Leif Ing

Oh, another thought... if possible, try building a small structure first, like Mike’s original $50 house. You’ll lean a lot, and the addition(s?) will probably be of much better quality as you get your system down and your production speed up. :)

Hi Gail,

I’m interested in moving from KC to probably SW-SE Missouri in another year or two, paying bills off and stuff to fix on our house still for now. I was curious what the lay of your land is... maybe I missed it, but are you in lowlands, on a hillside, plateau...? I only want to look at hillsides/sloped land for a house spot, personally. I know Mike Oehler discusses underground for flat land, but not interested here. I’d recommend his books and even more, his videos. Paul has a deal on here to get both the underground house book and greenhouse book as downloads, and can stream the 3 dvd set (about 6 hours total time!) I’ve just finished the 2nd dvd and looking forward to the third, but he really explains a LOT on them about the hows and whys, what to NOT do, etc. Only costs $35  here on permies, and SO worth it if you truly want to go underground. I think a lot of his experience can translate to earthbag... especially stuff like making sure every drop of precipitation has an unbroken slope to drain to earth.

I wish the best for you. Hadn’t considered earthbags too much myself in Missouri, although out in more of a desert/sandy climate I’d probably use them if no/little wood was available. Seems easier than making adobe bricks, although rammed earth looks pretty interesting too. But, staying in Missouri, for long term/retirement home the only way I am seriously considering is Oehler style/wofati/something along those lines.

Whenever you start your build though, even just breaking ground, please do post and document as much as possible/practical... might get  a YouTube channel or blog running and grow some fans! ;-)

Leif

Graham Chiu wrote:It would be good if one of these 1000s could post their experience here, or somewhere else.  I googled without much success.

If you want a bit of reading about Glenn Kangiser’s underground house that he’s lived in for about 17 years now, go read the 210+ pages on this thread about his own house...

https://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Took me a hail to get you it all, but have been chatting with Glenn on both that site and the evil FB, and he’s been gracious with his time, maybe cause he’s got his CDL too? or, maybe cause I’m outside the ‘norm’ these days too, as many permies I know might be considered by the dreaded ‘normalish police”... lol

Leif

PS. Just bought this combo set and have been enjoying listening to Mike as he teaches and explains his logic and how he came up with a lot of good rules. Just finished dvd 2, and end through the greenhouse book,but already have gotten my money’s worth. Already had bought the $50 and up house book in paperback, and want the greenhouse book in paperback too for my library... listening to the third book in the trilogy with One Second After currently, and so many times I can see where some knowledge of permaculture, houses like this and wofatis, rocket mass heaters, etc. would have done so much to aid the survival chances of the characters in those books. A rather sobering read/listen.

I think time in the sun is really important, to the extent you can get it. UV-C lights damages viruses ability to replicate as I understand things, and fresh air is good most any time. Moderate exercise, paying attention to your nutrition, sufficient sleep... all these are natural and will support your immune system and regulating hormones better.

For me as a trucker, this whole frenzy has had positive and negative sides... less folks on the road means less traffic, easier to maintain a constant speed on highways especially, plenty of work to do also. I know many folks are not doing so well right now and that sucks! I try to take common sense precautions, keep a bit more distance, not shaking hands but maybe elbow or fist bumping friends, washing more often with soap and water, using hand sanitizer like I never really did much before. I also take a multi vitamin, and have added daily a zinc supplement and quecertin (which is a zinc ionosphere, as is green tea extract and hydroxy chloroquine). That’s mainly the changes I’ve made... be mindful of crowds or folks coughing a lot, cover your mouth to cough, etc. At this point, I still don’t know anyone who has even tested positive for this virus and neither do my two buddies who are/were truckers and have contact with many people.

I hope everyone is using their heads, taking reasonable precautions and getting on with living their lives the best they can! Please do your own research on what makes sense to you, and don’t just take the talking heads/government/CDC/other special interest groups’ advice without some looking into it. Lots of garbage out there these days, especially in Main Street media.

Leif

Amy, what’s going on with your build? Have settled into a trucking job that pays better but can’t be at home as much for now. Still  planning and learning more on housing... y’all need any help at times? My wife has now started talking about escaping big city life too, for our kids to grow up in the country. :)

Oh, I did mean SW Missouri too, closer to Springfield, maybe North or East of there... not SW MO.

Leif

How much is rent, and is internet or great cell signal for a hotspot available? Been thinking about moving down that way, but was thinking it’d be a couple more years. Might be in a year or less now...

Leif

Hi Zennia,

Just wanted to say hi, we may be selling our house in KC sooner rather than later. Wife is thinking to stay in the KC area another year and find the lowest cost place to live possible, to save cash, pay off debts, etc. then we are looking to move down towards the Springfield area, maybe between there and Ava, MO...? We have 3 kids, my 21 yr old son who lives with us and almost 8 yr old twins that we homeschool. I am currently a trucker, but when we find a place I’d much prefer to get off the road and be home nightly with my family, maybe even work from home in time, if possible. Would love to chat, gotta get back to driving now though, break time is over. Send me a Purple Moosage if you like, I have lots of talking time now most days, if not always great cell signal. LOL

Leif

Gail Jardin wrote:
This piece of land sold already. Right now I'm in the process of trying to buy a house with a home loan. I still plan on buying land to homestead on around here, if I can find one with no restrictions again! I have a converted school bus that is like an RV and kind of feel like it gave me the experience to tackle a cabin in the future. If you homeschool and have a CDL do you kids go with you on the road?

Well, I’m new to trucking, only 6 months in... and no, my twins are almost 8 and the company (like most trucking companies?) won’t let them ride until they are at least 12. *sigh* For now, it’s a sacrifice we need to make. After I hit 1 or 2 years driving I’ll have many more options for employers and plan to try and find one that will let my kids ride with me, one at a time. Barring that, my next option is one that is more flexible on working times... one I found will let me choose a schedule, like 4 days on/gone, 4 days home, and it sounds like they pay better especially after you have 2 years driving OTR and accident free...

For now, trying to figure out the best ways to encourage my kids to learn to enjoy learning, encourage experiences and a love of being outdoors, and trying to pay down bills and need to fix some things on our house to ensure we can sell for a good price and quickly, like new driveway, kitchen remodel, interior painting, landscaping... those are the big things. One at a time :)

We like watching Justin Rhodes on YouTube, and I read as much as I can on various topics, like permaculture, U-houses and wofatis, alternative building methods, working with different trees and animals. I hope to build a retirement place and something to leave my kids, along with instilling a love for it and country life and freedom in them. My wife is finally more on board and willing to consider options other than city life, as she sees the benefits to the kids, lower taxes, etc. so I DO want to stay at least reasonably close to a town/city for her to be able to go work there and for ease of shopping as needed, maybe within 15-30 minutes.

So, I’ve had the chance to meet several on here at the first PEP1 event, and have talked over the last 2+ years with several others, but would like to meet more and find how we can build even loose community and friendships especially with other permies and permie-friendly folks around the KC to SW Missouri/Ozarks area. My wife, Lily, agrees that she wants a ‘small’ house, less area to build and care for, more encouragement for everyone to go/be outside. Would love to see your bus conversion, have never really seen one except online. Not scared to work hard for our goals! :)

Leif

Welcome to the forum, sounds like a great book and what we are wanting to do too. Looking forward to reading your book! :)

Leif

Hi Gail, what county is it in? SW Missouri has some great counties for unrestricted buildings, but also near Springfield can be pretty restrictive, especially Christian County. I wish you luck, and think that with time you can find some great people here that would have interest. Most permies I have met are not afraid of raw land... lol :)

My dream is to move to SW MO, but probably in 1-2 years, and even if starting with an RV or she’d conversion, to build a wofati for a retirement home. My twins are almost 8 now and I want to get them out of the city ASAP... we already homeschool as we don’t agree with much of the PC stuff they teach these days and we’ve seen how much they dumb classes down to the lowest common denominator. First, we gotta fix up some things around this nice house we have in Kansas City, and sell it to hopefully have the money to get started on some land. Now that I have a CDL, I have the freedom to move out further from any cities. ;-)

Anyways, keep us updated as to you finding folks, or even if you go with a different property. I’m hoping to get to know/better more folks around SW MO.

Leif :)