H. Weaver

Hi Joshua,

The back of the house, which you see in the picture, faces west, so the left side of the picture, as you see it here, is north. I tend to get right and left mixed up :-(
There is only a 2 foot strip of land on the south side, so we can't do anything there that takes up a lot of space. I do think it's probably best to take it a little slow, which means this probably won't get started until next spring. The drainage system and cistern have to come first (the "official" recommendation is a drainage system with a sump pump, but that seems like a waste - and a failure if the power goes out).

We still have to find out how the local building code is going to affect this, too. It's a low-income, small-town "suburban" area like you will see in lots of small towns across the Midwest.

Hope to be able to post some drawings in a week or two.

What I am really concerned about is how to integrate an earthbag structure with the rest of the house. Thinking about trying to convince my husband to replace the old siding with some type of stucco....

We live in a small conventional house and would like to build a greenhouse onto the back. I would like to use earthbags and also incorporate a rocket mass heater for the winter - for both the greenhouse and emergency heating for the remainder of the house.

Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing, especially with building codes. We are just in the planning stages. Our house tends to flood a bit when it rains hard, so the first project is probably a French drain around the house that flows into a cistern. But the greenhouse is dear to my heart.

There is already a concrete patio in the back. I would like the greenhouse to extend at least from the right edge of the house (in the picture) to the inside edge of the smaller window. Here is a picture. Any input appreciated.

Hi Leila - could you give some more details on how you manage on so little - I would really like to learn. Looking for the same freedom.

leila hamaya wrote:budgeting for the ideal life, or budgeting for a good enough life are different things for sure.

so i suppose it's a matter of how much you are willing to do without, the more you simplify your needs and wants, the easier it is to have a lot more freedom, in a way it is the not spending much money on things which BUYS you freedom of not having to work as a wage slave.

I suppose i should be embarrassed to admit that 12,000 a year sounds like a lot of money to me, and is 300-400% of what i generally make in a year.

I would not suggest my path to anyone else though, it is probably not for the faint of heart !

I think it is just because i am such an odd duck i can feel this is enough to get by on, and valuing as i do my free time, and also my passion for making art and craftwork, that keeps me going.
i suppose it would be strange to most, but regardless of this, i feel quite blessed.