Author Topic: Back to the Land (Read 7259 times)

tradlover · « **on:** March 08, 2012, 07:25:56 PM »

I was reading Fatherhood and Family from Angelus Press and it mentioned going back to the land.

Where can a family of 7 kids move from say NYC Suburbia to a good rural setting with the possibility of growing crops and some chickens and a Latin Mass nearby preferably SSPX?

What parts of the US should be considered?

s2srea · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2012, 07:52:25 PM »

Texas ? Idaho? Parts of Colorado? These are the places I would look into if I could afford a move. How's the book?

tradlover · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2012, 08:19:13 PM »

Quote from: s2srea

Texas ? Idaho? Parts of Colorado? These are the places I would look into if I could afford a move. How's the book?

book is great

ServusSpiritusSancti · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2012, 10:58:08 PM »

Roswell, Georgia has an SSPX chapel. You could look into moving there.

http://www.sspx.org/Chapels_Pages/atlanta_ga.htm

CathMomof7 · « **Reply #4 on:** March 09, 2012, 07:39:21 AM »

Quote from: tradlover

I was reading Fatherhood and Family from Angelus Press and it mentioned going back to the land.

Where can a family of 7 kids move from say NYC Suburbia to a good rural setting with the possibility of growing crops and some chickens and a Latin Mass nearby preferably SSPX?

What parts of the US should be considered?

My husband has not read this book but I will suggest it.

We have been contemplating this for a year or so and have come to no real answer on the matter. We have thought about New Mexico, Albuquerque specifically. But I am not sure how many crops one can grow there.

A friend of mine used to live there and she said if she could return any place it would be New Mexico.

We have also thought of Texas.

We used to live in the deep South and I absolutely do not want to return there for many reasons.

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #5 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:36:14 AM »

I can speak for some of the folks down here when I say that if you're from California or you're a Yankee, we don't want you immigrating down here. We've had our fill.

s2srea · « **Reply #6 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:46:28 AM »

Aiy, Tejanos..... tan orgullosos.

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #7 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:09:54 AM »

Quote from: CathMomof7

We have been contemplating this for a year or so and have come to no real answer on the matter. We have thought about New Mexico, Albuquerque specifically. But I am not sure how many crops one can grow there.

New Mexico has a great climate for growing various crops. I don't know exactly what you mean by "how many", as in how many species of plants can be grown there or as in what kind of yields you would be looking at. The later of course is relative to the size of your land, selected crops, management etc. , but you're really not limited on what types of plants you could grow there.

I'll tell you more later. Gotta go.

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #8 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:11:23 AM »

Quote from: s2srea

Aiy, Tejanos..... tan orgullosos.

Damn right.

tradlover · « **Reply #9 on:** March 09, 2012, 11:38:19 AM »

Quote from: CathMomof7

Quote from: tradlover
I was reading Fatherhood and Family from Angelus Press and it mentioned going back to the land.

Where can a family of 7 kids move from say NYC Suburbia to a good rural setting with the possibility of growing crops and some chickens and a Latin Mass nearby preferably SSPX?

What parts of the US should be considered?

My husband has not read this book but I will suggest it.

We have been contemplating this for a year or so and have come to no real answer on the matter. We have thought about New Mexico, Albuquerque specifically. But I am not sure how many crops one can grow there.

A friend of mine used to live there and she said if she could return any place it would be New Mexico.

We have also thought of Texas.

We used to live in the deep South and I absolutely do not want to return there for many reasons.

Why not the Deep South?

ServusSpiritusSancti · « **Reply #10 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:52:49 PM »

Probably because the Deep South is full of Protestants, and the Catholics in the Deep South are mostly NO.

Roswell has an SSPX chapel, so that's a good place to live. But I live three hours away from Roswell, where there are no TLMs and mostly Protestants, and it's bad.

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #11 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:11:42 PM »

Quote from: Catholic Samurai

Quote from: CathMomof7

We have been contemplating this for a year or so and have come to no real answer on the matter. We have thought about New Mexico, Albuquerque specifically. But I am not sure how many crops one can grow there.

New Mexico has a great climate for growing various crops. I don't know exactly what you mean by "how many", as in how many species of plants can be grown there or as in what kind of yields you would be looking at. The later of course is relative to the size of your land, selected crops, management etc. , but you're really not limited on what types of plants you could grow there.

I'll tell you more later. Gotta go.

The soil over there is sandy and rocky (like you would have guessed lol), and it's acidic. But it's worse in the forested areas where you have a canopy of conifers (like pine, cedar, and juniper) with very little growing underneath it due to the natural herbicidal and fungicidal substances that conifers leach into the soil, making it unsuitable for growing. So I'd avoid any property up there with a forest unless you are dedicated to ripping out those trees and replanting some non-alelopathic ones like oak.

Even if you got property that has baked and barren soil, you can still work with it because fertility is something you build and maintain. If you plant and properly utilize canopy trees, leguminous trees and shrubs, cover crops and root crops, you can build your soil's fertility very quickly and get some yields in the meantime.

Telesphorus · « **Reply #12 on:** March 10, 2012, 07:45:28 AM »

Living on a small plot will not yield a satisfactory livelihood.

That being said, it's crazy to settle with the idea of raising food on marginal land.

If you're going to pick a small plot to farm, find a good location with good soil and ample water available, preferably by a stream.

Telesphorus · « **Reply #13 on:** March 10, 2012, 07:48:24 AM »

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/on.com/Com/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=on.com/Com&linkCode=as2&tag=httpwwwchanco-20

Catholic Samurai · « **Reply #14 on:** March 10, 2012, 11:51:09 AM »

Quote from: Telesphorus

Living on a small plot will not yield a satisfactory livelihood.

That being said, it's crazy to settle with the idea of raising food on marginal land.

If you're going to pick a small plot to farm, find a good location with good soil and ample water available, preferably by a stream.

There are plenty of people out there who are doing just that on less than 3-4 acres, and I've met a few of them. And they are making about the same as a conventional farmer with 100 subsidized acres of corn and a job on the side. The key is a diversity of crops/products, stacking and overlapping the functions of the elements in your system, and using nature mimicking techniques to fertilize and build the soil that at the same time minimize your monetary inputs.

I'm not saying that just about anyone could do it, but they can if they know what they are doing. The possibilities of what you can do with each acre is limited only by your knowledge base.

5 acres is enough to support a Trad size family and some relatives.

You make a good point about water. I thought that was a no brainer actually, but you can settle in a dry area so long as you have a good aquifer to tap into.