Phil Smith

I'm about seven hours from Lansing according to google maps. I live in an area of TN where its mostly agriculture and small towns, but almost NO u-pick orchards in the surrounding five counties. I think the market is ripe because theres a huge emphasis on buying local and using the farmer markets around. I want to do a little bit of it all anyways so I'm looking forward to doing corn maizes and the like

As for being the public face I'm all about that. I actually get my BS in Corporate Communications which i specifically took to get into marketing and PR because I love interacting with people.

Idk if I'd want the hassle of going full certified organic, but as a personal choice I'd hate spraying the fruit I'm feeding my family and other people's kids with pesticides and nasty chemicals.

I'm looking at wanting to take the steps to start a "U-pick" orchard, but I'd like to keep it as natural and organic as possible.

The normal homesteaders on a few forums insist you cannot make a profit off organic fruit because it takes far too much work with organic means to keep pests, rot, disease, and fertilize the plants enough to get large fruit.

Do you all have any good resources or know if it's possible to run a several hundred tree orchard on all organic means?

My goal isn't to get rich, it's to sustain myself and my family off a decent sized business and with my extra produce give back to my family and my community, jsyk

Awesome! This is the kind of info I need to get my creative juices flowing and my thinking cap on. I totally get what your'e saying about the fantasy thing. I'm not so much of a dreamer to try and build one if it isn't structurally sound. After all it is a house I want to live in! My end goal is to build something similar and functional I can live in cozily using materials mostly from my own land or recycled; In essence, it would be cool if the initial building, waterproof and livable minus all the extra aesthetic details could run me less than $10,000. My brother an I are in the stages of planning out a business plan starting with a sawmilling operation and eventually moving on to growing organic produce and having an organic orchard. This house is one we thought would make for a great story and first build, then when we build our own houses for ourselves, we have a friend who has had a dream of running her own bed and breakfast, and thought it would make a great vacation house to rent out.

what would you suggest looking into to help me figure out the answers and questions you put forth about my initial problem?

Thanks! I thought I had updated all that stuff but I guess it didn't take! I'm in West Tennessee along the Cumberland River.

Yes, I was wondering how all that worked! I have that book on PDF but I guess I have a hard time figuring out what kinds of membranes would work best for the design I have in mind! I'm still very new to all this and looking to get all the info possible that I can Thanks so much for the tips I'll keep scouring and maybe by the end of it all be a little wiser for it!

Hey all. I'm new to permaculture and natural building, so I'm trying to get as much information as I can as I begin planning my next phase of life, in which I hope to obtain my own land to start heading to full sustainability. In doing this research I am planning on trying to attend several workshops in my area, but I have a question I hope someone on here can answer.

Can cob homes be covered with earth?

This may sound like a stupid question on the surface, but here's my reasoning; All the cob I've seen is made with some sort of a roof to keep the rainwater washed well away from the structure to ensure it stands the test of time and natures erosion patterns.

So what if there is no actual roof? What if you want to bury the house in a hillside and cover it with a foot or more of soil and grass? Can a cob home support that weight even if the roof is supported with strong timber? What do you have to do to seal it should rainwater seep down?

Why do I want to know this?

Because aside from being a self reliant person, I am an unashamed Tolkien fan........ You do the math

So if anyone has any ideas or helpful information, please share! I look forward to reading what ideas or knowledge you can drop on me!

Hey all. I'm new to permaculture and natural building, so I'm trying to get as much information as I can as I begin planning my next phase of life, in which I hope to obtain my own land to start heading to full sustainability. In doing this research I am planning on trying to attend several workshops in my area, but I have a question I hope someone on here can answer.

Can cob homes be covered with earth?

This may sound like a stupid question on the surface, but here's my reasoning; All the cob I've seen is made with some sort of a roof to keep the rainwater washed well away from the structure to ensure it stands the test of time and natures erosion patterns.

So what if there is no actual roof? What if you want to bury the house in a hillside and cover it with a foot or more of soil and grass? Can a cob home support that weight even if the roof is supported with strong timber? What do you have to do to seal it should rainwater seep down?

Why do I want to know this?

Because aside from being a self reliant person, I am an unashamed Tolkien fan........ You do the math

So if anyone has any ideas or helpful information, please share! I look forward to reading what ideas or knowledge you can drop on me!

Hey Joe,

I am by no means an expert, there are tons of people who have been playing in the mud longer than I've been alive in some cases, but what I lack in years of experience I try and make up for in research.

The thermal mass of cob depends on a lot of factors, such as clay type, ratios of sand clay and straw, as well as what it is coated in. As I'm sure you are aware, thermal mass is basically the objects ability to retain heat energy. So since there really isn't one exact science to cob building, there are a lot of factors in your design that kind of depend on the environment you are building in.

That said, here is a video I found last year in researching earthen floors with radiant heating . I wish it wasn't so cheesey, but if you can sift through that, you might be able to find a little inspiration worth the effort, this guy really did a decent job from what I can tell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15oN2MFjdVU


Can't wait to see pictures of your finished project!