commune location, ideal population, and acreage?

i have been dreaming of starting a commune for a couple of years now and luckily am in a great position to do so financially. I am the main beneficiary of several wills and will be receiving nearly a million in a little over a year and that same amount again in 9 years. The plan is that if the first round doesn't do it then I'll keep it a private farm and get things going until round 2. It would be nice to have something to sit in the bank and generate some interest to help cover annual expenses once everything is in full swing too so I do still need to be careful about price to an extent. I have read everything i can find about intentional communities and am brimming with ideas but I keep getting stuck on location. I want the property to be entirely self sustained, great water quality and supply, a place where winters are fairly mild or at least not super intense, good mix of forest and farmable land though im not at all opposed to having to clear it out, somewhere where creeks and ponds tend to be quite clear. I adore idahos landscape for its dramatic mountains (muuust have mountains even if just a view of them, im from wv and may well go crazy without them) just how pristine everything looks but its just way too cold for me there. So essentially I'm asking for warmer Idaho, any ideas? I also wouldn't mind some advice on size. I have no idea how many people I'd like the land to be able to support nor do I know how much land I should have per person so I'd love advice on the ideal population and size.

 

Stay at a commune/Intentional Community for that first year. The only way to start one is by having lived in one. IMO.

 

I smell a big pile of steaming bovine droppings!

 

A bit dramatic to say this early in the game, don'cha think?

 

I completely agree with Logan5 - go live with another group and see how it works. Some groups have different kinds of internship programs where you can learn how it works (our group does).

In my experience the problems one face in community are almost always really about the people / people getting along, and rarely about the money. In fact, if you have a lot of money, you will be tempted to "throw money" at problems.

Do you know the failure rate for new ICs is something like 90% in the first five years? Do you have any relevant experience - ie have you ever lived communally?

 

I just checked up on the morehouse site AlchemistGeorge was talking about. Sounds awesome if only I had the money.

 

i one one big enough for all of HIP ;p

 

It is possible to find good cheap property within reasonable depth to the aquafer in Inyo county CA for "dirt cheap" prices.

Once you have water, you can reclaim it if you know what you're doing and how to make your own topsoil from biomass grown in an aeroponic system and initially only relying on a root crop for abundant production of your biomass,,,, OR a seaside location as it will open a fisheries market potential with tidal pools,

$250, 300 to get us rolling

I have some thoughts you might like,,, but before I get too "sold", have you been here before in another incarnation perhaps?

 

In warmer climates, rivers and lakes are not going to be crystal clear. They will support a huge community of algae, plankton and several tiers of fish in an elaborate food chain.

But it still possible to find clear clean artesian springs in many areas of the southern USA, anywhere there is limestone under the ground will have abundant ground water and in the right spots, gush out as springs.

Determining the carrying capacity of the land is a function of soil and rainfall.
It takes 100 acres to support a cow in the desert Southwest. One acre of pasture is all you need in the rainy East to feed a cow.
Around here, 5 total acres of gardens, orchards, vineyard, berry patches, pasture and woods can support a family of four or five people if well-managed.

The mountains of Idaho are maybe the most beautiful peaks, but if you make an effort, you will appreciate the more subtle beauty of forested peaks such as you find in southern Arizona, the Ozarks of Arkansas, or the mountains of east Tennessee, Western North Carolina and North Georgia.

 

if you're technically inclined, Aeroponics Gardening systems will provide an incredible advantage to subsistence gardening with it's low water consumption in arid regions.


Hence I like seaside locations as sea water is abundant and easy to desalinate if you make producer gas and methane in any abundance.

:rofl: I meant 250-300K in the previous post to get us rolling properly without having to blacksmith and cast out everything.

 

160 acres, undeveloped. $188 an acre.
http://www.landandfarm.com/property/VACANT_LAND_Other_NV-460478/

http://records.elkocountynv.net:1401/maps/Bk008/008-140.pdf

 

Nevada is a very beautiful state. But the state & county governments suck. Last time I nearly moved there the county was telling me that I had to go to court to PROVE that I had the right to vote. WTF????

 

Weird. Not that I'm sold on the idea of NV, I just googled for land in the 100-200 an acre ballpark and found that.

I think you have maybe read enough about my plan to understand I'm really not concerned by environmental conditions much beyond personal comfort levels.

 

Sorry about that Fritz.

 

No biggie, I think NM is too windy and a bit brisk in April / May still for me as a rule, amazingly beautiful state, but I'm hooked on Inyo County CA. heat levels,,, with or without humidity.

Heck, on the colder nights I'd simply curl up right next to the big wood stove, 3" away and fighting for space with the Dog's out in the Working Farm / Commune in VA. and it was only 35F at the worst with all the blankets one could need.
:cheers2:

Something tells me I'll have something worked out for myself pretty soon,,, even if it ends up being a 9mm or an Ice bullet,,, from 2 directions along a grassy knoll, it could still end up being a Farm and Inland fishery and very very very Eco-Friendly group of Power plants along the Ocean somewhere so I can go catch me some Crab while I burn weed all damn day in one form or another.

http://www.************/TownhallFinance/posts/408803239149401

http://www.************/WhiteHouse/...325404799&hash=10150733630799238&pagefilter=3

http://www.************/photo.php?f...=a.10150687982234303.414642.6170309302&type=1

http://www.************/TownhallFinance/posts/298206220252985

I'm a busy Kat for sittin' on my ass so much. :cheers2:

 

I'll see your 1 acre and raise you 6 cows with efficient water reclamation via appropriate Aquaponics systems and open air Mezzanine racks 6 stories tall housing the Aeroponics to grow the grains and such for the Cattle.

Run a Sea Water pipeline to the area and run a solar salt farm / mid-volume desalination plant for all the H2O you need to go.

Not all approaches to factory farming hurt the earth, especially when you get tricky and start building up.

Now go up 6 more stories and grow the veggies to go with the Porterhouse and Hamburgers you're about to bring to market.

Sorry Bro, just on a roll and I cant seem to stop it. :love:

 

Fritz!

I will meet you on the surface of Mars and we'll see who can terraform it faster!

 

I'm launching with a rail gun and landing using deployable Chutes at first and then dirigibles guided by GPS to slowly land the craft on the surface wherever I want to with a pinpoint accuracy,,, how about you?

Truth be told my initial landing may simply involve an assortment of rover type vehicles if I dont simply construct the biodome en-route and start growing my first few years of Biomass using Aeroponics.

I have an idea to use a metal filled heat pipe assembly such as in most PC's but filled with a metal that will hit the vapor point at around fusion for a small 2MW nuclear reactor with which to power the Solar sails.

Small enough to keep a few spares on hand AND using a ferric metal so if one breaches, the cleanup will be easy with a big electromagnet,,,


You may honestly beat me however as I fully intend to wait until Embryonic Stem cell research unlocks the Bone Density issue (and a few others). But frankly by that time I'll be aiming past Mars.

So whats your catalyst of choice to grab the Hydrogen from the atmosphere to mix with the abundant oxygen bonded with the iron in Hematite form to be found on the red planet? And what are your plans for all the Iron you will have as a result Sir?

 

First use reverse electrolysis to break the bond between iron and oxygen.
Or you might want to use Mars' abundant CO2 to make carbonic acid to convert hematite into iron and oxygen.

Then use platinum to bond hydrogen to oxygen.

As for the iron waste product, why not turn waste into structural steel?

 

I was just gonna slow heat the Hematite in a retort off the reactor with a lead shielding to prevent contamination, but not a bad plan for a rover pre-visit probe on a planet and slowly release it out to the atmosphere to mix naturally.

Wonder what caused the separation of the two in the first place? :2thumbsupHahahah!!!)

Oh right, Oxidation,,, :rofl:

Kind of sad as it's a good sign to me that the last inhabitants of Mars weren't too smart if there were any that developed,,, unless they evolved into a realm beyond the material one,,,