One of these years I would like to start writing a novel, actually 2 novels that start with the adventures of one young woman in the 1850's and the second novel is about her daughter. Part of the second novel deals with living in a hillside dugout. I feel the need to actually live (part time) in some kind of hillside dugout to know what kind of problems can occur in that habitat. I own some land that has a hillside that I think could be a site for a hillside dugout. I also have 2 brothers who have the equipment needed to excavate the starting shape of a dugout. I also have a garden area that has well-established buffalo grass like that used by settlers to make the walls of sod houses. My area gets about 12 to 13 inches of rain per year if we are lucky. The soil on the site is not the best for growing things and has lots of rocks beneath the dirt. The soil depth is shallow. Nearby on the lower land there are two rows of rose shrubs and golden currant bushes that are just holding on only because of drip irrigation lines. The deer are frequent visitors to the area as they come through to find browsing materials. The site is within the city limits of our small rural town so I am not sure about the permits needed to build such a structure. A possible alternative would be to build a dugout on the property of our local historical society. I am not sure if the society would agree with that idea. I have been watching videos of young people building dugouts in forested areas. We are not in
a forested area. We are known as a dry land farming area. Any suggestions you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
