Homesteading in upstate NY

[crazychuck]

I am looking for some info on homesteading in Northern NY. I am new to the idea and I like what I have been reading. I have ALOT of .pdf's to read, any help would be great.
Thanks

[cabinman]

crazychuck - Where in upstate NY? I am in the Tug Hill region between Syracuse and Watertown. I know of a number of folks doing this. My son is about to start his homestead this spring. Rob Roy who writes about cordwood masonry and sustainable living (Has several books and videos out) has been homesteading inthe Plattsburgh area since the 1970's.

http://thedragonwoodchronicles.blogspot.com/ My homesteading effort has been more of a part time thing but will soon go into a full time effort. Had planned it as an early retirement lifestyle but with the economy the way it is my time table may move up. We'll see.

[crazychuck]

well I am currently in the army stationed at Ft Drum but my family has some land near canandaigua

[cabinman]

Looks like we have some things in comon. I spent 5 years in the Army. Fort Bragg and the now closed Fort Ord, Ca. I have also served in the Guard for over 20 years and have spent a lot of time at Fort Drum, including 3 years as the National Guard recruiter up there on an AGR tour.

The Canadaigua area would be excellent I would think. Is that where you are planning to homestead? The Tug Hill region is also good as there is a lot of relatively cheap land, and plenty of water. The difficulty as you must know being at Fort Drum is the amount of snow we get here. I think Canadaigua gets their fair share but nothing compared to the Tug Hill region.

I think the biggest issue here in New York State are the property taxes. They are among the highest in the country.

Aside from that, I say go for it. There is a guy somewhere near Adams, NY with a big homestead, cordwood house, sustainable farm. The Syracuse Post Standard did a big article on him this past summer. Great article. He built his house out of cordwood and junk. He used a lot of recycled materials. Cost him very little. It's actually great looking and quite large too. I'll try to find it or maybe try a google search. You could also check Syracuse.com. It would be worth reading.

Good Luck!

[cabinman]

Found it! Here is a link to the article I mentioned. http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2008/10/king_of_scrounge_north_country.html

I obviously have no idea what you are looking to do, but here is an interesting guy who just happens to be very near where you are!

[crazychuck]

I dont even know what I am gonna do yet. I just read about homesteading and it is something that I want to learn about. I know I want to build a cabin for when I go home to visit the family.

Thank you