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Self-Sufficiency in Northern Nevada
Over at the Bison Survival Blog (formerly called the Bison Newsletter), editor
Jim Dakin recently posted an interesting piece titled "Economics
of Self-Sufficiency." I recommend his blog, although it is with the
caveat that there is a lot of foul language posted there, especially in some
of the comments posted by readers.
For several years, Jim Dakin has advocated
the low cost retreating approach of
buying an
inexpensive
piece of land (what he calls "junk land"), and living very frugally,
with a large used travel trailer for shelter. Jim Dakin presently lives in
Carson City, Nevada, in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This
is an
area
that is in uncomfortably
close proximity to California's teeming masses. (38 million+, in a recent
estimate.) I wrote the following response to his post:
Jim:
Another reader wrote: "Moving to a homestead property is not for 'theorizing'
about.....it takes years and years to work out the bugs, and get a place in
shape enough to where
one
could actually survive on it without outside resources." I agree! Finding
plants that do well in your climate can take years. Growing fruit and nut trees
to producing maturity will take years! Unless it is a wet
climate, then you will have to live there year round to tend to your saplings.
Raising small livestock takes experience. You won't get that experience living
inside city limits.
I can attest from experience that it does indeed take several years to build
up a homestead to anything approaching self-sufficiency.
If high commuting costs are an issue, then I recommend that you do some research
and see what the farthest reach of the county commuter bus line is. In your
case, I wouldn't be surprised if the bus line goes as far as the town of Stagecoach
or perhaps all the way to the Lake Lahontan junction. If that doesn't work
out for you in Carson City, then do some research for Fernley, Winnemucca,
Ely, Tonopah, and perhaps Elko. Those locales might be more realistic.
Forget Garnderville. Your chance to buy land there ended a decade ago. Ditto
for the Washoe Valley and Lamoille. The only relatively cheap agricultural
land that I ever saw in northern Nevada was around Lovelock and Fallon. (That
was
five years ago. I'm not sure about
the prices there now.) I have my doubts about those towns in a grid
down situation--since
they are highly dependent on electrically pumped irrigation. At least Fallon
has a good irrigation ditch.
I also have my doubts about being so close to the I-80 corridor Golden
Horde route. (From a defensive/isolation standpoint, Ely or Tonopah make a lot more
sense.)
The real sticking point in Nevada is water. Generally, if you are close enough
to haul drinkable surface water (ponds, lakes, rivers), odds are that the land
will be too expensive to fit your "cheap junk land" model. In most
of the Humboldt basin the surface water is so alkaline that it isn't drinkable.
And if you buy land with a well, then you have the pumping issue. Photovoltaics
are expensive. Perhaps you could find a place with a traditional water-pumping
windmill.
Soil fertility is a huge issue in desert regions. It is realistic to expect
to be able to build up the fertility of a small plot for a vegetable garden.
(But again, that takes time.) However, bringing up the fertility of a whole
field for raising grain is a lot more problematic. Bottom line: Plan to buy
a lot of wheat to store.
Your situation is a lot like mine was, five years ago. My eventual solution
was to pull the plug completely from the wage earning/salaried world, and move
way out to a very lightly populated region, where the cost
of living is very low. But that isn't realistic for everyone. My advice is
to start looking for jobs in other cities where there is "junk"-priced
land nearby. Ely and Tonopah are probably your best bets. Because of the gold
mining boom around Elko (the "Carlin Trend" region), land prices
there are insane. I wish you the best in establishing your retreat.
