Eric Chrisp

I know a lot about permaculture. Skills I possess include, animal husbandry (goats, including milking, cheese etc. Llamas, chickens, turkeys, sheep, slaughtering and butchering), biochar, biodiesel (over 15 years experience, over 20k gallons brewed), scything, deadhedges, orcharding, rain water catchment, solar of various kinds, extreme composter (I can compost anything or anyone anywhere) etc. etc. etc. I have a great little 3 acre homestead going in Albuquerque. I have a tig welder that I don't know how to use, and small engines that I don't know how to repair. I have and F150 for which I need the breaks and rotors done. I know I'm far away, but if you wanted a prolonged vacation to the arid southwest, I'm sure our skill share would be mutually beneficial. There's room to camp and possibility that a spare room would open up in my house. moosage if interested.

Folks in the UK, I just found out about this place and thought you might be interested: https://thepast.org.uk/
Found out about it from the team human podcast: https://www.teamhuman.fm/episodes/lisa-lovebucket
Cheers

Ash,
I'm in New Mexico. I've got 3 acres in the Middle Rio Grande valley just outside of Albuquerque, semi rural/suburban/urban. I raise animals for eggs, milk and meat. Have a small food forest started. Just around the bend from me is a like-minded (like minded to me, that is) permaculture farmer. Between he and I, there are a lot of like minded connections to be made. We are not strictly off-grid, but have a lifestyle that leans that way (solar panels, rain catchment, grey water, regenerative agriculture, bio-char, etc.) If you can get to New Mexico, you might want to check out our neighborhood and see if there isn't a place you can plug in. I'm curious, what is like-minded for you? PM me if you want to chat about it.
Eric

I appreciate the video and the diagram including their high production values. To the right audience they will have resonance and utility. I'm thinking that when you pair them you might have inadvertently stepped in it. By only talking about what individuals can do, the video ignores the other two points of the triangle. It ends up doing little to counteract the argument that personal action makes no difference. I'm not saying I believe that. I too have worked hard to reduce my carbon foot-print for the last two decades. But I have come to realize that my emphasis on personal action was problematic in numerous ways. Early in my journey I underestimated the importance of the political system and the entrenched nature of fossil fuel-based capitalism.

The video speaks to people like I used to be in the early part of my journey; those that want to make personal choices that at least demonstrate that a lower carbon footprint lifestyle is possible. And that gets at a need that was and remains urgent. We need more examples of happy people living without so much stuff and wasting so much energy. But that's its limit. Beyond that, every time one of us reduces our resource consumption, the "market" reallocates that resource to someone else who wanted more at a slightly lower price. This is why despite putting renewable energy sources in place at the fastest rate ever, carbon-based energy use has also expanded. Despite all our efforts for decades we have not reached that tipping point, that critical mass necessary to circumvent that "market" mechanism and bring real and lasting change. I do believe we are getting closer to that tipping point, however. So we need to keep producing those happy examples of post-carbon life.

However, by taking sides in the debate of who is responsible and who needs to change in order to set things right, we end up deepening the divide as we play into the same ol' dynamics of blame. The triangle diagram depicts reality in an important sense. All three points of the triangle need to change in order to move things to a brighter future. If any one point of the triangle changes without the other points changing, the system will snap back to what it was doing before. And blame is the real enemy here. We need to stop arguing about the specifics, about anything that triggers people to feel blamed, and instead focus on the things that we can largely agree upon. So I'm sorry you got the reaction you did, but I am not at all surprised. I'm guessing your erstwhile attackers felt invalidated by what you had to say, because you directly challenged their reality/identity and in some sense, placed the blame at their feet. I'm sure you didn't mean to and that you were trying to keep it positive and there is nothing wrong with that. I'm sure the video will help create positive change for those who are open to it, as will the diagram. For those that have already made up their minds, it will little or nothing. For them you just poked the hornets nest.

We had our first light freeze last night. I'm in zone 7, high desert valley. What time of year is the best time to plant them?

Hello,
Potential tribe members reaching out from far away!

You sound delightful so I thought I would write.

So we've got mountains, forests, rivers (ok, so only one river, but its called the Rio Grande!) and it get's cold here, but I won't lie to you: This is the desert and it ain't for everyone! We've got a pretty green corner of it and our ambition is to make it greener.

My wife and I are interested in building community around the homestead we are tied down to in the urban/rural weirdness that is the South Valley of Albuquerque, NM. We've got just under three acres on which we practice regenerative agriculture. Presently we are heavy on the animals (Turkeys, chickens, goats, rabbits, llamas, possibly soon pigs) but we've got the beginnings of a food forest established and have a good track record with vegetable farming. We can't offer more in the way of lodging than a place to park a camper or a few nights in a bed. But the neighborhood we are in has great potential and we need more like minded folks around us. We've made one good farmer friend just a half mile away and A several others within 10 miles. After six years we feel like we are beginning to get a taste of the community we hoped we would find. If you venture out to find your place to put down roots, you might consider putting our area on your visit list.
Cheers
Eric

Thanks everybody for your input! That was a great discussion and my first post so thanks for showing me how awesome Permies can be! My partner and I really used your input, mulled it over, and have consequently decided to stay on grid for now. There are a number of reasons for this, mostly owing to the particulars of our situation. Energy prices are expected to keep rising in our area. Our solar system will be financed and will pay for itself in about 8 years. After we finish paying off the loan, its free power until the darn things wear out, warranted for 25 years, likely to last longer. So solar, on-grid or no, makes financial sense for us. Also, the Federal 30% tax credit is still good for the remainder of this year. Furthermore, we plan on putting on a badly needed new metal roof at the same time. This costs more than the solar, will also receive the 30% discount, will add another R-7 insulation to the house, will come with gutters and allow the clean capture of rain water in our greening desert, will increase the value and equity of the house etc. Talk about stacking functions! So rather than choosing between a roof and a battery back-up solar system, we are getting the roof with all of its functions, along with a lower power bill for the next 25 years. I actually probably can't raise the money for the batteries, solar AND the roof. So in the end, it was largely about limited finances.

I have wanted to live off-grid for decades (almost made it happen but that pesky divorce got in the way!). As one of the respondents said, I don't like the idea of the power company having the power to turn off my system at anytime (The word "Power" here has manifold meanings). But in a great downturn, SHTF type situation, as many of you pointed out, knowing how to live without electricity will be a virtue. We want fewer THINGS in our lives anyway. So while we will have solar panels and the energy they provide right up until the hammer falls, we will be simultaneously working on our post-apocalyptic skill set.  
Thanks again all!
Eric

Devin Lavign wrote:

Eric Chrisp wrote:Does it really matter if you are off grid and you live close to a major city?

On or off grid, I would say more rural you can get the better.

Generally I agree with you. I my case, that decision has already been made. We got a screaming deal on 3 acres with a house on it, just outside of city limits but in a mostly suburban area (but with a distinctly agricultural presence, lots of hay fields between the houses). In a SHTF situation it will be a terrible location, though not as bad as being in the middle of big city. The neighbors are a mix of suburban and rural in their mentalities. Some will be great in a crisis while others will likely be trouble. Until said crisis strikes it is fine. We are not counting on SHTF, just wary of it. For now, we need employment and services so we can't get too far from an urban core anyway.

Travis Johnson, You raise some interesting issues, such as the overall fragility of our grid,  pretty much nation wide. In my area (New Mexico) I don't believe there is any talk of a flat fee. However, I think that there has been talk of charging fees to grid-tied solar owners. That's not what you were talking about was it? I'll have to look into that.


William Bronson, I appreciate your position. Yeah, I can see living like the Amish.  Though I'm not sure anyone else in my family of four can! We are homesteaders, (Chickens, turkeys and goats for milk, eggs and meat) but if there is a continuum of homesteaders from extremely mainstream (all the modern amenities and comforts) to extremely radical (Amish or otherwise primitive lifestyle) we are somewhere in the middle. Until the lights go out I'd like to have electricity. What you are saying, in a way, is that when the grid goes down, life without electricity might not be so bad, eh? So I can adapt and perhaps the additional money for batteries is not worth it.

Any other pros and cons that folks can think of?

Hive mind,
For those of you tuned into the roiling waves of political instability, energy depletion, impending economic collapse, ecological fragility etc. [insert your possible dooms-day scenario here]:
If you had the choice to put your resources into either going off-grid solar with battery back-up, or on-grid solar for less than half the money (just 20% of the current electric bill), what would you choose? Does it really matter if you are off grid and you live close to a major city? What, given the interesting times we live in, are the relative pros and cons of off-grid versus on-grid living?
Your kind and thoughtful words will be appreciated!
Eric