Glenn Mayo

Mk Neal wrote:Not sure where you are located. In some parts of the U.S. bamboo can spread quite aggressively and be difficult to contain or eradicate.

I'm in zone 8b (DFW area of Texas). The kind of bamboo I was considering is the clumping variety, not the running variety. It's the running variety that spreads aggressively, so that wouldn't work for what I was thinking about.

I would be happy to rehome them for you! I'm just getting started, so I don't have a very large seed selection.

Just curious, has anyone tried using bamboo as a tree in their orchard garden? What about hemp? I know traditionally such gardens use fruit or nut trees, and the syntropic agroforestry model uses banana trees, but I've been thinking about what else could be used in such a system, and both bamboo and hemp are useful plants that might work nicely in my climate (zone 8b). Regarding bamboo, I was specifically thinking of either mosa bamboo (Phyllostachys edulis) or Chinese timber bamboo (Bambusa oldhamii), both of which are clumping timber varieties which won't get as big as possible in my climate. Also, I know that the way that bamboo grows would require some adjustments to the garden arrangement, but I'm just kind of thinking about it right now. Hemp would be easier, and it could be grown as an annual - in fact, it would HAVE to be, to prevent it from going to seed and taking the whole place over. But it grows big, produces a lot of biomass, and has a lot of uses. So I'm just curious to see if anyone has worked either of these plants into this kind of system before, and what their experience was.

Eric Hanson wrote:Hello and thanks in advance!

Maybe it is hurricane Dorian in the news, but I am really thinking about building a battery backup power supply.  I already have a 5k generator so this would basically be a power supply for smallish electronics.

I have looked at several builds on YouTube, and some are quite sophisticated, while others are very simplistic.  I have an idea of what inputs/outputs I want, but I don’t really know how to assemble the components, especially in an electrical connectivity sense.

Among the outputs I want to include:
4 USB ports
1 12v cigarette plug
1 DC to DC buck convert

As far as inputs, I would like to charge by 120 a/c and eventually solar panels for emergencies.

I would like to start with a 30(ish) amp hour 12volt sla battery and have the whole thing fit into a plastic.50 cal ammo can.

Any good suggestions?

Thanks in advance,

Eric

I personally like car batteries. Cheap, simple, abundant.

And a biomass gasifier to charge them.

Tyler Ludens wrote:

Miles Flansburg wrote:
Know what your taxes and any other fees will be!

This is super important in Texas, which has high property taxes.  Each county to a large extent makes up its own rules.  Personally I would make sure to know the rules of the counties you're looking at, and make sure you can get agricultural tax status on the amount of land you want to buy.  In some counties it may be as little as 5 acres, in others 20 acres or more.  Having agricultural tax status can make a huge difference in your taxes down the road.  They might not be high when you purchase the land, but if your area becomes popular, they may rise dramatically.  

I'm looking mostly in Tarrant county, but I haven't heard or found anything about an agricultural tax status for land - only for certain purchases for doing work on land (which will also be VERY helpful, as I fully intend to raise bees among other things).

Marco Banks wrote:Let me second the suggestion that you buy an RV.  You can get something really large and nice for 10K if you don't mind something that's a bit older.  Frankly, if you don't care that it runs well, I'll bet you could find something that has a bad engine or bad trans that would be very inexpensive.  RV's are not a long-term solution, but you could set it up and use it for 5 years, easily.   It would be very easy to build a large deck off of it and even a lean-to/sun room that could serve as a green house.

Keep you day job and see if this is really what you want to do.  If not, you can always sell the land and hopefully get your money back, plus possibly make a bit if you've improved it (like drilling a well or other improvements).  But if you find that you love this lifestyle and that you can make some cash, then you can quit and go for it full-time.  But it costs money to set yourself up and the novelty of being off the grid quickly wears off.  It seems like 90% of the people who start off with solar and want to unplug from the grid end up realizing that its much more cost efficient to just hook up to the grid.

Best of luck -- keep us informed with how it goes.

I know of a man, the former assistant pastor of my church - whose motto is also "Post Tenebrus Lux". He is an extremely kind and intelligent man, so you are in very good company! ;)

Greg Martin wrote:

S Bengi wrote:For a solar pit house let me know what you think of this one

One concern would be one way in and out.  From a safety perspective it would be good to have at alternate way to get out in an emergency.

I was thinking that a slight modification could be made, so that we'd have a rear entrance in through the mechanical room.

Eric Hanson wrote:Glenn,

I love your adventuresome spirit, but I would enter into this just a bit more cautiously.

I agree about caution. That's why, even though I've known about homesteading and permaculture, etc., since 2008, I haven't done anything or bought any land. I have been TERRIFIED of making a HUGE mistake. But I keep watching all these videos where people are like, "Well, we had NO experience, and we did it...", and others are like, "Look, just DO IT and figure it out along the way", and at some point, I have to do SOMETHING, right?

I trust that you are determined to undertake your plan.  I have to ask how much money do you have and how much are you willing to spend.

I actually have very little money. I have just enough to buy either land or a house on land, and that's it. Everything else is going to be scavenging, DIY, and "ass-pulling" (excuse my French). But, I'm 44 years old; if I don't do something soon, I NEVER will.

The reason I ask is fairly obvious.  I think this undertaking, though an attempt to make a break from our money-oriented society, will still require a substantial amount of money.

Agreed. That, or a LOT of creativity. I have little money, but lots of ingenuity and the ability to learn VERY quickly.

Many expenses will not be upfront expenses and will have to be paid over time.

You know, I'm actually counting on that. Stretching things out over time will be a big help for me. It's only actually getting the land that is absolutely urgent to me.

In particular I am thinking of property taxes.  It is almost like you never really own your own land--you rent it from some local municipality.

Have you been listening to my conversations? LOL I swear, that is one of the biggest complaints I have, my friends and family have, and just about everyone I know has. It is a constant irritation that we have to pay repeated taxes on OUR property. When we buy land, that should be it. I don't mind paying a sales tax or something on it when I buy it, but after that? Grrrr...... Luckily, where I'm looking, property taxes tend to be relatively low.

So for starters, I would make certain I would still have some money squirreled away.

If I do that, I will NEVER get started. That's why I finally joined up here to seek advice on the best way to do things for the least amount of money, and to avoid making stupid mistakes by benefitting from hundreds of years of collective wisdom.

Do you have a plan for temporary shelter?  Could you build a stick-built building that is later used for storage, but you can live and operate from while you are building your "dream home?"

YES. Actually, the plan was to build a very small (shed-sized) earthbag building at first - as a place where my brother could live full-time, a place where I could stay while I'm out on the land, and a shelter for when we're building, not to mention getting that all-important experience in building with earthbags.

If I was buying 10 acres of land that I planned on working myself, I would want a small tractor to help.  A tractor would also be extremely valuable for some basic earth-work you will need for your home.  Think foundations and land leveling.  Since this is likely going to be an expensive proposition, I would focus on small tractors in the subcompact to small compact size (20-30 hp).  These can be extremely useful machines, but they are not free.

I was actually thinking of renting Kubota machines or hiring people to come out and do any heavy digging. I know it will be more expensive than doing it myself, but I figure that I can afford to pay for that more than I can afford to buy even the most basic, used earth-moving machines.

I would think that maybe you could start planting and working some of the ground before you start your house.  This way you will have some productivity on the land, some resources, before you make the full commitment to building your house.

THAT is the plan. We'd like to get my brother's shed built (I'm actually even thinking about just buying a tuff shed from Home Depot to put out there at first), and then get the chickens going on the land. One they've worked over the garden area, we'll go in and mulch and plant. If we can get some productivity off the land, that will give me extra money to start doing the bigger projects I have in mind (I have an idea for generating a LOT of power from the sun, no solar panels necessary, for example).

What do you plan to do for income?  Do you plan to have an off-farm job?  If not, how will you pay bills associated with your farm.

I do have a full-time job, which is why I need my brother to be the caretaker and chore-doer while I work. I can continue working for another couple years, but I'd like to get this thing up and running and mostly self-supporting, so that I can either quit my job and work the homestead full time (which will also let me stay home and REALLY educate my kids - don't get me started on what i think about our "education" system in this country), or at least, so that my wife and I can each take part-time jobs that are sufficient when added to the income from the homestead. But, the ultimate goal is to simply be a husband and father first, and everything else second, and ONLY if it supports the ultimate goal.

These are just a few thoughts I have.  You have a dream, I say chase your dream.  But at the same time, I would also be prepared for a rainy day.  Maybe you can give us a bit more information on your background and what you have that you can bring to the table.

My background... Well, my Mom was a single mom, so I was taught to be a man by my grandfather and my uncles. My grandfather grew up on a farm in Forrest, Wisconsin. He was born in '22, and just died in 2014 (right before my son was born). He was a fighter pilot in WWII, and always had a very strong work ethic. He was a master carpenter and metal worker...actually, to be honest, there really wasn't much he COULDN'T do with his hands. He always had a very large garden; at one point, they owned a duplex that we lived on one side of, and the footprint of his garden was the same size as the footprint of our house. We'd go out into the garden and just munch away, and my grandmother would do canning and stuff. They had chickens, a guard goose, and I had a rabbit. Our next-door neighbor had ducks - lots and LOTS of ducks. I helped care for all of that stuff (except the ducks), from the time I was old enough to carry a bucket, well into my teens. My Uncle also had a HUGE garden, as well as fruit trees, berry bushes, and hundreds of rabbits. He would have us kids feed the rabbits, and then, when it was time to eat one, he'd send us out to pick the rabbit, and then butcher it in front of us. We loved it, and it taught us early where our food came from and which animals were pets and which were lunch. From my grandfather and my uncles, I learned basic carpentry and wood-working, basic gardening and animal husbandry, and - especially from my grandfather - a LOT of old timey farm wisdom. I have never had the chance to put what I know to work, and I wouldn't claim that there isn't a LOT that I still have to learn (watching videos proves that to me every day), but I feel like I'm less unprepared for the hard work than some others who've gotten into homesteading have been. I mean, although we had city sewer, water, and electricity, except for that, my grandfather was basically a homesteader - right down to having the woodshed for the cast iron woodstove to heat the house during the cold Connecticut winter. This is in my blood, and although it wasn't until 2008 that I began to understand it, homesteading is what I've always wanted to do. I want to be close to the ground, to my food, and to my family, the way things are meant to be. Honestly, I think a HUGE factor in our societal problems is that we've been divorced from the earth and removed from too much of what it means to be truly human. Just my two cents.

I hope you will keep us informed.

I will, as things progress. Like I said, right now, the focus is getting the land under my feet, whether I have to buy a house with it or not.

Eric

S Bengi wrote:For a solar pit house let me know what you think of this one

That is EXACTLY the plan that I had in mind. However, because of where I live, the type of soil we have, and the amount of rain we get a couple times a year, I think I'd end up having to modify the design into something build above ground and then bermed - something like a modified wofati, perhaps. I definitely want an attached greenhouse for both growing food (EVERYTHING that I allow to grow on my land has to have either a food or utilitarian purpose or it's just weeds to me, no matter WHAT it is), and for helping to moderate the temperature in the house. Not sure how to go about modifying the design yet, but I have a few ideas. My thoughts all end up with the design looking like an unholy cross between the solar pit house, a wofati, and an earthship.

S Bengi wrote:I just bought 1.8 acres. So it is not a crazy idea.
Also here is a wonderful earthbag house plan 25ft X 42ft
Stucco/ferrocement the wall. You can probably ferrocement the roof.
If not a beam+lumber trusses and metal sheet roof.

That's actually not a bad design. I need 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms, and, most important (for my wife) a HUGE (by our standards) kitchen. Heck, we can make do with 2 bedrooms, since our kids are small, so long as they're two decent sized bedrooms. I've been giving serious thought to looking over mobile home floorplans and just stealing features from them that I like for my earthbag construction.