Least populated, warm climate, states for a retreat

Re: Least populated warm climate states for a retreat

Don't break your arm, LOL!

 

This has come up a few times in the last few weeks and has been discussed in the past. Enough so that it could probably be put into it's own sub-forum.

If I was living east of the Rocky Mts. I don't think I could sleep at night. One thing about living in paradise is that there are some things you can take off your plate or feel a little more at ease with if you can't afford to be as prepared as you would like.

I'm not trying to depress all of you that live east of the Rocky Mts. If the Lights were to really go out, you guys are screwed. Even though the Midwest has the largest area of fertile farmland in the US, you also have the highest concentration of population to fight over what land is available, along with resources.

I'll take my chances over here in the wet/cold miserable Pacific Northwest. It isn't as bad as most of you might have heard. As long as you aren't near the coastal mountain ranges, the climate is pretty mild.

Maybe this map will help clarify to some of you that what you might think is a great area, might not be. Just a thought and something to consider!

 

We actually get more rain on the east coast. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a rainforest. Thing about the northwest is it actually gets less rain, but it's constant.

 

jungatheart............what all are ya doin in the way of gardening where your at? have ya tried a small patch of garden that ya only use little (or preferably zero) irrigation other than rainwater to grow some dryland staples? that is the main reason we are still questioning W TX for a permanant survival set up. any thoughts on that particular aspect of this matter would be GREATLY appreciated.

oh, and welcome aboard!

 

No gardening. Critters including wild Burros means to start gardening is to go to war with them. On the other hand, some critters taste good.

I have neighbors who garden but they water from their wells during dry spells in the rainy season June-September. I live in the mountains and we get around 30" of rain per year so storing runoff water is a very good strategy if one could afford the storage tanks.

To me, gardening becomes important only if the SHTF for a very long period and I just stockpile canned vegs because it's cheaper and easier than doing my own. I always think I'm missing something when y'all talk about gardening as a panacea so I may have to rethink my ideas .

Thanks for the welcome.

 

I don't know why I can figure out how to PM ya, but where do ya live in W TX that gets 30 inches of rain a year and what kind of elevation are we talking about in the mountains?

thanks bud

 

I live in the Davis Mountains at 6,000'. It's a very unique spot in that the mountains snatch the yearly monsoon clouds and squeeze them out like a sponge. I've recorded as much as 54" in an exceptionally wet year. Sorry to say there is very little land available here.


Go to this place for all kinds of climate records.

http://cdo.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/climaps/climaps.pl

 

North west Florida!!!

 

oh, that makes sense, thanks for the info bud, you are a lucky man.....I gave up looking for land where you are at years ago, I've never seen an area more perfect, nor with so little land available and with hardly any population at all......enjoy!

 

Southern AZ.

Having lived in the Pac NW, SE, Midwest, and the SW.... the SW is my favorite. In Southern AZ, the winters are fairly mild and summers are warm. The high elevation keeps the temperature from being death valley hot.

Raising animals and growing can be a challenge. I am working on that as we speak.

The year round sun makes for great solar power. Well water is the norm.

 

What about all the border/drug problems with Mexico? Not a threat to security?

 

Only a threat if you let it be.

Seriously, the Sonoran desert isn't a good crossing point. It is a good place to get caught. The UAV training facility for the US Army is right there. Border Patrol is healthy there. Drug smuggling has been known to occur.... but mostly when it was easier to drive across.

The border violence isn't as bad as the news says it is. Maybe it is in TX, I dunno. All I can speak for is S. AZ. I was there as recently as 2009.

When I hike there, I do carry open. I have never had a problem or even felt like I was entering a situation out of my control.

 

It really is a nice place, if you get further out from where I am...I'm in the City and don't like it...but there is great farm land all around here...Relatively mild climate. Short Winters...long hot Summers..(and that's fine with me!)
Out in the Country, they have more than one growing season...and lots of farmland! Hunting is plenty here too..Fishing...Saltwater, and Fresh water...Plenty of land available, and still at reasonable costs...Also, Lower Alabama, and SW Georgia...all meet around here...Not a bad place to be at all....

 

We're planning on moving somewhere south of Pueblo, CO & north of Sante Fe NM within 5 years.

 

Good advice. The government (at all levels) has grown like a cancer in Colorado for the last two decades. Add our water troubles to that, the influx of Californians, etc., etc., etc.

Colorado is a great place to be from.

 

do keep in mind that if you are concerned with mass floods of human refugees/looters; someplace warm is where they'll be heading too

and I looked at CO off and on for a good coupla years, found plenty of land I loved, but as stated above, the political climate is cancerous and has arguably already became metastic(sp?)....also serious water shortage problems....and a lot of the land that is above the 2 legged critter refugee zone is also above the 'ya can't grow sh!t up here zone

 

Up north in the high desert,(Coconino County/Coconino Plateau) I'm at 5200-5300 ft, 2 mountain peaks for my entrance/driveway, that are 5800 ft. I just got word tonight, the guy on the western-most slope of my west mountain boundary has already got veggies growin' up there! So, I figure even if I have to set up raised beds (all depends on that danged soil-it's weird!) I can easily plant that way. Neighbors had some problem with in-ground planting, but from what I have seen and heard thus far, they are not that good at gardening to begin with. The only problem I know of an have been awaitinbg information from NAU's AG agent, is why there appears to be "stunted" growth of some varities...most are cacti, and related desert plants! Depending on the location, you have anything from regular old dirt, some areas are volcanic soil like mine, and further north there is orange sand, from decomposing flag/sandstone. We have "grasses" that grow continually on my place but they stay under a foot tall, and always appear to be white/beige...Like I said It's kinda weird up there. Now, my "caretaker" reports that the junipers have suddenly sprung into life now, and the whole place smells like gin! I figure if the guy on the upper elevation and western side of a danged near solid rock mountain can grow his veggies up there, even now, I should be all set. I have to test the soil still, never had a moment's time last trip to do it, and forget I had the test kits up there.
There are a lot of open range cattle up there, and they seem to do quite well in the area for food. ( I won't mention what the coyote's and the "kitty" do for theirs!) I really want to get a photo of that cat!
Anyway back to the subject...Research has determined we are off to the west side of a huge aquifer, that "feeds" south all the way past Prescott! In fact, it feeds: Ashfork, Chino/valley, Prescott/valley all the way south to Paulden, an old pre-historic lake bed. *(gunsight is located there).
Right now we have to haul water and have a 500 gallon+ capacity.
BUT, the eastern and western boundaries of my land are clearly marked by 2 washes, one on each side, which catch all the runoff from the 2 mountains, and channel it to the canyon about 1 1/2 miles south of me, and it drops over 300 ft in a water fall when there is a good rain.
We are having a man up there with a backhoe, dig out a 30+ ft diameter "pit" for water retention, that will be 8-10 ft in depth. That will allow us enough water to use for irrigation of our plants/gardens. Very few people in the area, as it is isolated, and some find that area far too lonely ...? Some it is said to have either got a severe case of cabin fever, or just went put of their gourds, due to being "stuck" there for a couple months in a row.
Now where I am, when it rains, we have MUD! I mean it gets nasty, sticky and deep! But my guy up there has been there since September of last year and has not been "stuck" for more than a 2-3 day span in a row.
The bad part, it is a LONG way to town and in the rainy season, you have to know which roads (unmarked dirt trails at best) to travel over, or get stuck!
In an emergency situation, it could be severe.
Water has not been a problem for general use, but we have yet to put in our "sauna! ( just kidding! The pool comes first!)
We can have a tank delivered that is 8 ft diameter 8 ft 6 inches high that holds 2600 gallons, for the low low price of only: $1,100.00!
We can have water delivered to us via 1 of 4 water trucks in the area, for $98.00 for 2500 gallons!
"IF" we get ourselves "together" we will use the runoff water, and a rain catchement system, just as the guy on the mountainside does!
We had some visitor's the past month, a man and his wife, that are contemplating buying the 2 lots adjacent to ours....They are also planning on drilling a well right away, and asked if we would be "interested in working with them on that project". We are! We have to haul water (depends on weather) 12.5 to 13.2 miles from Ashfork. There, you pay $.001 cent a gallon. 2 wells in town, 1 for smaller amounts up to about 300 gallons and the 2nd for larger trailers and trucks. If they put in a well there, they will have an income each month that will easily pay for the well in 6 months or less! (mostof which will be my money I think!) Yoikes!
Colorado...I have lived in Golden, Denver, and Pueblo. Pueblo is not what it used to be....I used to go to my aunt and uncle's farm there every summer for years.....I was amazed at what they grew, and they had irrigation ditches that carried well water for a long ways....
Not all cold weahter is a bad thing, so I have discovered!
Many fruit trees and garden plants need the cold wearher to "set".
( I'm learning, but the process is a slow curve for some of us!)
Apples, and cherries, etc.,..... a lot I did NOT know about, I researched and discovered that I need the snow and cold to make them produce properly. The elevation alone is not enough.
On average, we get into the 50's at night and 90's during the days in March-August, then it slowly tapers off to the teens at night in January and February, the days vary with the wind/rain/snow, but usually not too bad! When the weather changes to spring, it's almost overnight! By the second week of March it's warm!

 

I apologize I forgot to post these maps with the population density map.