No I don’t have a farm yet but I am into low key gardening mode. In preparation of real outside gardening I had to teach my toddler the do and don’ts of “ baby pants” as he calls them. We went off the local garden supply and bought some planting mix and seeds. I decided to start with beans which being fast and easy would work well with the attention span of a 2 ½ year old. We also picked up some dwarf sun flowers to go with the left over basil and heritage tomatoes I had at home.
Once home we filled our pots, they were mostly reused potting containers from last years trip the garden center and some fancy ceramics for indoor use. Mess aside, we managed to plant the appropriate amount of seeds at the correct depth, watered and waited.
Each day my son tells mommy to water “baby pants” just as he hounded her to do with the Christmas tree months earlier. We have had a number of fights over his desire to use his diggers and other earth moving toys in the pots but he’s catching on to the need to not disturb the plants, if you expect them to grow! The sun flowers came up almost instantly followed by the tomatoes and the beans, I was ready to fire the basil out just about when the first seed sprouted.
So far we’ve been lucky, no spilled pots of wet soil or plants pulled out. However by some magic a bean did come up in the basil pot. An interrogation has led us to the conclusion that digger felt left out and planted “one bean” all by himself. The plants are thriving and receive frequent visits, they often get talked to over breakfast and are brought various toys to inspect.
I don’t know how extensive my garden will be this year but I am preparing a new bed directly in front of our picture window. The window faces west and heats the house like you would not believe in the late afternoon summer sun. As soon as the ground is thawed and not too dry I’m going to erect a pergola across the both the picture window and sliding door to shade the glass in summer when the sun is high, hopefully this will allow me to use the A/C much less. The pergola over the new garden will give some partial shelter to the garden and a structure either side of the window for runner beans and morning glorys, the center will have tomatoes and perhaps peppers and herbs. This plot is one of the favorite places for the various diggers to play so the indoor plant lesson are essential if I expect anything to survive a toddlers imagination. The prognosis for the survivability of this years garden ? only time will tell.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Hovel wish list!
There are many aspects of building a self sufficient homestead but the most important is the land itself. I’ve searched the MLS for quite some time and it’s obvious that the perfect fix for my needs will be hard to find. So what kind of property should I look for?
Ideally this land should be near a small town that has rail access. In the post carbon economy the ability to drive everywhere will be curtailed, the ability to transport any surplus goods to an urban market will be essential to generate income for taxes. You will also need access to vendors for clothes, medicine or anything else you can’t or don’t want to make yourself. Having a local market for your goods is also important as energy constraints will make more and more of our commerce local. As a novice farmer I’d need access to vets, mechanics, an emergency ward and who knows what else. Being too remote would isolate us rather than let us join a community.
The property must have good water, without a clean productive well for both you and your animals it is worthless to the homesteader.
I would prefer somewhat hilly land not only as a persona preference but also because an elevated house would give one a good view of your land, a better chance at being able to tap wind power, less solar obstruction by trees. I’ve not decided on my final building style but earth sheltered is in the running, having a hill to build into is better than hauling in soil.
There must be a good building site with a southern facing to allow full utilization of passive solar design, solar water heaters and if I ever get rich a photovoltaics system hooked up to a flow battery.
A stream would not hurt for irrigation or micro hydro.
An existing house is not really a necessity. While I might as some point need a second house for needy family, my ultimate goal would be to build a zero energy house or at least as close as I can get. That said, having a shack, shed, barn, garage etc would prove useful as temporary shelter for both me and building materials. If the same building can be used or converted for animal use later, great.
Decent soil is a must. While various green manure crops and animal inputs can improve soil a great deal over time I do not want to start off from a crappy position. Pure clay or all sand would require either years of care or a drastic and costly importation of outside material. If I want to be self sufficient quickly there would have to be a minimum soil standard, I would consider testing the soil and the water reasonable before even making an offer on any property. You should not buy a house without an inspection so why would you buy land with proper testing?
How much land is needed to feed oneself? What is the yield per acre of a mixed used self sufficient farm? I’ve looked up many historical references but they are vague, use obscure and frequently inconstant measurements. Historical documents also are based on different crops and varieties than I would expect to use, a lower caloric expectation for each person than we live on, less protein, and different and less efficient techniques. Modern references are based on farms of scale, monoculture, heavy use of machinery, chemical fertilizer, and pesticides, all things not suitable to Green living and farming.
What I’ve have found makes me believe that 1 acre of productive land would supply all the veggies a small family would use as well as fowl, eggs, and maybe some fruit. 1 acre would not allow enough room for grains because the smaller the field the larger the percentage lost to birds. Cows, sheep, and goats, all require pasture as well as winter food and fodder which such a small area could not produce. To attempt raising any large animal on just one acre would mean purchasing a good portion of their food and bedding all year. To go without large animals might be ok with vegans, but I like my burgers and milk. Farm life is hard work and requires that you feed the workers well if you want optimum output. Large animals are essential in building up the fertility of the land though their manure; in addition, milk products are a valuable addition to ones diet.
If I were to increase my land size to 4-5 acres I would be able to grow my own grain, have ample pasture for a pair of cows, a few sheep/goats, and provide both winter food and bedding for the animals. Cows would fertilize the land, provide enough milk, yogurt, cheese for personal use and for supplementing the diet of pigs and perhaps enough for occasional barter with neighbours. Sheep would produce wool, lamb, and more manure. This much land would allow extra plantings of berries, a variety of fruit trees and perhaps even nuts all of which would very ones diet and provide a something to sell at a market garden. Homebrew beer and wine will make those long winters a little warmer.
A larger farm could supply more opportunities such as a woodlot for hunting, maple sugar, growing mushrooms, fuel and timber. If managed properly a wood lot can be sustained indefinitely. While not entirely green a high efficiency wood stove or a masonry furnace with your own wood supply can be a great safety net in an era where other fuels may not be consistently available. My energy miser house may still need a small fire in Jan-Feb but if designed correctly is should not need one too often. You might find the need to expand your plantings to support other family members or strays that end up staying with you, so don’t go too small. As you become more skilled you might just want to increase your production to boost income and make use of the extra labour that’s sleeping on your couch. Just remember that a larger farm would require more capital, more equipment, more labour and have higher taxes, the advantages vs. the cost must be carefully considered. Small, efficient and profitable is better than large, underutilized and debt ridden.
My final conclusion is that I would need 6-20 acres depending on affordability, with at least one acre being wooded and some or all of the other features mentioned. Now I just have to find it and rob a bank ;).
Ideally this land should be near a small town that has rail access. In the post carbon economy the ability to drive everywhere will be curtailed, the ability to transport any surplus goods to an urban market will be essential to generate income for taxes. You will also need access to vendors for clothes, medicine or anything else you can’t or don’t want to make yourself. Having a local market for your goods is also important as energy constraints will make more and more of our commerce local. As a novice farmer I’d need access to vets, mechanics, an emergency ward and who knows what else. Being too remote would isolate us rather than let us join a community.
The property must have good water, without a clean productive well for both you and your animals it is worthless to the homesteader.
I would prefer somewhat hilly land not only as a persona preference but also because an elevated house would give one a good view of your land, a better chance at being able to tap wind power, less solar obstruction by trees. I’ve not decided on my final building style but earth sheltered is in the running, having a hill to build into is better than hauling in soil.
There must be a good building site with a southern facing to allow full utilization of passive solar design, solar water heaters and if I ever get rich a photovoltaics system hooked up to a flow battery.
A stream would not hurt for irrigation or micro hydro.
An existing house is not really a necessity. While I might as some point need a second house for needy family, my ultimate goal would be to build a zero energy house or at least as close as I can get. That said, having a shack, shed, barn, garage etc would prove useful as temporary shelter for both me and building materials. If the same building can be used or converted for animal use later, great.
Decent soil is a must. While various green manure crops and animal inputs can improve soil a great deal over time I do not want to start off from a crappy position. Pure clay or all sand would require either years of care or a drastic and costly importation of outside material. If I want to be self sufficient quickly there would have to be a minimum soil standard, I would consider testing the soil and the water reasonable before even making an offer on any property. You should not buy a house without an inspection so why would you buy land with proper testing?
How much land is needed to feed oneself? What is the yield per acre of a mixed used self sufficient farm? I’ve looked up many historical references but they are vague, use obscure and frequently inconstant measurements. Historical documents also are based on different crops and varieties than I would expect to use, a lower caloric expectation for each person than we live on, less protein, and different and less efficient techniques. Modern references are based on farms of scale, monoculture, heavy use of machinery, chemical fertilizer, and pesticides, all things not suitable to Green living and farming.
What I’ve have found makes me believe that 1 acre of productive land would supply all the veggies a small family would use as well as fowl, eggs, and maybe some fruit. 1 acre would not allow enough room for grains because the smaller the field the larger the percentage lost to birds. Cows, sheep, and goats, all require pasture as well as winter food and fodder which such a small area could not produce. To attempt raising any large animal on just one acre would mean purchasing a good portion of their food and bedding all year. To go without large animals might be ok with vegans, but I like my burgers and milk. Farm life is hard work and requires that you feed the workers well if you want optimum output. Large animals are essential in building up the fertility of the land though their manure; in addition, milk products are a valuable addition to ones diet.
If I were to increase my land size to 4-5 acres I would be able to grow my own grain, have ample pasture for a pair of cows, a few sheep/goats, and provide both winter food and bedding for the animals. Cows would fertilize the land, provide enough milk, yogurt, cheese for personal use and for supplementing the diet of pigs and perhaps enough for occasional barter with neighbours. Sheep would produce wool, lamb, and more manure. This much land would allow extra plantings of berries, a variety of fruit trees and perhaps even nuts all of which would very ones diet and provide a something to sell at a market garden. Homebrew beer and wine will make those long winters a little warmer.
A larger farm could supply more opportunities such as a woodlot for hunting, maple sugar, growing mushrooms, fuel and timber. If managed properly a wood lot can be sustained indefinitely. While not entirely green a high efficiency wood stove or a masonry furnace with your own wood supply can be a great safety net in an era where other fuels may not be consistently available. My energy miser house may still need a small fire in Jan-Feb but if designed correctly is should not need one too often. You might find the need to expand your plantings to support other family members or strays that end up staying with you, so don’t go too small. As you become more skilled you might just want to increase your production to boost income and make use of the extra labour that’s sleeping on your couch. Just remember that a larger farm would require more capital, more equipment, more labour and have higher taxes, the advantages vs. the cost must be carefully considered. Small, efficient and profitable is better than large, underutilized and debt ridden.
My final conclusion is that I would need 6-20 acres depending on affordability, with at least one acre being wooded and some or all of the other features mentioned. Now I just have to find it and rob a bank ;).
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Fake Green Endorses May's Right to Debate
Stephane Dion has said Elizabeth May should be allowed to take part in debates during the next election
While I think this is a great and wonderful idea I really wonder if Dion is just being fair or thinks he needs help against Harper. In the end I don't think he's really thought this through, Dion has waffled on his nuclear stance and is pushing clean coal. In a debate verses May Dion, will be shown to be a novice on the issue.
Perhaps his polls and number crunching shows that Red Tories are the answer and if he can't attract them it's better to push them May's way. In a serious debate on the environment I think it will be shown that Dion has neither the knowledge nor the will to deal with environmental issues. Yes Red/Green Tory votes will be move to May but unless he's much better prepared than he's shown so far, he too will take a hit.
Does Dion really want to let the country know that the Green Party of Canada has a full platform?
Thanks Dion, but you're gonna be sorry.
While I think this is a great and wonderful idea I really wonder if Dion is just being fair or thinks he needs help against Harper. In the end I don't think he's really thought this through, Dion has waffled on his nuclear stance and is pushing clean coal. In a debate verses May Dion, will be shown to be a novice on the issue.
Perhaps his polls and number crunching shows that Red Tories are the answer and if he can't attract them it's better to push them May's way. In a serious debate on the environment I think it will be shown that Dion has neither the knowledge nor the will to deal with environmental issues. Yes Red/Green Tory votes will be move to May but unless he's much better prepared than he's shown so far, he too will take a hit.
Does Dion really want to let the country know that the Green Party of Canada has a full platform?
Thanks Dion, but you're gonna be sorry.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Defining a Dream
I've been asked by friends and family both, “Why do you want to go live in the bush?” I usually play down the fall of society stuff so they don’t start slowly backing out of the room, trying to keep eye contact until they can slam the door and run. The truth however is I am concerned about what might happen from either a collapse of the world economy from the huge unsustainable debt both personal and government that is the norm of western society, or the total redefinition of western life that will be brought about by Peak Oil and Global Warming. Either or both of these problems will have to be dealt with in our lifetimes and as a person with limited means I cannot just hunker down and ride out the storm with my vast financial holdings. Added to this fear of a harsher future is my natural appreciation of nature, my desire to live a lower impact Green lifestyle and the desire to actually create things rather than type on this damn thing 40 hours a week. Finally I have two little boys who I need to protect, teach the skills required to survive the coming changes and teach the true value of work and achievement, something that Nintendo and MTV will not. I need to achieve this all before I become to old and worn out to be of any use.
So what am I to do?
First I must finish defining my goal, which means deciding many things about what my Little Green Hovel will be.
The main considerations are
How much land would I need to become reasonably self sufficient?
Where do I want to live?
What features do I need the land to have?
What will I live in?
What will I grow?
What will be my energy supply? On grid, off grid etc.
What new skill and tools will I need to have to make any of the above work?
How will I pay for it all, while maintaining a real job and another house needed to keep me in the rat race for the time being?
Will I be able to maintain a paying job if I do make this move to my Hovel, if not can I make money from my land?
Is it possible or even advisable to bring in another family unit, to share the cost, labour and risks with?
While not being a Neo Luddite, I have to decide what technologies are viable long term during Peak Oil, economic depression etc.
Can I repair or maintain any innovative technologies I include in my project or should I go as primitive as I can stand knowing I can keep things functioning long term without expensive outside inputs?
Each of these considerations requires time, research and considerable deliberation all while time passes and things get costlier, and the societal problems more pronounced. It seems to be a race that I’m destined not to win, but to bite off more I can chew or take on totally unsuitable land would only place me in debt without any chance of making a go of it. I will attempt to tackle the above questions in more detailed posts in whatever haphazard order my deranged mind wills.
I don’t have all of these answers so any input would be appreciated. The evolution of my plan has made some progress. As I began to realize the vastness of such an endeavor it caused me to scale back from my original pipe dream that was very similar to Tara but the work just somehow got done, all by itself! It guess it must have been manned by those robot maids my wife still complains don't exist.
So what am I to do?
First I must finish defining my goal, which means deciding many things about what my Little Green Hovel will be.
The main considerations are
How much land would I need to become reasonably self sufficient?
Where do I want to live?
What features do I need the land to have?
What will I live in?
What will I grow?
What will be my energy supply? On grid, off grid etc.
What new skill and tools will I need to have to make any of the above work?
How will I pay for it all, while maintaining a real job and another house needed to keep me in the rat race for the time being?
Will I be able to maintain a paying job if I do make this move to my Hovel, if not can I make money from my land?
Is it possible or even advisable to bring in another family unit, to share the cost, labour and risks with?
While not being a Neo Luddite, I have to decide what technologies are viable long term during Peak Oil, economic depression etc.
Can I repair or maintain any innovative technologies I include in my project or should I go as primitive as I can stand knowing I can keep things functioning long term without expensive outside inputs?
Each of these considerations requires time, research and considerable deliberation all while time passes and things get costlier, and the societal problems more pronounced. It seems to be a race that I’m destined not to win, but to bite off more I can chew or take on totally unsuitable land would only place me in debt without any chance of making a go of it. I will attempt to tackle the above questions in more detailed posts in whatever haphazard order my deranged mind wills.
I don’t have all of these answers so any input would be appreciated. The evolution of my plan has made some progress. As I began to realize the vastness of such an endeavor it caused me to scale back from my original pipe dream that was very similar to Tara but the work just somehow got done, all by itself! It guess it must have been manned by those robot maids my wife still complains don't exist.
Monday, January 8, 2007
Little Green Hovel - Welcome
This is one of several blogs I occasionally write, the others concern survival, protection of ones wealth, silver/gold investing and one I keep separate which is about fixing Canada to make it a better place. In each of these blogs the topics do overlap as politics impacts the environment, which impacts the economy, which impacts our survival. This blog is about my dreams rather than my nightmares.
I believe terrible things are happening to the earth, to our country, to our economy etc.. This is the site where I will try to find peace by planning and hopefully creating a safe haven that will be my Little Green hovel. I constantly surf, buy books and experiment at home trying to learn the skill that will protect me and my family in this end of times of our society. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some doomsday cult guy, but I'm convinced that our society as we know it is destined to change drastically from the impact of climate change, pollution, disease, and peak oil. It could be a good change to a simpler, more rewarding life for those prepared for the challenge. For those not prepared, I tried to warn them!
This is a journey, I will discuss my planning, my revelations, my attempts at canning the scant production of my city garden, my search for an affordable homestead, my attempts at convincing those around me that we need to do something. I'm active in the Green Party of Canada, even though I don't think even they get the seriousness of the changes going on. Yes it's great to have windmills,(better than coal) but when oil runs out it will be the chemical uses of oil as much as the energy uses that throws us back to 1800's standard of living. There are simply some things you can't do with out the heat created from burning fossil fuels, but there are as many things you cannot do without oil as a feed stock to industry.
The smartest thing anyone can do is learn to be self sufficient. You may not get to use it, or find the need to use it, but if you find yourself needing those skills, it's probably far to late to learn them. Even If I never need the skills to survive, I think I would still be more fulfilled living my days in my Little Green Hovel, knowing the pride of accomplishment the droids of today's economy have long since lost.
Kubera Jones.
I believe terrible things are happening to the earth, to our country, to our economy etc.. This is the site where I will try to find peace by planning and hopefully creating a safe haven that will be my Little Green hovel. I constantly surf, buy books and experiment at home trying to learn the skill that will protect me and my family in this end of times of our society. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some doomsday cult guy, but I'm convinced that our society as we know it is destined to change drastically from the impact of climate change, pollution, disease, and peak oil. It could be a good change to a simpler, more rewarding life for those prepared for the challenge. For those not prepared, I tried to warn them!
This is a journey, I will discuss my planning, my revelations, my attempts at canning the scant production of my city garden, my search for an affordable homestead, my attempts at convincing those around me that we need to do something. I'm active in the Green Party of Canada, even though I don't think even they get the seriousness of the changes going on. Yes it's great to have windmills,(better than coal) but when oil runs out it will be the chemical uses of oil as much as the energy uses that throws us back to 1800's standard of living. There are simply some things you can't do with out the heat created from burning fossil fuels, but there are as many things you cannot do without oil as a feed stock to industry.
The smartest thing anyone can do is learn to be self sufficient. You may not get to use it, or find the need to use it, but if you find yourself needing those skills, it's probably far to late to learn them. Even If I never need the skills to survive, I think I would still be more fulfilled living my days in my Little Green Hovel, knowing the pride of accomplishment the droids of today's economy have long since lost.
Kubera Jones.
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