jomesteading advice?

[Guest guest]

Hi, As a member of this list, I'm hoping to tap some of the wisdom here

by sharing hopes and plans for the future. That may include making

connections with a few other people, so perhaps that could happen here too.

 

We are (50 yrs. young couple, and one dependent adult) presently

searching for land on which to move our mobile home so we can build a

more earth-friendly dwelling and practice living lightly on the land.

We're both new to the challenges of building and homesteading. We have

read about many " intentional communities " and considered trying to find

one, but as private people on an unusual, but deeply spiritual journey,

the stress of communal living seems likely to outweigh its benefits,

despite our lack of experience.

 

Assuming we make good progress toward self-sufficiency before the time

when necessity becomes a mother, so to speak, we're optimistic about the

quality of this new life. In the event of social/political/economic

upheaval, however, preparedness may yield little comfort or safety if

neighbors on all sides are locked in life-and-death struggle. In good

times, it's relatively easy to have good relations with neighbors, but

under difficult conditions, independently cooperative neighbors who have

already shared the goals and challenges of self-sufficiency could be

invaluable in the effort to maintain a stable life and nurture hope for

the future. With just a little bit of trust, joint projects like

sharing the cost of a well could be another big advantage.

 

A few approaches to " choosing one's own neighbors " come to mind, but

each solution has problems. Within a group of people considering

co-location, one could always buy a plot of land where adjoining plots

are available and hope for others to follow suit. We've also considered

buying a larger piece of land. The local price per acre drops steeply

at 40 acres and again around 80. Buying 40 acres is tempting, but by

cutting into our building fund, urgency to resell could become a

problem. This, too, might be less risky if we're in communication with

others who have a similar need and interest. Ideally, we'd like to

purchase 40-80 acres jointly with like-minded folks, and perhaps have

room to subdivide further if/when the right opportunities appear. There

would be many questions to work through and logistics to address, but it

might be possible. One of our limitations is that it would be difficult

to leave SE Kansas. On the plus side, our local building codes and land

use restrictions are quite amenable to both alternative building and

reasonable sub-division. BTW, our neck of the woods is not just a

" flat, dry, treeless plain " .

 

Plans for homebuilding are still in research mode. We've felt drawn to

many types of material, but always settle back toward something that

seems least prone to failure. So far, that means renting forms and

hiring a truck to pour concrete walls in which we can embed rebar

support for a vaulted, ferro-cement roof. We're considering how best to

apply cement onto the steel mesh (shotcrete from a scaffold?) and also

how to insulate the roof. Lightweight, insulating cement (using scoria,

perlite, papercrete?) sounds tempting, but more uncertain.

 

Rather than going off the grid cold-turkey, we plan to connect our

mobile home to utilities for use as we build, then ween ourselves off as

we go. After moving to the new house, we expect to cook and heat water

with solar energy and hope to have PV panels as well. PAHS is also high

on our wish list. Even with an uncovered roof, it should

(theoretically?) maintain a near constant temperature year-round with

little or no energy use. We'd like to have a wood stove ready to put in

the trailer if the grid fails during construction, then keep it for

backup heat. Without PAHS, though, a masonry stove sounds much better.

 

Within the first year, we want to plant fruit & nut trees and start

preparing ground for garden crops. After moving to the new house, we'll

build a greenhouse and a shelter for goats and chickens. I am an avid,

life-long gardener and tended chickens as a child. No experience with

goats yet, but we're ready to learn.

 

We have so many major decisions and changes under consideration that

it's rather overwhelming. Any suggestions or comments on these ideas

are most welcome. Also, if you're looking for land (especially SE

Kansas) and want to explore a search for compatible neighbors who desire

harmony with the Earth, please contact me at:

 

new.neighbors