I'm moving to California!!

I have lived in the Philadelphia region all 42 years of my life. Winters here are literally hell. I can't go outside at all during the summer without mosquito bites all over my body. I invested in a small plant business with the intent of selling house plants online. My county has since been quarantined because of a plague of the invasive Chinese lanterfly. The house I have been living at is being sold by the end of the year, and it is time for a change!

Besides video production, homesteading is my biggest hobby. It is my livelihood. I have chosen the Colorado low desert in growing zone 9b so I can grow my own food pretty much all year long. I'm going to be starting a new video series all about it, and they will be here on Steem, of course!

Land is extremely cheap near the saltan sea. I'm looking at a 5 acre plot in Imperial County, and a 10 acre plot in Riverside County. The are both a few miles East of the largest lake in California. I understand it is smelly in the summer. Land is even cheaper in the higher elevation mojave desert in San Bernardino County. I might buy a plot up there to spend the summers.

I am a member of Homesteaders Co-op, but I can't really sell anything. I tried selling candles online for many years, but no one buys them. The cost of shipping is too much. Lots of people search for rare plants, and I know how to grow and market.

Living in an RV on your own property might not be lawful. I might not even ever be able to build on the land. It's cheap for a reason. As long as I can grow plants and trees on it, I'll be happy. The worst thing about living there will be rattlesnakes.

I will be completely off grid. There is no electric or water at any of these cheap parcels. Internet will have to be by satellite. There is Frontier internet in the area. I might have to go to Starbucks to upload videos. I've been watching many horticulture Youtubers who live in the area. They all seem very friendly. I might try to befriend them and collaborate with them. Slab city is pretty close. I don't think I would wanna live there, but there are Youtubers living there who seem pretty normal, and I would like to meet them.

My first #WednesdayWalk by Hive account@tattoodjay is all from my backyard nursery and garden. It will be a challenge to make absolute sure I do not bring any lanterflies or their eggs to California. I would hate to give them up. Rubbing alcohol is supposed to kill the eggs. I will be sanitizing everything obsessive compulsively. I'm taking lots of bamboo with me to hide my camp, and to block the wind. I'll get other kinds of bamboo more suitable for the desert when I get there.

All photos taken with my Canon Rebel T6