When I sell my house here in Kentucky, I'm heading back to Maine, although I'm not from there (I'm a transplant) I've lived there a few years and consider it 'home'. Anyway, I'm curious as to how many of you tried homesteading on a lake.

I'm looking to get 5-20 acres in northern Maine, somewhere between Bangor and Houlton, or maybe a little further up. Being realistic, I'll have to stay within 40 miles of a town big enough to where I can get a job at.

-- Uriah (Uriahdeath2@netscape.net), August 11, 2001

Answers

I have a creek out back,, its great when the salmon and the trout run,, and a source of emergency water,, need to get a solar pump for there,, still looking for one though

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), August 11, 2001.

We purchased a little place(only 2 1/2 acres)on the Willamette River here in Oregon. wouldn't dream of living anywhere that didn't have a year round lake or river!

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), August 11, 2001.

Well, I farm on the shore of Lake Ontario. I live on a peninsula so the lake is out front of the house and some of the pastures and hayfields with some of the other pastures and hayfields bounded by Chaumont Bay (arm of Lake Ontario). I'm not exactly sure what you're asking for. Drawbacks? Here, it's tourists which can be a real pain in the hind quarters. You also have to be very concerned with water quality (your effect on it) and there are more wetland regulations than you can shake a stick at in NYS at least. Not a bad thing, maybe, but you have to be aware of them. In a lot of ways what you consider your property is not quite "yours" because of them, not like property someone else may own inland. Advantages, of course, are many. A body of water that is large enough has a moderating effect on your weather. Warmer in winter, cooler (although I don't know about THIS summer!) in the summer. Lots of sports opportunities to do with boating, fishing, swimmming. The lake is absolutely gorgeous and changes constantly, both the looks and the sound it makes. It's more of personality than a body of water, but then I've lived on this farm my entire life except for college years. I can tell you it would be a step down for me to live anywhere else.

-- Jennifer L. (Northern NYS) (jlance@nospammail.com), August 11, 2001.

I forgot to put in my questions. As far as lake living (or again, other bodies of water) what do you do about insect control? I know from living in Maine that its only a issue a few months out of the year (gotta love mequetos and black flies). Mostly I was wondering about iragation water, fishing, ect... anybody here live up around the Maine lakes region?

Whereever I wind up at up there, I'm trying to avoid the 'summer people' and tourists. Then again, I can't afford land on them places anyway.

Jennifer, I won't be living on a lake anywhere near the size of yours. Mostly what I'm looking at would be a few square miles of surface area, if that. Does sound like a nice place though.

-- Uriah (Uriahdeath2@netscape.net), August 12, 2001.

We own a 160 acre parcel of land on a small(250 acre)lake in Nova Scotia, with intentions of homesteading there in several years. We are very secluded, about 5 miles from power or paved road. We started by building a log cabin (scandinavian full scribe) with red spruce trees cut there. Currently this is strictky a woodlot which we are currently managing for various reasons, timber production, wildlife, recreation, maple syrup production and of course esthetics. Our next project is to clear a small piece for pasture land and a small vineyard (summer 2002). I still have many unanswered questions about how much cleared land I will require for my needs etc.. the quest for knowledge never seems to end. The lake provides us with many pleasures from swimming and fishing, canoeing to simply watching the loons when they come to visit us (daily, as they seem to be very curious). Essentially the lake is used more for recreation and esthetics rather than being used for irrigating puposes. We derive our water from a dug well, gravity fed to the cabin. However, the lake does provide us with a constant wind which may be enough to provide us with some power one day. As in Maine, we have many insects during the spring and summer months, which are just a part of the experience. I found that eventually you become tolerant of them,it's just a case of mind over matter and keeping yourself busy. Ideally, we would be self sufficient by not having to drive out for work however I'm hoping that I'll generate enough income from the woodlot that I'll only need a part time or seasonal work to supplement my income. Hence the reason to buy a larger parcel of land. I only wish I could start homesteading tommorrow, until then the quest for knowledge continues.. good luck.

-- pierre breton (timberjerk83@yahoo.ca), August 12, 2001.

Don't know bout Maine, but we don't have blackflies and very few mosquitos. I guess the swallows, bats and ducks take care of them. We do have a pump for bringing up water from the river if we need it through the summer for irrigation and besides the well for househols water also rely on a spring, 80 ft in elevation from us, for some watering, keeping the duck pond full and running over etc. Good luck.

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), August 12, 2001.

Here in Nova Scotia the answer would be ducks. My friends noticed a drastic reduction in the biting insect population when they began keeping a flock of ducks. of course encouraging the insect eating population is always very good policy too. But alas when all else fails ya gotta buy some Deep Woods Off. LOL

-- Alison in N.S. (aproteau@istar.ca), August 13, 2001.