C. Hunter wrote:
Does northern NV get snow in the winter? (yes, 19 inches a year on average, after some research) We really want someplace with snow.
But man, I love that sagebrush desert....
Snow in the Great Basin doesn't really accumulate. The winter air is so dry it tends to evaporate before it can melt. So it's pretty on the sagebrush and all, but not your winter wonderland accumulation. The good part is there isn't the mud factor like in the east. The bad part is that water is harder to capture for use in the spring.
C. Hunter wrote:
I guess you would do hoop house/greenhouse gardening to extend the growing season? - 9" of rainfall a year and it gets hot in the summer- how much power does a swamp cooler draw?
Love my hoop house, we will eat greens out of it all winter if I manage it right. Already been to 15 deg here. As for swamp coolers, I had one/wanted one at 4500'. Now that I am at 6800', it cools off so much at night that we haven't missed it. The hottest it gets here is 95, and dry. A fan to draw in cool air at night, then button up the house in the morning to hold the cool air works just fine. That's at about 200 miles south of these properties, it will be cooler there yet for the same altitude. Look at Reno's average temps then Elko's (or Salt Lake
City and Park City) to see how it drops.
One other thing to plan for in these remote sites is wildfire resiliency. That's true for anywhere in the west, of
course, but for some of the properties I looked at, help is hours away. Metal roofing and a proper clearing around your structure can mean the difference between keeping and losing your house. Just another sector to put into your overall plan.
Around here, winter is a pretty good time to drive a hard bargain on property when it's sat on the market all year and taxes are due.