Cristo Balete

I am not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, it's just that you can't fool Mother Nature.  For what it's worth, it may be hard to haul bags of concrete up that slope, but you'll have to haul heavy dirt up that slope to fill bags.  If you do the math, that's a lot of bags and a lot of dirt.

We all have the most motivation at the beginning of a project, even if it means hauling bags of concrete up a hill.  That's just a commitment to a project.   Concrete bags can be cut in half with a heavy wire and hauled up in 30 lb increments on site.  

Aren't most structures out of earthbags round?  Looking at all the ones in Arizona/New Mexico, ones that have been successful, they are round.   Even if you downhill wall was a half circle, what's going to hold those bags together, and then hold them upright as a wall?  Thick 1"/ 2.5 cm rebar will bend if there's too much weight on it.  Rebar works in construction because it's encased in concrete.

One reality check is hold a 3 meter board with one end on the uphill side and put a level on the board, then hold it up until it is level.  That distance on the downhill side up to the level board looks like more than a meter to me?  That would be the bottom of that wall that would go up 2 meters for head clearance.   That's a 3 meter tall wall, plus a roof.  The rest of the structure is relying on that wall because of gravity.

Everything below the base of that wall is a foundation that all three of the other sides are relying on.  Gravity is pulling downhill on that, the weight of the roof is pushing down on that, The side walls and back wall are pushing on that, you on the roof building it and repairing it is pushng down on that.  It's all a matter of long-term safety.

Not sure what kind of soil you will put in the bags, but if they get wet the soil will shift, so relying on bags as a foundation in the ground is really risky.   To keep bags dry eaves of that building have to be extended out enough so that the bags don't get wet.   That's more weight pushing on that downhill wall.  Or the bags all have to be coated in plaster that is painted to keep them dry.  There is a lot of upkeep with plaster exteriors because the Earth jiggles just in general making it crack.  Heavy trucks driving by jiggle the ground.

Honestly, the safest structure there, if you're not going to level the hillside,  is to put a wooden floor on a frame on nine 4x4 inch/ 15cm x 15 cm treated posts sunk a minimum of 3 feet/1 meter in the ground, preferably with concrete around them, and criss-cross braces on three sides.  Then wooden siding walls with windows in frames.  

Maybe someone here who has more experience than I do with earthbags on a steep slope can recommend something,

The Hobbit style house I mentioned is Flannagan Hobbit House.  He did it with cinder blocks on flat level ground, then put a tar-like substance over fabric that is between the cinder blocks and the soil.  He also made arches for the roof with 4 layers of plywood screwed together, and mounted those on a wooden rail on top of the cinder blocks, set on rebar.  The cinder blocks are filled with concrete and rebar in the traditional way.  

Bill Mollison's Permaculture, a Practical Guide for a Sustainable Future because it has the bigger picture.  It talks about how everything interacts, how to build a self-maintaining system, make observations about how Nature/Forests/Prairies do it, how to build soil, hugels (although I do hugel trenches in my Mediterranean climate,) biodiversity, storing water, plants that help each other, nitrogen fixing plants, water purification designs.  It just goes on and on.  

I've built a lot of structures on my steep property, and I won't build any structure unless it is on a flat, level surface, then build up from that so that all of the stresses are equal on all sides, and so the structure won't start leaning downhill.  Gravity is not your friend.

There needs to be almost overkill in the foundation, including a very deep concrete retaining wall down into the soil at depths of 3 feet/1 meter to 4 feet/1.3 meterrs on all sides of a steep slope with rebar extending upwards that the bags are on.

Be aware of all the forces on a structure:  wind, soil density, rodents digging under it, erosion, and roof drainage around the foundation, tree root intrusion, the weight of the building.  Over the years, even a few years, all of these things will come into play.   You'll end up struggling to keep something like that in its original condition if even one of the above things starts to change or is effected by heavy storms or earth movement.   Just like any retaining wall, it needs to be leaning back into the hillside.  Check out retaining wall construction on YouTube.

You might want to look into a mini earthship that uses tires for a back wall, then you could use earth bags and a wood frame along the front.  Or check out a mini hobbit-type house.   There is one guy who did a hobbit house where the back wall is backed into the hillside, and he dug out an extra deep excavation behind the back wall, filled it with concrete that was attached to the back wall as an anchor of his hobbit house because of the weight of the soil pressing against it.

That will tell you how serious it is to build on a slope, even if it's on flat ground.

Check out YouTube for either of the above.

You won't want to have this structure on the list for needing to be fixed in the future.  You'll have plenty of other things to do.

:-)

I put another message here, but I don't know where it went.  That picture of the house with the rounded roof is a hobbit house, but it's on flat ground.  There is a hillside behind it.   Be careful not to destablize the hillside and what's above it if you decide to dig it out.   Retaining walls need to lean back into the hillside, not be straight up and down.  All drainage should take water away from the foundation, including downspout water.

We use a bar of Zote soap, (about $2 a bar)  grated into 5 gallons of hot water, 1 C of Borax and 1 C of washing soda, and 50 drops of whatever essential oil you want.  Stir until it all dissolves.   Someone on YouTube used artificial butter essential oil, and raved about the scent.  Haven't tried it yet.  We've used peppermint, rosemary, lemon grass, sandalwood.  Everything comes out soft and fluffy even hanging on the line, no dryer.  It empties into a reed bed and hasn't affected the reed bed in any negative way or the worms in the reed bed.  Stores in large juice containers, does not spoil.  Use 1 cup for a medium load of laundry.

I'll add here that my neighbors, who have a very big 5-acre pond and three BIG electric aerators on it, (and an electric bill to match,) have the exact same pond plants that I do, and aeration isn't doing anything for clearing their pond either.   After 3 years of running the aerators they've turned them off.  Not enough benefit for the cost.

I couldn't be happier with the battery Husqvarna I got last year.  I am not connected with the company in any way.  It was the one that was promoted as running the longest time on the battery, and I figured if anybody knew how to build it, they would.  It has done really well.   It doesn't even take long to charge it back up.  

It is expensive, but as I've mentioned in these forums in the past, I used to buy middle-of-the-road quality tools only to have them have a problem or give out in a couple years, which made me buy the expensive one in the end.  Ever since I have gotten quality equipment I haven't had to replace any of them, and that goes for the generator, a walk-behind tractor, field mower, mini circular saw, (which I freakin' love, BTW,) etc.

My tree came down on the barbed wire fence property line in a storm.  The neighbor had cows so I had to get the fence back up ASAP.  It was so steep getting to it I had to throw my backpack and chainsaw and bar oil up ahead of me and climb up on all fours.  Luckily I did not have to bring gas with me, that is a real upside to these things.

The lightness of the chainsaw was a real help.  It's quieter than a gas chainsaw.  I'm not breathing fumes.   It cut everything that needed cutting on a 16" tree trunk, and did a great job.  

It doesn't have the longest bar that is sometimes needed for bigger work, so I won't get rid of the gas chainsaw with the longer bar.  But I use the battery chainsaw all the time.

I've also got a battery driven pole saw with an 8" bar for clearing brush.  It makes the workload much easier because the only real effort is in throwing the cut pieces into a pile, so that effort is cut in half when I don't have to use even a very good handsaw to cut the brush with.   That is a real help on a hot day.  That battery gives out just about when I do, and that's okay with me.

When working remotely I used to have to bring a little generator with me to run some electrical tools.  Now I don't have to do that unless it's a big project.   I can just grab the tool and go, which is important if it's an emergency or at times of the year when the sun sets early and you've got limited time to get something done.

The batteries are good at holding a charge.  On sunny days I make sure everything that needs charging is charged up.  I don't store the batteries connected to the tool in case there is a small drain from it being in place.  

My 30-year experience with a windmill aerator for a pond is that it supplied oxygen to the water plants there and helped them grow!   It was a windmill with a built-in pump that ran solely on the wind power of the windmill.  No electricity needed.  We have a pretty windy location so it was running quite a few hours a day and night.

We have azola, meal, and a kind of vine that grows from the edge.  The aeration did absolutely nothing to deter them.  Eventually the pump broke down, didn't work, and we harvest the pond plants for grow-your-own garden fertilizer with a pool scoop.

The wild ducks liked the aeration bubbles.  It was pretty cute to watch them sit on the busy bubbles during a storm.  Tickled their butts.  Not enough entertainment to make it worthwhile!

Pandora, I first read about reed beds in a community in Canada.  It was a long time ago.  You might find it among these forums.  My reeds may not make it through your winter, but Canada must have reeds that do.  They die on top anyway and the roots are still alive.  Maybe putting the hay bales over the top of the reed bed, like Mike posted a picture of, would help protect them.  Maybe you can find the Canadian communities that have used reed beds successfully and see how they do it.

I have used reed beds, for grey and even for black water, and they work really well.  I've got three containers about 1.5 meters long, .75 meters wide (large containers from the Home Depot type store,) linked by PVC pipe 3" down from the top so they fill with the water, then overflow to the next container.  Insulating them with hay bales or rigid insulation on the exterior would help.  They are above ground. filled with wood chips, started with 5 reed roots in each container,  is enough for 2 people.   In about 4 years the reeds grew so much the containers were about to burst, so I took out half the reeds, refilled with wood chips....not much work.  Anything you take out is easily composted.  The rotting hay is great for mulch.

This probably won't be a popular response, but I think it is something to take into consideration.  

Despite the popularity of posting one's life on social media sites, I think it's important for privacy and safety to stay as anonymous as possible if you are a solo homesteader or a couple.  It's not just your best online buds who are keeping track of you.  Everyone in the world with a computer and a connection can keep track of you, and they are not all nice people.  

Long ago we learned that some individuals are jealous of others who own acreage, even if they have a valuable house that is not on acreage.  This was a surprise, because if someone wants acreage you'd think they'd get it, but they don't.  They just somehow feel threatened and resentful, and spread discord either locally or online.

Some individuals resent others' success.  While we may be thinking we are showing that rural homesteading alone or with others is possible and satisfying, not everyone looks at it that way.  

They are not just questionable individuals. They are governments of all kinds in all countries, employers, insurance companies, banks with potential for getting a loan, medical companies, lawyer in divorce cases and child custody battles, etc.  They will not give you the benefit of the doubt when it comes to what they will charge you if you do business with them.   They can affect your tax bracket and your property value.  If they did give you the benefit of the doubt they'd charge you less, and that never happens.

As an example, a car insurance company sees that you driving along what they consider to be dangerous and possibly icy mountain roads will charge you more than if you drove in the city.  Medical insurance companies will use the statistic that most injuries happen on a farm.  Developing the property without proper permits will get a violation attached to the property, making it hard to develop or sell, which you may not know about unless you look it up in the county database.

And obviously you don't want a stalker.

Living off grid or rurally is hard enough without all of these added modern complications.

:-)

Probably the first thing to consider is what type of wood are the wood chips from?  

On the West Coast wood chips tend to be redwood or cedar which have a lot of suppressant qualities to them.  Other parts of the country vary as to type, and that can make a big difference.

Despite the suppressant qualities, it won't be long before the layer of broken-down chips on top of the soil and below the top layer of the chips will break down, giving everything a real growing boost, at least in my experience.

Grasses are suited to the area they grow in, so I've found suppressing them is harder than suppressing weeds.  Some grasses are annuals, some are perennials and those take different depths of chips.  

After major West Coast fires where everyone chips the burned trees and dumps the results in deep piles, weeds/grasses are suppressed under 5+ inches, hand depth, but that only works until the chips break down like I've described above, even if you keep adding chips to make sure it stays at 5".

I've got perennial timothy grass that was planted decades ago for cattle, and it's a real pain.  It thrives on wood chips.  I keep as much of it mowed as I can, and shovel out clumps in areas where it just can't exist for the sake of the plants it overruns.

The only thing I've found is either cover things with plywood (too expensive, and gives chewing bugs cover) or make sure you catch weeds and grasses when they are little, and less work to get out.

Despite that, I like 4" of chips over clay soil, which keeps the sun off the soil and the pounding rain, which turns out to solidify clay as well.