El Rowlatt

Ah, that's great. I'm interested in buying one.

KC, this is a brilliant suggestion. I would not have considered it on my own. Thank you!

Hiya

We're looking at homesteading in the north (Yukon Territory, Canada), and the soil here is the sandiest, most porous earth I've encountered. Sometimes there is between 2 - 5 inches of soil before hitting straight sand. There are a few methods of building up soil that I know (the biodynamic preparations, a good working compost heap or three, top-dressing with deciduous twigs and hay), but I thought it might be a good idea to open it up.

Does anyone have any suggestions for building up soils in the north?

Thank you!

Welcome, Jon Sitka!  Looking forward to getting the news on dirt...

A book on Green Burials - brilliant.
Welcome, Ms. Fournier!

Welcome, Ms. Fournier!
I'm very glad that your book is now available.

Great thread, Vera!

Great house!  Thanks for sharing your progress, and I can't wait to see what you do this year!

One question: whereabouts are you? I ask because I've been warned away from cob for southern Canada, but you seem to have worked through cob's heat-loss issues with the split wood. Is that so?

Chris, Mike, Richard -

The permafrost line is north of my area and moving pole-ward every year; I don't think that will be an issue. I will have to look into the nature of liquefying soils, though, as I can't say whether or not that's what is in my valley from looking at it.

Thank you guys very much. I'm going to return to this thread when I've digested your comments , and I appreciate the time you gave to sharing your knowledge.

El