BANGOR DAILY NEWS • April 24, 2023
When Heather Barter began hunting for a Maine house with enough land to homestead on, she suspected finding anything in her price range would be a long shot. Barter and her husband want a quarter acre within 30 minutes of Bangor and a school system that matches their daughter’s academic needs. Their working budget is between $150,000 and $160,000, which pushes their combined annual income of $65,000 to the limit. She was right. After looking for six months, she and her husband were forced to downsize their dreams to fit into their Veazie apartment. In that space she uses containers to grow chives, herbs and carrots, and tends “a teensy and very sad raspberry plant.” Barter is the face of the new homesteaders in Maine.