Jennifer Damashek

Greetings, I'm been on permies for years and have learned so much. We purchased land and a farmhouse in Northern Maine with hopes to attract like-minded people who love winter. After two years of seeking, including advertising on IC.ORG, we haven't been successful, however we have been successful in developing beautiful relationships with people who want to settle in rural Peloponnese, Greece. That's a pretty big change, but we tried it out living a few months in rural Greece and we love it. We qualify to move to Greece with my husband's social security so we are making the move and starting a new life building a food forest in the mountains, and thinking about following the idea I found on permies for building underground [https://undergroundhousing.com/]. If we can manage to meet code for earthquake safety, I think this will be an amazing way to live in the mountains.

Anyhow, all that to explain why we are selling the property we have grown to love here in Northern Maine. Honestly if we could have found a few people to join us here, we would have loved to have stayed. This property is so beautiful. It's just not sustainable for me and my husband alone, especially since we need to follow the lead of people who have more developed  building and homesteading skills.

What we love most is the logging trail through the woods where we snowshoed every day throughout the long winter. Also we love looking out at the pond and seeing something different every day. Sometimes swallows flew over the pond catching insects, other times the moose fed in the pond, sometimes a blue heron flew up into the spruce trees to nest, sometimes we watched otters play and fish jump.

The home has a liberator rocket stove [https://rocketheater.com/] installed, and it works great once we got the chimney to the right height and a vacu-stack chimney cap installed. Here is the listing for the house if you're interested.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6-Vaillancourt-Hill-Rd-Cyr-Plt-ME-04785/115095906_zpid/

Oh and we had a permaculture plan written up for the property, which was focused on placing some domes and a sauna on the grounds for short term rentals to finance the building of infrastructure. Let me know if anyone is interested in those plans.

Greetings permies,

I'm writing to let you know about a project at Unadilla Community Farm in rural New York. Unadilla is a regenerative oasis dedicated to sustainable agriculture, permaculture, and food sovereignty, cultivating a future where people and nature thrive in harmony. As a nonprofit education center, it empowers the next generation of local farmers with hands-on training in organic growing, natural building, and self-sufficiency skills while donating it's harvest to the community.

Unadilla has received a grant to build an off-grid, solar powered community education center. The proposal which won the grant is attached. Here are the key points.

Unadilla Community Farm: Community Space Project Overview
Project Purpose

   Creation of a solar-powered commercial kitchen & classroom space
   Supports Beginning Farmer Training Program with hands-on education in value-added product creation
   Expands Food Access and Herbal Aid Programs, donating food products to regional pantries and clinics
   Provides an affordable rental space for food entrepreneurs, artisans, and educators on a sliding scale (starting at $0)
   Addresses the need for accessible, licensed food processing space for local farmers and small food businesses

Facility Features

   Energy-efficient and off-grid with 100% solar power
   Environmentally friendly design:
       Straw bale insulated walls with lime plaster
       Frost-protected shallow slab foundation with recycled foam glass insulation
       Passive solar and Passive House design for energy efficiency
       Super-insulative doors and windows
       Eastern white cedar shingle roof
   Renewable energy systems:
       Photovoltaic panels for electricity
       Solar thermal panels for heating and hot water
       Induction cooktops and waste heat recovery ventilation

Commercial Kitchen & Classroom Benefits

   Food Security & Sustainability
       Expands production of shelf-stable food products (pickles, preserves, dried fruit, herbal teas)
       Increases donations of healthy, plant-based foods to food pantries year-round
       Reduces food waste by processing surplus farm produce

   Support for Local Farmers & Food Businesses
       Licensed commercial kitchen space available for rent on a sliding scale
       Addresses a regional shortage of affordable processing facilities
       Supports local food entrepreneurs by providing access to dehydration, refrigeration, and cooking equipment

   Education & Community Engagement
       Year-round classes and workshops on food safety, processing, herbalism, and sustainable farming
       Training on licensing, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and food regulations
       Space for local artisans and educators to host their own classes and product creation

Project Timeline & Budget

   Total estimated cost: $250,000
       Land development & site preparation: $20,000
       Construction materials: $120,000
       Renewable energy installation: $40,000
       Kitchen equipment: $30,000
       Interior furnishings & classroom setup: $25,000
       Permits, architect fees, and miscellaneous: $15,000

   Timeline:
       Phase 1: Planning & Design (Completed)
       Phase 2: Permitting & Regulatory Approval (3 months)
       Phase 3: Construction (8 months)
       Phase 4: Operational Setup & Community Launch (1 month)

Impact & Vision

This project will enhance food security, economic opportunities, and agricultural education in Central New York, serving as a vital resource for sustainable farming, food entrepreneurs, and the local community.

The grant was won by the previous board of the non-profit, and the new board is tasked with finding the resources and skills to build the center. So far, the organizations and consultants they have contacted have submitted proposals for the work which is in excess of the $250,000 grant award.

I am writing to you to ask for ideas and advice for how to build this center within the $250,000 budget. Also, we are open to adjusting our plans so that we stay in the budget goal, or finding a way to access more funding to build the center.

Does anyone here know of anyone who would be able to help with this project? Any advice is welcome which would help us get this center built!

~Jennifer

Hi Melissa, I'm in my fifties and recently moved to Northern Maine. My husband and I purchased 53 acres in Aroostook County. It's very beautiful here, but cold. We love winter because we snowshoe every day in the woods behind our home. We see all kinds of tracks and so much activity. I think I saw lynx tracks the other day!

We are building a community of people who practice permaculture and land stewardship. I would love to create a small community on our land, with connections to other communities in North America and even on other continents. The idea is we could all support one another and visit each other. We would all have people to help us with our projects and places where we could go visit.  

If that sounds interesting, please get in touch! jenniferdamashek@protonmail.com

Best wishes to you!
Jennifer

Jennifer Damashek wrote:My husband and I were taking a walk on our property and discovered these marks. We would love to know what animal made them and why. Any ideas?

I was just reading about moose, and learned that the name comes from the Algonquin word "moosu" which means bark stripper!!!

S. Marshall wrote:So it sounds the chimney has more to do with the draft than a fire issue?  Is there any way to get around this?  The location I have in mind is in the walk out basement which would be a costly chimney to install on a 2-story house.  

Yes, it's the draft that is the problem with our stove. It's not safe the way it is right now because of backdrafting.

I have been in contact with the people at Liberator, who have been extremely helpful. They recommended a Vacu-stack chimney cap and adding at least 4 feet more of chimney piping.

Here is the Vacu-stack: https://www.rockfordchimneysupply.com/products/vacu-stack-non-air-cooled-chimney-cap

They also said it probably would have been better to have put the piping straight up through the roof, not on the side of the house like it is now. We're keeping it the way it is because it would be a big deal to change it at this point.

I suggest calling the people at Liberator and talking to them about your situation.

Gerry Parent wrote:Hi Jennifer,
Yes, this is most likely a sign made by a moose. I have seen it often on trees growing up in moose country. Winter doesn't provide much food so they go seeking nourishment from the inner cambium of various tree species. Scroll down to #3 in the link to view pictures and a description of what your seeing.

incisor scraping

Thank you Gerry! That is a great article, I learned so much. I've been wondering how all the wildlife around here survive the extreme cold of winter.

John Weiland wrote:
Re:  Bracing....  Please see photo below.  This chimney arrangement has been in place for around 30 years in a windy region and even survived the re-roofing from asphalt shingles to metal sheeting.  The bracing has been key to be able to support the weight and lateral wind strain on the chimney.  Good luck!

Thank you John, that is so helpful!

Matt McSpadden wrote:PS - I'm jealous of you having a Liberator :)

I've been considering it, for the same reason. To have a good efficient means of heat that doesn't require electricity.

Yes, and it's worth it to me to have the peace of mind to know if the power goes out in a storm we will have heat...even though I'm only running it for an hour or so a day right now since I'm nervous with the chimney height, plus just getting used to having a truly roaring fire in the house...

Matt McSpadden wrote:Hi Jennifer,
I definitely second and third the comments about the chimney height. I have quoted the relevant section below, but here is a link to a document about installing wood stoves in Maine. https://www.maine.gov/dps/fmo/sites/maine.gov.dps.fmo/files/inline-files/standardsfor_solidfuel_stoves.pdf

chimneys shall extend not less than 2 feet (610 mm) higher than any portion of a building within 10 feet (3048 mm), but shall be not less than 3 feet (914 mm) above the highest point where the chimney passes through the roof.

Also, I would check with liberator about the attic. If the chimney is insulated, I can't imagine its any worse than going outside as far as temperature is concerned. They might recommend that for a specific situation that you could mitigate.

Lastly, perhaps you could look at the pebble style RMH. This would make the mass moveable down the road.

Thank you for your comments, Matt.

Regarding the chimney going straight up and through the attic/roof, I went back to the manual and this is what it says:

The chimney connector shall not pass through an attic, roof space, floor, wall ceiling, or any
other similar concealed space. Where passage through a wall or partition of combustible is
desired, the installation must conform with NFPA 211.

Now that I have reread it, I'm not completely sure if this means the stove pipe or chimney can't go straight up and through the roof. A lot of the manual is quite hard for me to understand. I can call Liberator and ask them, though.

Thank you for the Maine code related to chimney height for wood stoves. That's almost exactly what it says in the Liberator manual as well, so we do need to get the chimney higher to meet code even though the draft actually seems to work really well with the chimney the way it is. Is the code for the height due to the chance of fire caused by hot embers coming from the chimney? Is that risk reduced with a rocket stove compared to a typical wood stove, I wonder?

Fox James wrote:I am not so sure you can just add on sections without bracing from a solid source, at least you could not where I live!

If the same applies to you, then the section would have to follow the roof at an angle or be supported by guy wires.
If it was at all possible, the chimney should go straight up and out of the roof.

Yes, this was another reason why our contractor left the chimney at 12 feet for now. We're not sure how best to brace it and he needs to do some research. Advice welcome! And yeah, I don't remember ever seeing a chimney following the roof at an angle. According to the Liberator manual, the piping should not go through an attic, which is what it would have done if it were to go straight up and through the roof.