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[Michelle Therese]

Hello, Free State People!

My name is Michelle and I am an American married to Erlend, my Scottish farmer husband. We live on an organic sheep-and-cattle farm over here in Scotland with our 3 kids and an assortment of barn cats and one whippet named Millie.

We are going to sell our farm next fall and move to America so that we can get away from the implosion taking place politically and economically on this side of The Pond.

For several weeks now we have been researching heavily about "which state in America is free??" and to our surprise New Hampshire consistently popped up at the top of the best lists! That was totally unexpected... I grew up in Massachusetts and I figured there would be no Liberty hardly anywhere in the North East.

And the funny thing is, my dad lives in southern NH. I have spent a lot of time in NH but never really realized that the citizens of New Hampshire really do live by their State motto! Which is a motto that I just love ~ and that shocks and delights my raised-and-steeped-in-Socialism husband!

We are going to be joined by my aged Aunt and Uncle. They are not very keen on living up north but hopefully they will be convinced that NH is the best place for us to go. They are very experienced at living off of the fat of the land, good rugged Liberty-loving Americans! I spent a lot of time with them as a kid, I just love them to bits! Sadly they lost their 4 children in a house fire when I was 4 years old... but now they will be able to live out their golden years with us and our kids  

We hope to purchase a decent sized house with acreage so that we can create an organic family self-sufficient farming homestead. At the moment we live on a big commercial farm which might sound romantic but is in fact overly mechanized and soul-draining. Not to mention a money devouring beast that costs far far more to run then it produces in profit!

Our "dream home" would actually be something rather rustic. We all desire wood stoves and this and that, nothing too modern, nothing smack in the middle of a town. We don't want a HUGE house, but something big enough to be healthy but modest sized enough to be easy to heat and maintain. I hope we can find something like this in NH! And we'll have a garden, some chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, cows. Not hundreds of head of livestock, but enough for self-sufficiency and enough to sell a bit of extra.

Myself and my Aunt and Uncle each have modest incomes so this is not a total pipe dream! We won't be rich, we'll be living off of Red Cross shops and Value Village but after 4 years in the Navy, 6 years living up in Alaska, and nearly a decade on an island in northern Scotland I am not exactly a lightweight hehehehe!

Have a lovely day! I will be trawling all over the forums so I can read and learn all about the FSP etc, etc. Pardon me if I don't speak up much at first, I don't really like blabbing if I don't know what I'm on about. Feel very free to offer your insights, guidance, advice etc. We plan to move for spring/early summer 2015 so we have time to research and be careful and do this correctly and intelligently! We will only be able to make an amazing move like this ONCE and then we'll be poor and living off the land haha!

   ~Michelle

[KBCraig]

Welcome to the forum!

There are quite a few people making a living (or at least managing to get by) doing exactly what you propose. Local food is big in NH, and Scottish cattle (Highlands and Belted Galloways) are popular cold-hardy breeds.

[Sam Adams]

    Michelle, do your research carefully. America is starting its implosion economically and politically. Ours will hit bottom harder and longer... A few of my friends just moved to farms in Germany and Chile. I,m all for FSP as far as living in America, but run with eyes Wide open.

[Michelle Therese]

Oh absolutely America is imploding as well. The economy is in tatters and that is not about to get better any time soon.

But living/working/farming overseas is still nothing like being home in America. We will be able to endure even extreme economic collapse with far more liberty and joy back home in America then anywhere over here, under the Constitution and near my family.

People are not "bad" here, in Europe and Britain, it's just not the same level of freedom and liberty and personal rugged independence  *or* the legal rights and capabilities of defending ourselves and getting politically active to the point of actually having a powerful impact on laws etc.

I never knew what we had in America until I left it behind and tried to live without it.

The "ills of America" are not going to be fixed by "the Government" ~ they can only be fixed by We The People. And yet We can only fix problems if We The People actually have the legally protected right to be politically active to the point of impacting State and National "policy" etc, etc. You just can't do that over here. Especially when you are foreign like I am. And the second me and my husband up sticks and move to any other country (except America) we *both* become foreign nationals.

I know this is not PC to say and might ruffle a few feathers but I speak from years of personal experience: America welcomes politically active immigrants far, FAR better then most other countries on this planet. So my husband will be a foreigner in America, yes, but he won't be silenced, ostracized,  outright bullied because he is a lowly outsider speaking up for Liberty...

[Michelle Therese]

Welcome to the forum!

There are quite a few people making a living (or at least managing to get by) doing exactly what you propose. Local food is big in NH, and Scottish cattle (Highlands and Belted Galloways) are popular cold-hardy breeds.

I am so happy to hear that local food is big in NH! We are so eager to live in a place where many in the community do not find "living off of the land" to be weird and radical and threatening. We don't want to be oddballs.

I know this sounds pie-in-the-sky and dreamy, but oftentimes goofy dreams can end up solid realities so I always allow myself to at least try and make things happen:

We would LOVE to share and not just hide away in the hills and horde the family farm all to ourselves. Sure, we'll technically own the place but it would be so amazing if we could find a way to let other folk be involved, to grow some of their own food, for all of us to teach-and-learn traditional crafts and skills, etc. Not in the sense that we are pretending to be Amish or hiding from "the real world" and rejecting technology (no way! haha!) but in the sense that we have a working knowledge of those skills and abilities that cause people to be more independent, self-sufficient, sustainable, and to build a strong sense of community... I'm not sure if I'm choosing the best words but hopefully my point gets across! 

[FrugalFannie]

I love NH and plan to move to NH VERY soon. Our jobs keep us here in the northeast right now. And I grew up in Maine so I understand the attraction of NH. And not to dilute what is going on in NH but if I could move ANYWHERE I would seriously consider going south, especially as I am also aging (aren't we all?). I would suggest you check out the website www.walkingtofreedom.com before you make your decision. You may find some place better suited to everyone's needs and with better growing seasons.

[Michelle Therese]

Thank you for the link  I'll check it out.

One advantage I have is that my family all live in MA and NH.

[crossonscout]

We love liberty lovers from all over the world - you're welcome in NH!

[Sam Adams]

Actually saw last month, Raw milk, farmers cheese, raw yogurt, for sale in a community run village store. Friday nite at store was local brew sampling, and home grow cheese also. Only in NH.

[time4liberty]

Looking forward to meeting you!

We have lots of awesome local food here in NH. I pass at least 6 local farmstands just on my way home from work, including raw milk, which we prefer.

[Michelle Therese]

My Scottish husband replies, in his cute accent, "Tremendous! This is what we want!"

Over here it is illegal to sell raw milk etc. We are very excited about the many "local food" things we are going to enjoy in NH, including making maple syrup and growing apples!

[MaineShark]

What's "raw milk?"  Don't you just mean, "milk?"  As opposed to that watered-down white paint that they currently sell and pretend is actual milk...

Milk comes in glass bottles, and you need to shake it before you pour.

My only caution is that it's extremely hard to turn any sort of profit on a small farm, unless you pick a niche product that has enough of a margin to make it work.  Most small farms are operating break-even or at a loss.  You also need to look at doing as many stages of the production on-site as you can.  If you build a vineyard and wholesale grapes to a winery, you won't make any money.  If you build a vineyard and also have your own winery on-site, you can make the profit from both stages, which is enough to keep the whole business profitable.

[greap]

My name is Michelle and I am an American married to Erlend, my Scottish farmer husband. We live on an organic sheep-and-cattle farm over here in Scotland with our 3 kids and an assortment of barn cats and one whippet named Millie.

We are going to sell our farm next fall and move to America so that we can get away from the implosion taking place politically and economically on this side of The Pond.

Welcome!

We hope to purchase a decent sized house with acreage so that we can create an organic family self-sufficient farming homestead. At the moment we live on a big commercial farm which might sound romantic but is in fact overly mechanized and soul-draining. Not to mention a money devouring beast that costs far far more to run then it produces in profit!

As others have mentioned agriculture in the US is in decline but there are niche markets you can exploit. If you set up one of these near a big town you should do very well and with the explosion of farm to table restaurants in NH if you produce a high quality product there will be consumers.

If you produce real sausages and bacon then you already have two customers waiting, the only thing my wife and I really miss about the UK is the lack of back bacon and real sausages (rather then the abominations Americans consider them to be) here

Our "dream home" would actually be something rather rustic. We all desire wood stoves and this and that, nothing too modern, nothing smack in the middle of a town. We don't want a HUGE house, but something big enough to be healthy but modest sized enough to be easy to heat and maintain. I hope we can find something like this in NH! And we'll have a garden, some chickens, pigs, goats, sheep, cows. Not hundreds of head of livestock, but enough for self-sufficiency and enough to sell a bit of extra.

Drive 10 minutes out of any town in NH and you have that, the towns don't sprawl and the cities barely deserve the name.

Have a lovely day! I will be trawling all over the forums so I can read and learn all about the FSP etc, etc. Pardon me if I don't speak up much at first, I don't really like blabbing if I don't know what I'm on about. Feel very free to offer your insights, guidance, advice etc. We plan to move for spring/early summer 2015 so we have time to research and be careful and do this correctly and intelligently! We will only be able to make an amazing move like this ONCE and then we'll be poor and living off the land haha!

If you are up for a visit before then we have a couple of events throughout the year. Porcfest is our big summer festival where 1500+ libertarians come together in northern NH for a week of camping, discussions and agorism which just finished yesterday but will be back around the same time next year. Liberty Forum occurs in February in southern NH and is a little more formal but is still a great opportunity to meet free staters and also a chance to explore the state in the winter.

[MaineShark]

If you produce real sausages and bacon then you already have two customers waiting, the only thing my wife and I really miss about the UK is the lack of back bacon and real sausages (rather then the abominations Americans consider them to be) here

http://ncsmokehouse.com/

Among others.

[greap]

If you produce real sausages and bacon then you already have two customers waiting, the only thing my wife and I really miss about the UK is the lack of back bacon and real sausages (rather then the abominations Americans consider them to be) here

http://ncsmokehouse.com/

Among others.

Those are not "real" sausages in the same way flavored tea is not "real" tea Also they use lean meat which is part of the problem, you want a fat heavy meat to bring out flavor and so it doesn't dry out while cooking. I have to date found two butchers this side of the country which do real sausages but both are in NYC, i'm looking for the meat to have a fat content of around 25%.