dibs on an acre or five

There are a lot of people with a dream to live on five acres. And then they expand that to 40 or more acres because they wish to have some buffer between themselves and their neighbors who spray.

I suspect that a lot of those people will be much happier on the lab with one acre because their neighbors don't spray. In fact, they will find that their neighbors are so well aligned with their own values, that an acre seems like plenty.

I am thinking that at this moment we have quite a few acres. And I wish to give a big push to ant village. So I have this idea of maybe a person could select an acre for ant village or deep roots or something and then they will also select, say, another four acres for "dibs". It would be mapped out and still used for grazing, etc. But no projects would be built there.

I suspect a person could pay, say, $100 per year for such land. They could plant it if they want, but they would not be allowed to do earthworks (not even hugelkultur). At some point, they would need to either convert it to rented land or deep roots or something, or release their dibs. I suppose at some point in the future I might say "no more dibs" - meaning that the time has come to rent or release.

With the dibs system, a person could ensure that they have five contiguous acres while renting just one acre. Maybe two years down the road they expand to two acres while keeping dibs on three. And then two years later they rent all five.

Further, I like the idea that a person could have one acre that contains their home, and four more acres where they grow a LOT of food. I could see an arrangment where the rent on that land would be much less than the rent on a typical ant village acre.

At this moment, this is not an official thing, this is just an idea. I'm hoping to get feedback about this idea.

Paul, I love you but man you make things sound awfully complicated. Simplify, streamline and life will be less stressful for everyone! "dibs" seems like something that is going to cause issues. It's another thing to keep track of. It's another obligation for someone. It's another stress for you.

Elle,

I want 12 ants and I want them now. I'm going to keep trying until all 12 spots are occupied.

I'm too far away and too committed to other things to be an ant. But if I was in a position to antify myself, the thing that would clinch it for me would be a lock in on future fees. $800 is a good deal, but I'd want to know it's going to be a good deal the next year and the year after. If it goes crazy on demand side, I wouldn't want to be a pioneer ant and then get pushed out by richer incoming ants pushing the price up. Sure put the price up next year, but not for the ants that come in this year.

While I'd love to be an ant, the Good Lord chose to make me an uncle. While I realize that a sex change is an option, after nearly 7 decades on this planet I've sort of grown attached to my accessories. Perhaps next time around.

Frank they use better anesthetic than ether now so maybe you should reconsider. Paul I don't think your system is complicated at all and keeping track should be easy once the initial laying out of plots is done. How much land is at the Lab?

One thing this might do is complicate the "ant village around wofati 0.7" idea. If wofati 0.7 is your tool library and your communal kitchen, you don't want to be too far away from that, right?

What shape are these parcels? Can they be sorta pie shaped, so those who like to be closer to the common space can be, even if they are ant #6?

Of course, I suppose there's no way to have 12 ants each with equal access to the wofati at the center, unless it really looks like a clock. Hmmmm....

This appears to be a great opportunity for someone looking for a place to start, Paul, and generous, at that.

It seems to me that for the time being the dibs system just requires the Ants to be spaced apart from each other a sufficient distance. Sounds simple and easy enough, and even if the system changes, being at least a couple hundred feet from your neighbor is a good idea anyway.


"If you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans." - Woody Allen