hello every one! i have been reading this site for about a month now, and i am REALLY enjoying it! loads of info, advice and opinions on here.
i am 29, i have 2 young children, and one on the way. i am very interested in learning how to make our lives better with less- less money, less time
and less headache. i dont mind hard work and want to teach my children how to better their lives instead of holding a hand out. we have been given a wonderful
opportunity to move into the country, after my grandmother passed away last year. i miss her terribly, but i know she will be proud of the changes we
hope to make.
1. my grandma lived in a very small 1 bedroom trailer. this worked fine for her, but for our growing family needs, it will not work for us. i hope to build a combination
earthbag (foundation)
cob home with in the next yr. we have limited access to other recycled products such as glass doors, tin roofing and other construction throw off.
i am blessed to have a dad who is an electrition, plumier and all around handy man. he also believes in "i will tell you how to do this on the phone and you can figure it out smart girl"
philosophy lol.
2. this past summer, we have spent cleaning up the
yard, planting some fruit
trees, grapes, blueberry bushes, and a horribly failed garden. MANY of my fruit trees died. (over $200 worth)
but im not discouraged. i know i need soil amendments, as it seems to be a high clay content (shake test). im pretty sure this is also why my garden failed. so i hope (plan) to
implement a lot of new found knowledge from this site. some of which :
raised garden beds combined with hugulculture (sp?) some soil amendments for the fruit trees
(re digging a
pond in the holler and using that soil in and around the trees) we also plan on building some beehives to help with pollination.
3. we have access to free gas for heating, but we will be living in a semi wooded area and i really like the idea of a
rmh incorporated into the home, as i can see only benefits of this
with a cob home. the drying properties alone seem like it would be worth it.
4. eventually, i would like to add a few animals into the mix. some
chickens, goats and
rabbits, ideally. i had my first butchering
experience this year (fresh wild rabbit), and it was....
different. we grew up eating
deer and other wild animals but i never cleaned one myself. i watched a you-tube
video before i set out and i think i did a pretty good job (my opinion
is subjective lol) cooking it wasnt the best, although most everyone ate it ok, i thought it was tough. i have learned quite a bit from asking around and i have high hopes for next time!!
thats about it. a huge objective, IMO, especially with soon to be 3 kids running around (free labor?! LOL) but the most important thing is getting our house built. i hope to start as soon as
i can next year. this baby is due april, but i can sure direct my husband in the meantime! any suggestions are welcome!
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