of plumbing issues - or its the fighting about the plumbing (not the plumbing) that splits people up. Everyone assumes that "we all know how to do this" and there are not too many places to go to learn them - it is something that we teach, I'm sure there are others teaching this stuff as well.

 

Hey, I'm a migrant WWOOFer.
I've got over 4 years experience working organic farms for communes in NY/NC/NE,
and I build Biodiesel Brewers, Solar Water Heaters, Woodgas Gennys, etc.
I've lived in a Yurt for several years, and I've built a Strawbale house.

I'm totally down for this project if you're looking for a hand.
I'm a minimalist, so all I need is a place to pitch my tent and some wild edibles to forage.

 

Rutz, you have an awesome skillset!
If you ever open up Rutz College, I want to be first in line on registration day.

 

Thanks, I try.
I'm just deep into anything off-grid, independent, or self-sufficient.
At a point I thought medical skills would be useful, so I went to one of those career colleges for medical classes for a year.
I want to have the skills I need to make my dream lifestyle work.
The hard part is getting hooked up with the right people to start living it.

 

Id also be intrested in learning from you honestly this way of life fascinates me