Sandpoint Idaho area / North Idaho - Who's here?

Peace be with all of you!

This is my first post here and I am glad to have joined. I have 10 acres in Naples, Idaho, (20-25 minutes north of Sandpoint)
on a year round creek. The land had a bunch of trash on it but it is being cleaned up and I hope to incorporate permaculture
practices and get it back to what it could be. The farm is dedicated to St Philaret the Merciful who gave all of his food to anyone
who needed it.

I have built a cabin there and am currently trying to figure out how to build a Rocket Mass Heater to keep my foods
from freezing when I have to leave for a few days. I do not have power but hope to get some micro-hydro power from the creek
and maybe do a bit of solar.

The main purpose of this post: I am looking for anyone who is doing permaculture stuff or even wants to in the Sandpoint, Idaho area.
Just wanted to see who is out there and get acquainted.
Thanks very much!

Hi Chase Hill

My husband and I just bought 20 acres in Newport, WA area which is on the border of ID close to Priest River and Sandpoint. We have a small cabin and a creek and we love it. We will be preparing the property to live on full-time over the next three years or so. We are currently in AZ. I took a PDC a couple of years ago and we are going to be incorporating extensive permaculture concepts as we develop it. Our first order of business will be to start planting our food forest and building on contour swales. We love the Sandpoint area hope to find more like minded permies as we transition to our property. Next summer, after the snow melts, we will be up there to start finishing the cabin and building our rocket mass heater. My husband is modifying a wood stove into a mass heater...should be an adventure!

There is plenty of information out there on mass heaters and it's a pretty simple concept and very doable.

here is some info and inspiration.

http://www.inspirationgreen.com/rocket-mass-heaters.html

Cheers!

Hello D Rivera,


Thanks for the reply. I am glad to hear about you and your husband coming to the area. When you do, be sure to get a hold of me!
I would be glad to come out and see what you guys are doing. Do you live on the grid? I have a year round creek and am hoping to
figure out some sort of hydro system to power the house - maybe with a solar combination.

Peace be with you,
-Chase

Hi Chase -

My name is Janet. I do not live in Sandpoint (me/dh/two kids currently live in the Tri-Cities, WA area), but we are looking for land in the SP area. The eventual plan is for us to retire there (that's at least 10 years away), but we want to get trees and shrubs planted, etc. now, so that they are ready to enjoy in 10 years! Plus we will be up there for summers, etc.

I'm assuming that you are familiar with Richard Kuhnel of SP? (http://www.gentleharvest.org/) There are also some folks associated with Twin Eagles Wilderness School up there (www.twineagles.org) that at least support the focus. My kids attend TE programs once a month in Spokane.

St. Philaret....what a beautiful dedication. Although I am partly into Permaculture because of the self-sufficiency/resiliency aspect, I abhor the aspects of survivalism that are all about "well I got mine, and I got a ton of guns, so the rest of the world can just go ahead & starve, and if y'all try to get some of mine, I'll kill ya dead" that are so prevalent in that movement. I really hope to help spread PC as a movement so that we don't have to reach that point. Best of luck to you.

Anyway, just wanted to raise my hand and say 'hi'!

Janet

Chase -
we will be completely off-grid. We have secured about 8 solar panels as a start to our solar PV system on the property, and may supplement with wind. We have a spring/creek that runs through the property but unfortunately is not fast enough for microhydro.

Janet,

thank you for the hello. I am glad to hear ya'all are planing on moving here. I have heard of that program a few
times but have not actually looked into it. I will start looking into it now, though! Thanks.
Yes, that is indeed a very sad attitude, and one that should invoke pity and great mercy.
Peace be with you always and let me know if you get a piece of land.

D Rivera,
That is wonderful. I just bought two deep cycle batteries today and hope to get a mini-solar system going soon - though
money is a bit tight at the moment. Eventually utilizing the year round creek on the property would be ideal.
I really like life without electricity but also it would be nice to have lights. A lantern
doesn't always feel the greatest.
Peace be with you!

hellos of chase,we live in the twin lakes area.I am new to the permies website. I am a stonemason and i have lots of refractory materials and ideas on various cookers (wood fired ovens ,tandoori ,smokers and whatnot)also delving into the rmh scene,, so if you want to get ahold of me for those kinds of things that would be great! anybody else is welcome to contact me along those lines

Morning all!

I've got just shy of 6 acres in North Kootenai County, about 25 miles S of Sand Point. Looking at a long term development, off grid, probably log house. Really interested in heritage breed livestock (poultry, sheep, waterfowl, and if I can get away with it, a yak!) and maximizing the space with a food forest and hugelculture mounds. If you need to get rid of excess hardwoods or brush, let me know. You can feel free to drop it on my property, just drop me a line. We live full time outside of Seattle right now, but can cross over whenever if others in the area want to get together for a meet and greet this spring or summer.

Nick

Damon,

Wonderful. If you head up north maybe you could show me all I've done wrong. that's good to know about, thanks!


Nick, welcome to the area. A Yak would be very cool. I really thought about raising bison at one point let me know if you ever want to grab a cup of coffee and talk farm stuff

chase,we will be in bonners ferry onthe 31st /1st and would be happy to come by.my sons basketball team is playing bonners ferry high school and we have friends there who we will stay with for the weekend.i will be free at some point so if you want my wife and i could come see your heater.let me know

Damon,
That is quite the journey for a basketball game but very great nonetheless. It is a nice time to travel as there hasn't been much snow at all this year....

So this is terrible but I'm actually going to be in California for a week starting on the 30th. I never go anywhere and am always wanting ideas and a better understanding of things from experienced people and wouldn't ya know I'm going to CA of all places, (not necessarily by choice though I definitely won't mind the ocean and real Mexican food). Please forgive me dear brother and don't let this discourage you from contacting again the next time you make such a journey. Peace be with you and thanks for letting me know!

My Wife and I just moved up to CDA this past fall. This weekend we are going to go look at properties from Bonner Ferry to Priest River, possibly as low as St. Maries. How are you liking it up there? Any feedback on good areas to consider? Ultimately we want 5 acres, eventually off grid. We have two young kids so building a house isn't going to be practical even if we would love to do an earth contact home.

Damon, I terribly mislead you. The instant I left the shop I posted my reply in, there was a blizzard that to my knowledge has not ceased. Sorry but hope you enjoy the adventure.


Josh, great to hear. I am actually from St Maries and had property in fernwood. It's very rocky in the general area and water tends to be far down. I will always love it there but even more I like the bonners ferry area. Water seems to be everywhere - I have found 3 year round springs on the land thus far. It also is more beautiful in my opinion with the Selkirk mountain range being right there. I find that land in Naples and bonners is not very expensive - I think the norm is 3k an acre for bare land. It is also great to be close to Sandpoint yet be off in the woods. I will also keep an eye out for you guys.

Chase

Hi All,

I'm also in N Idaho. Right in the Twin Lakes area.

My wife and I are currently renting so we can't do a lot of the things found on this forum. However we do plan on enlarging our garden by 500% or more this year.

Our goal is to buy land somewhere between N. Kootenai county and Bonners Ferry in the next few years and build within a year of that. So for now I'm doing lots of trolling. I figure the knowledge I pack away now will greatly help us in choosing our property and hit the ground running when we acquire it.

Would love to learn from some of the experienced homesteaders and permies in the area.

Hi aresinios,
Don't know if this post is still going but..... I have 20 acres in Laclede about 18 miles east of sandpoint. We have been here for 14 years and we live off grid. We have about 1000 watts of solar power. A year round creek divides the property in half. I have a hand built ram pump in the creek.
One the permaculture side of things my wife has 10 goats that supply tons of organic material each year that mostly I run threw my worm beds before using the castings on my garden and in the greenhouse. My green house is 15x36 framed in cedar taken from the property and milled by a friend down the road. The winter home of the worms is a 4'x14 foot bed in the middle of the greenhouse, yes that means about 100,000 red worms. The garden is about 60x60. We grow peppers, tomatoes and melons in the greenhouse and just about everything else in the garden. We have a plum tree, pear tree, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, and rhubarb.
The project for this year is a food forest. I have about 100 trees I bought last year and wintered over on top of the worm bed. Fruit nut and nitrogen fixing trees, as well as ornamental like dogwood and prune and cherry trees.
Wow that even sound impressive to me but it has taken a decade and a half of work and as you can see I am not done. Oh ya what about the ponds I have planed for my seasonal creek. Ya and hugelkultur beds, and mushrooms and............ Maybe another 15 year and I will be done. No, I doubt I will ever be done, its my life style.

i hope the thread is still going =) I have a few acres in the Athol area, so a little south of where most folk here are. Had the place thinned a little last year, so I am eager to get things rolling on replanting & repairing. No water on the land, & not quite the best location, so earthworks are what I'd really like to focus on this summer. At a bare minimum, I wanted to get a pond & hopefully some other catchment dug in. I have some equipment, so once I figure out where and what, its something I can get working on.

Would love to meet with other folks in the area & share knowledge, or chitchat. New perspectives & ideas & all that! Hope to hear from Robert, Arsenios, or anyone else in the geo ballpark.
All the best to you.

Hi James,
Glad to here from you. Let me start by saying I am not permiculture design certified, but I have studied the art for a few years now and think there are some great ideas that can help retain water on your property. So Athol gets about 24 inches of rain a year, or 650,000 gallons per acre. If you could collect all the water from one acre you could create a 1/4 acre pond eight feet deep. So what I am getting at is you have plenty of water you just don't retain it. On contour swailes could feed the pond. If you still have piles from the trimmings hugelkultur would work great.
About getting together. My job takes me out of town half the year. I will be home in a week and a half. Arsenios and I PMed and didn't get to meet on my last days off. Maybe the three off us can get together. What do you think Arsenios?

Sounds good on all counts. 1/4 Acre pond would be a good size, & making the holes shouldn't be a problem. Only worry is keeping the water, IIRC when we tested the septic, he just glanced in the hole & said.. yup, that'll perk. I don't recall seeing much clay anywhere either. But, I certainly have MORE than enough leftovers & dead fall for hugel or 200. Need to clean it all up just to find some of the countours.

Hello! This is my fist post on this Permies forum, I am an Oregonian who grew up on a dairy farm.
I am looking to learn more about permaculture in Northern Idaho (Sandpoint and or Bonners Ferry area) does anyone know of any established farms who might be willing to welcome a visitor? I'd be willing to do some work at the farm, in fact I'd be eager to.
And in general if anyone has insights into the area, its perks and its down falls for Permaculture, it would be cool to hear some perspectives.
Look forward to hearing from you all.

Hello C Dinsmor,
I also grew up in Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge. GO DUCKS! I have been in Idaho for 15 years now. I think a good person of contact would be Richard Kuhnel of http://www.gentleharvest.org/. He is very active in permaculture design in our area. He may know of a farm or even have some projects you could get involved in this summer. Glad you are here on permies.

Well, we're finally moving there after having bought the property a few years back. I'll be boots down in N Idaho after 1 July (2016), so for anyone in the area, why don't we do coffee sometime after the 4th?

Hi,
We have been looking for land in the SP area for the last 6 years. It just seems like good land pieces are hard to find and the cost just keeps.going up.
I live permaculture. I am currently tlynincorporating it on my 10 acre farm in Minnesota. Look forward to a more mild climate, though some think idaho is not mild... I do
Are you still in Sandpoint? If we move there I would LOVE to have a permies group!
Meg

Hello everyone!

Wow! I haven’t been on the permies site in a while! I got an email that someone replied to the post and so I thought I would revisit it.

An update on me:

I am married now and have sold my 10 acres In Naples. We now have 5 acres in Sagle and are moving Into our house tomorrow! It is going to be a while before we can totally finish it, but it’s been a fun and rewarding project.

My garden and forest food operations came out fairly successful on my Naples land. The deer didn’t even bother my onions

Looking to get into raising sheep for milk products and of course more gardening. Another piece of sloping land!


Robert, if you’re still interested, we would love to check out your garden in Laclede!

Meg, hi! Yes, land is through the roof. I do hope there is some kind of correction, but for now the prices are ridiculous. I think we lucked out buying even a year ago. Welcome to the area when you get here, and yes, let’s keep this sandpoint / inland northwest group alive and well!

Hey, I am also in Naples area but about to relocate to a 10acre property in Samuels area (about 20mim from Sandpoint). I am actually trying to start a mini ecovillage there.

Down in Moscow, a hop scotch skip and away from sandpoint.  but have some interesting stuff going on down here. Send a note. definitely interested in chatting. send a purplemeose  leprechaun note or send an email.
Patrick.

Congratulations Chase!!!

Wish you a long, happy and healthy life with your wife.