Joel Lindquist

Just joined permies! I'm currently living in Minneapolis near the EP Mall, if you know where that is. I'm in a nice townhouse but I can't do anything outside as we have this silly HOA that doesn't allow gardens, pots or anything outside their 'approved' design for the neighborhood. I've tried growing my own food inside, but I want to keep the carpets looking nice as I'd like to get out of there as soon as I can! I can't sell the place now because I'm underwater about 40K, so I'm stuck there until the economy improves.

Otherwise, I'm on meetup.com and I've gone to a few permaculture events, mostly down in Prior Lake.

I don't have a lot of money saved up either... I only have 9,000 dollars in the bank! I'd like to buy CHEAP land, and build a home CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!! I don't have land, nor does my family, so I can't just 'get out there', until I can legally dig my toes into the ground. But the SHTF when I buy the land, start building, and an inspector comes and says i have to tear down what I have and build a 100K home instead!!! (which means a high salary job for 30 years!)

I've just recently replaced my broken washing machine with a bucket, plunger, and a salad spinner! so... small steps... small steps...

Hi, first time posting to these forums!
I was wondering, if I didn't have access to straw or manure when mixing cobb or natural plaster, could I mix paper pulp and/or cotton pulp with the cobb mix (i.e. sand clay water)? Because I think it would be cheaper than having a load of straw bales shipped and building a facility to keep them dry. A mix could be: paper pulp, shredded cottons/burlap, sand, clay and water... would that work?
Thanks!