Finding Home Part 3 of 4: Environmental Factors
This week, we continue the Finding Home Series and explore environmental factors impacting your search for a new home. You will notice many of these factors are interconnected, which helps to narrow down the right place for you.
Water
Water is the most critical element in determining a suitable property. In many places in the U.S., too little water is a constant threat to the local inhabitants. Generally, the central part of the country and the southwest tend to be more susceptible to long-term droughts. You will normally find an abundance of water in the pacific northwest along the coast, the gulf coast states, and most of the Eastern United States east of the Mississippi River. I know this is going to trigger folks outside of these regions, but any place on the above map that is not green is not a recommended place for long-term habitation. This viewpoint is based on data that indicates these areas are not sustainable long-term for the populations currently residing there.
Driving your vehicle a mile, five miles, or more to get water or paying to have water trucked in as the Navajo Nation does, is not only asinine but unsustainable. Historically, the largest population centers were where the environment supported it. This would be the Eastern United States and Pacific Northwest, respectively. Joel Skousen, the author of Strategic Relocation: North American Guide to Safe Places, rates Utah as his number one place for relocation. However, I find this perplexing because no matter how ideal a place might otherwise be, if you routinely suffer from water scarcity issues, like Utah, that area is not fit for habitation.
This entire series is based on the premise that our fabulously entitled lives were only made possible by equally fabulously rich fossil fuel resources the American Empire has been able to acquire. This is slowly but surely going away, and the result will be catastrophic for our society. We will need to make do with what is locally available, and the concept of trucking water tanks in or receiving government bailouts from extreme weather events will be spotty at best. Even if you have access to reliable water at the present time, depending on an aging electric grid to move that water from deep reservoirs to your house will also become more expensive and challenging. This is why we need to look for property that has access to above and below-ground water resources that require the least amount of energy to obtain.
I'm located in the Appalachian mountains and prefer areas with around 40+ inches of annual precipitation for sufficient agricultural production. However, droughts do occur, so it's a good idea to look for land with access to reliable water during such events. Year-round springs are the holy grail of a homestead that can provide you with gravity-fed potable water. Unfortunately, they are not common features in the landscape for most people to own, so water will have to come from other sources. On our current 11-acre property, we have a stream that runs for 8-10 months of the year. From around mid-July to September, dry weather kicks in, causing the stream to dry up. For a year-round water supply, we dug our well using a hand auger. We installed a pitcher pump purchased from Home Depot, and this has been our primary source of water on the farm.
Folks across the country are very familiar with rainwater catchment systems, and there is a dizzying amount of information on the internet on how to use these systems. For us, we use an IBC tote from Tractor Supply that captures rainwater from the roof of our well house to water the garden and chickens. This system is also a backup water supply in case a severe drought kicks in. I am not going to get into the nuances of where rainwater catchment is legal, but for the majority of the country, it is legal to collect water off your roof.
Ponds, no matter their size, are a huge benefit to the homestead since they store water during droughts, provide food and recreation, and act as a fire break for wildfires. Personally, I would rather have a spring or pond on my future homestead instead of a stream or river. With unsavory drug addicts next door, the stream that passes through their property into mine is an avenue for trespassing as well as a dumping ground for trash. To truly keep people and pollutants out of your water, you would have to own the headwaters of such systems, which is not always feasible. Ponds and springs, on the other hand, are contained on-site and can be monitored to maintain water quality.
Climate
Sometimes, certain areas have too much water instead of too little. Flooding is not an environmental factor to ignore. Here in Appalachia, most homes and towns are situated in narrow valleys where heavy rain can cause significant damage from strong downpours. Appropriate house placement is critical to maintaining your home if you find yourself in such locations. This will also keep insurance costs low while our current society is up and running.
I would also encourage prospective buyers to look up possible flood zones along watercourses, no matter how small. Freak thousand-year flood events may become more commonplace if the climate continues to warm. Generally, county GIS maps will show areas in flood zones for insurance purposes and will indicate where you can and cannot build. Likewise, rising sea levels are a concern for the local inhabitants along the coasts. You do not want to put in years of hard work building up the soil and establishing your home only to have the ocean threaten your farm if sea levels continue to rise. For a fun visual on places along the coast that will potentially experience such events, check out this interactive map.
Regardless of where your opinions lie on the global warming spectrum, damaging storms are an ever-present reality. Whether you are inland dealing with the possibility of a tornado or along the coast battling hurricanes, choosing a good location can significantly help minimize your exposure to these horrific weather events.
Along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts, hurricanes are an annual force to be reckoned with. In addition to sea-level rise, hurricanes can quickly destroy a homestead and everything on it. Living along the coast in these states will be a poor decision regardless of the perceived benefits (long growing season, warm weather, ample rainfall). I see resource scarcity seriously affecting these states’ ability to rebuild damaged coastal communities after hurricanes. Local areas will have to get by on salvaging what's left after a hurricane or be forced to migrate inland. Can you imagine the mess these places will be in if multiple storms come through in a single season? I do not see the capital or resources being available (personal or institutional) to pay for such reconstruction.
High Winds:
Further inland, Dixie Alley in the South or Tornado Alley in the Plains is annually subjected to destructive storms. Even weather events such as a derecho can cause significant damage to life and property. I realize you will not always avoid damaging storms, but my point here is to avoid known areas that receive a higher-than-average amount of damaging storms from the onset of your search. Just as coastal communities will have trouble rebuilding after hurricanes, I also believe tornado-prone areas will experience similar problems. You will notice that Tornado Alley covers most of the central plains states, which have lower water resources as well. Even outside of these tornado-prone areas, it's always prudent to make sure to build your home or structures with high winds in mind. Make sure to build beyond the local building codes to be safe, and plan to have a storm shelter for your and your animals.
Hardiness Zone
Winter and Summer high & low temperatures are essential factors to consider. The USDA zone hardiness maps are valuable tools in finding zones across the United States with similar temperatures. Depending on your climatic preferences, this will give you a rough idea of how suitable a location is. Modern entitlements such as air conditioning and home heating oil have made it irrelevant where we put our homes, but this, too, is a fleeting luxury. In the context of this series, however, we are looking for places in our country that will support a sustainable lifestyle based on agriculture that provides all the necessary resources a human being requires. I will mention again that the southwest is not a good place to live, not only for the lack of water but also for the climate. Scorching hot days without AC can be deadly. Similarly, in the "sunbelt" of the south, the lack of reliable electricity in the future could make life miserable in this super humid region. I would also consider average first and last frost dates when growing crops. Plant Maps has a variety of valuable interactive maps for each state that covers these topics and more.
The climate will also influence house design, resources needed, and lifestyle. Cold climates, such as New England, have pleasant summer temperatures (usually), but severe winter lows mandate that you will spend a considerable portion of your life chopping wood to stay alive. Alternatively, living in Florida would give you ample growing seasons, but high summer temperatures coupled with high humidity could make life very unpleasant for those not adapted to the climate.
Local Conditions
At the time of my homestead’s purchase, I had no idea of the local climatic variations of the area. That year, however, I found myself living in a frost pocket (one of the tradeoffs of having"flattish" land in the mountains). This is because all the cold air from the mountains above us comes down at night and pools in the valley. Moreover, this makes the local micro-climate warm up later in spring and cool down earlier in fall, shortening our growing season by up to a month more than the surrounding area.
Knowing this, we have shifted to growing crops that can either handle frost or bloom later in the spring. Some examples of plants that tolerate light frost are strawberries, burdock, salsify, parsnip, potatoes, lettuce, collards, and cabbage. Late-blooming fruit varieties include, Arkansas Black apple, Yellow June apple, domesticated American persimmons, elderberries, blueberries, and cane fruits.
Slope orientation impacts crop production by enabling cold air to drain away, warm up earlier in spring (south-facing slopes), or delay fruit blooming due to their reduced solar absorption (north-facing slopes).
Topography
When my partner and I searched for property, we wanted to find land with good access from a paved road with a gentle slope to reduce costs. Tens of thousands of houses across Appalachia and beyond are incorrectly placed high on the side or on top of mountains and hills, making access challenging all year round. Any rain event creates huge ruts on these steep driveways and requires constant maintenance. These driveways will become massive liabilities in a future of de-industrialization as the materials used to keep such access possible are hard to source and expensive. Instead, according to Geoff Lawton's Property Purchase Checklist video, the ideal location for a house site is mid-slope, with the ability to capture rainwater above to gravity feed to your home below. The low country can be used for grazing or annual crops with food forests going upslope.
Fire
Another problem with placing a house high in the landscape is wildfires. Fire actually increases in speed and intensity as it spreads uphill, totally incinerating your homestead. For those who find themselves in such areas, creating a fireproof habitation would take a lot of time and money but should be prioritized. Removing flammable plants (usually evergreen species and grasses) within 100 feet of the house is generally recommended, in addition to building with fireproof materials on the exterior of the home. Although you can create a fire exclusion zone around your property, it's easier to pick a property not located high upslope or on top of ridges. We can also see that living in these elevated positions also makes it more difficult to source water. During a wildfire event, especially in a future with fewer fossil fuels, being able to protect your home may be impossible without ample electricity pumping water from several hundred feet up a well.
Soils
Ideally, the land you want to purchase has nutrient-rich soils already on site. Using the USGS Web Soil Survey, you can find the location of your property and determine if it is suitable for growing crops and more. For the vast majority of folks, chances are that a potential property has degraded soils. Never fear. In Permaculture: A Designers Manual, author Bill Mollison explains how to create and maintain soil.
Using his expertise, I was able to turn our destroyed soil into life-giving abundance over time. When we first arrived, the land had been in constant cultivation by conventional farmers planting GMO corn and spraying toxic chemicals for decades. The soil life had utterly collapsed with no organic matter, hard compacted clay, no insects, and high soil acidity.
I began by using the mowed native grasses for mulch around fruit trees and in the garden beds. I created a DIY compost tea system and continued to apply generous amounts of liquid compost to every plant I grew. Then, I added organic minerals and chicken bedding around any edible plant. The first year in the vegetable garden, I couldn't even grow tomatoes. By year two, after implementing Mollison's soil-building techniques, I was able to grow sweet corn, tomatoes, melons, and peppers! All of these vegetables require a lot of nutrients, so feeding the soil organisms was bringing the land back to life.
Building soil is not necessarily complicated once you understand the methodology, but it does take time. However, in as little as one year, you can see tremendous results if you keep at it. Due to the soil being so depleted by previous mismanagement, it was crucial that all organic matter on the farm was recycled back into the system. That even includes our human "wastes." We bought the Humanure Handbook and designed a composting toilet system that breaks down our humanure into rich compost for our fruit trees and berry bushes. Although research shows that properly composted human "waste" can be used in a vegetable garden, we use it on trees and shrubs. Even our urine is collected and diluted in watering cans at a ratio of 12 parts water to 1 part urine. This adds a nice dose of nitrogen to plants and gives back to the land in a hygienic way.
Earthquakes
Earthquakes are another critical natural process we need to consider when searching for a place to call home. Looking at the map, we can quickly see where seismic zones are located in the United States. In California, for instance, not only do you have little water, disproportionately high population density, and wildfires, but you also have the threat of extreme earthquakes. On the other hand, in the center of the country, Missouri has a reasonably active fault zone to consider. If you decide to live in a high-hazard seismic zone, care should be taken to build appropriate structures so you are not crushed when an earthquake occurs. For a more in-depth analysis, check out this interactive map of active seismic zones in the United States.
Solar
Solar aspect is often overlooked when searching for land, so let's illuminate its importance. For example, my neighbor's house is located on the north side of a small hill, which in winter (due to the lower sun angle) only receives sunlight from 11:30 am to around 2:00 pm. Trying to run a house off of solar for them would be difficult, if not impossible, during winter. Ideally, you would have an open location for your panels to receive as much sunlight as possible to power your home.
On a less technological level, passive solar is helpful on sunny winter days to warm your house. Unobstructed south-facing views permit the maximum amount of sunlight your home can receive in such instances. From a vegetable garden perspective, your gardens should also have south-facing exposure for at least six hours a day. Tall trees, hills, and structures located to the south significantly inhibit your energy production—solar electricity, solar hot water, passive solar, and food. Try to find a homestead that affords you open southern exposure for these purposes.
Additional Advice
Alice Friedemann of Energysceptic.com compiles some of the best data available about our energy predicaments. Friedemann's website is bursting with information on a vast array of topics, including a section called "Where to Be or Not to Be." Here, Friedemann provides multiple peer-reviewed articles explaining the best places to live in a de-industrialized world.
Two of the most concise reports on suitable regions to inhabit are Sustainability and Place: How emerging mega-trends of the 21st Century will affect humans and nature at the landscape level and Scientists on Where to Be in the 21st Century based on Sustainability. Here, the authors take into account climate change, population density, resource scarcity, and many other factors affecting our future. The maps contained in these excellent articles are some of the most helpful maps I have found that help to determine which areas should receive your attention. You will also notice, once again, that the southwest, deep south, Atlantic coastal areas, and many western states are not ideal locations for long-term stability. Furthermore, the authors recommend readers avoid mega-regions due to their fragility and unsustainable population density. Yes, even you, Asheville, North Carolina. According to Friedemann:
"The cities most dependent on cheap energy will be the most affected. The maintenance of large urban mega-regions requires enormous and continuous inputs of energy and materials. Modern industrial society and modern cities are inherently unsustainable."
In the "Under-performing Regions" map, Friedemann advises people to move to these areas in the country. Unlike the highly urbanized regions that consumed all of their local resources, the divestment of these areas has left the population in poverty, but this has also preserved the resources:
"These are regions that have not kept pace with national trends over the last 3 decades in terms of population, employment, and wages. Note that with the exception of the Great Lakes mega-region, the under-performing regions are outside of the 11 mega-regions. These under-performing areas generally have high natural resources and agricultural production."
I believe it's crucial to research environmental factors when deciding where to look for a home. I firmly believe government aid will not always be available, and deteriorating supply lines will make reconstruction near impossible from hazardous weather events. Make sure to choose your location wisely so that you can create a sustainable home site with dependable water, soil fertility, and food production. These will be some of the most essential resources in a de-industrialized world. As always, there is a diversity of pros and cons for any place you would like to settle. It is up to you to decide which area best suits your goals.
Thank you for reading, and stay tuned next Thursday for Part 4 which explores the human environment, it’s not to be missed!