Alternative construction methods. (move, permit, build)

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Wytchcat

Well there are several filters as part of the graywater earthship system, but its always a game of chance.

Ugh.. not to see if there is anything resembling internet there.

Satellite is about it. Possibly DSL if Centurylink has lines in, but it tends to be quite slow in rural areas - too slow to stream telecourses or movies or Skype.

[Wytchcat]

It's definitely going to be a challenge. I do freeelance web development and average about 600gb of bandwidth usage a month. I have a couple of months to research some less tech intense cottage industries but we shall see.

A large part of that though comes from having cut cable TV and using Netflix/Hulu/Amazon or streaming cloud based music collections. Not being interested in getting cable again I'm not sure how that will play out.

HughesNet seems to only offer a combined 100gb at its biggest package in the area and half of those hours are between 2am-8am. Not ideal for those trying to do homesteading/self sufficient farming.

[PNW-type-gal]

The satellite cap is pretty tight (and the lag can be painful) but the best I ever got out of an alleged 2mbps DSL connection was 0.75. Granted no cap on that but then it wasn't fast enough to hit a cap if I used it 24/7 at max. The last year or so I lived out in Agency Lake, Verizon put enough cell phone towers in to get 4G service and just before we moved I got a MiFi device - faster than DSL but a nasty little lag, somewhat buggy with a lot of drops and you really pay for bandwidth.

A business that needs speed and bandwidth is just not going to work.

I actually considered renting an office in the city of Chiloquin to get faster DSL for some work I did plus some on-line classes I wanted to take, but then I watched the Post Office and the coffee place in the same complex get broken in to twice in 6 months. I could have just kept a table, chair and lamp there and brought a laptop.

[Wytchcat]

I may just plan 2 or 3 "town" days a week to do 4 or 5 hours in a coffee shop, allows me to meet clients too, though gas then becomes a consideration (Time I use satellite radio so that isn't a huge issue.

I am actually excited to unhook a bit. Speed for basic browsing and email isn't a concern per se.. and I shouldn't spend nearly as much time in front of movies as I do/could. LOL

Part of this whole thing for me is to live more intentionally. My original plan to go tiny is changed abit by the easier option of going off grid via earthbag earthship. I'll be spending some transition time in an RV while I build which will give some perspective too but the goal is to find ways to NEED as little money as possible so as not to spend as much time working for said non tangible. I am all about working for my own needs but unless volunteering for a cause not so much working for others.

My plan of attack on that is a walpini for year round gardening as well as seasonal gardening, chickens, goats and possibly pigs for protein and dairy (I can't bring myself to do the insect protein despite its being an ecologically sound premise) and beekeeping. Rain catch and graywater systems as well as a cistern for hauling water. I have a bonded pair of Shih Tzu who give me a purebred litter a year (My homestead will be Tzu House) and I have considered adding a pair of Irish Wolfhounds to the mix. More so given the lack of LE in the area and raising property crime. (The tzus are sure they are huge but no one can take them seriously.)

Not sure if I will be able to do enough to go to farmers market but that would be great too.

Will I succeed? Who knows... I hope so... it would be lovely. But I will have an awesome, frustrating, occasionally heart breaking (pets/livestock can do that to you), tiring and ideally satisfying time trying!

It's a lot of work and I have been pretty sedentary the last decade but I am excited to get active again doing things *I* want to do... not just working to pay rent or bills.

I may try and find someone else like minded to share the land with... being two lots it is doable but we shall see.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Wytchcat

It's definitely going to be a challenge. I do freeelance web development and average about 600gb of bandwidth usage a month. I have a couple of months to research some less tech intense cottage industries but we shall see.

A large part of that though comes from having cut cable TV and using Netflix/Hulu/Amazon or streaming cloud based music collections. Not being interested in getting cable again I'm not sure how that will play out.

HughesNet seems to only offer a combined 100gb at its biggest package in the area and half of those hours are between 2am-8am. Not ideal for those trying to do homesteading/self sufficient farming.

I have typical rural DSL, and on a good day it makes 1 mb. That's megabit, not byte. I think your only choice is going to be cell phone data, and they will rip your wallet out through your nose for that. It would cost about the same to rent an office in town and use cable.

[peaceloveandjulie]

Just a few things to consider in your planning. Animals and crops take a lot of nourishment and this area is high desert. You will need a lot of water and vegetation to sustain them and the land there has neither so choose wisely on that front!

Also, the soil covers up a lot of rock underneath. I don't know how that might affect your building plans but keep it in mind. This is also a quake zone and you'll have to build according to earthquake specifications. There have been tremors not very far away recently.

When I spoke with the woman in charge of on-site, she was quite neutral on composting and incinerating toilets and said they were permitted. But, actually, she's right. If a septic system is required, why would one go with a pricey, alternative toilet? I figure that if I'm having to dig up my land and have a septic system installed, then I'm going to fully use the thing and get a water miser toilet. In fact, I plan to have my sink's drain connected to the toilet with a pipe so the greywater is used to flush the toilet rather than fresh water.

I'm not trying to be a killjoy -- I want you to be successful and happy. You have to plan based on the realities of the land, and not try to make dreams work on that land. It is very raw land in a remote area. I think it's safe to say that most of us are going there to live off-grid and quite simply, without a high demand for tech. accessibility, services, and convenience. It requires some degree of problem-solving to build there and meet the codes, plus utilize water and other resources efficiently.

[Wytchcat]

Julie, I totally get you on the water/high desert aspects. I'm not planning on going to crazy with livestock and I know I'll be hauling water.

The walpini (a type of underground greenhouse, for any who are unaware) tends to be not quite self watering but high humidity. I'm hoping to use that to my advantage as well.

The earthbag construction has so far performed very well in seismic zones. I was completely surprised when I went to check out structural engineers in Oregon who deal with alt building methods and not only was the SE who is really behind the current earthbag movement an Oregon engineer... he and his firm are in Klamath Falls. BOOYAH!

As to the toilet, frankly for me even with a basic septic I have no desire to make black water at all. Staring down the barrel of drought, for me it just doesn't make sense.

I'm excited that you are getting back on track with your build! We'll have to do a potluck when we all get up there later this summer! I too will be doing some basic RV living while I build. I'm off of Hummingbird Dr.

Maybe we can do some building barter too, who knows!

[PNW-type-gal]

The problem with a greenhouse there is that you need a heat source and growlights in the winter - we just don't get enough light to keep a good year-round crop without intervention. Pretty sure the record low out there is something like -25°. Two years ago it was -20°. Granted those are extremes, but days and weeks in the single digits are not all that uncommon.

We had a concrete block partly earth-sheltered greenhouse and in Dec-Jan-Feb and to keep things growing, we just gave up and moved things into the mechanical room (where the water heater and boiler for the radiant floors were) with grow lights.

[Wytchcat]

The key is digging down below the frost line, using thermal mass to heat and yes occasional addition heating too.

Pit Greenhouses

It's been a long time since I did hardcore gardening but my hope is if it can work in Bolivia... It should work here. I had one in Indiana and the 4 years we lived on that property it kept us in fresh greens all winter long.

[peaceloveandjulie]

Originally Posted by Wytchcat

Julie, I totally get you on the water/high desert aspects. I'm not planning on going to crazy with livestock and I know I'll be hauling water.

The walpini (a type of underground greenhouse, for any who are unaware) tends to be not quite self watering but high humidity. I'm hoping to use that to my advantage as well.

The earthbag construction has so far performed very well in seismic zones. I was completely surprised when I went to check out structural engineers in Oregon who deal with alt building methods and not only was the SE who is really behind the current earthbag movement an Oregon engineer... he and his firm are in Klamath Falls. BOOYAH!

As to the toilet, frankly for me even with a basic septic I have no desire to make black water at all. Staring down the barrel of drought, for me it just doesn't make sense.

I'm excited that you are getting back on track with your build! We'll have to do a potluck when we all get up there later this summer! I too will be doing some basic RV living while I build. I'm off of Hummingbird Dr.

Maybe we can do some building barter too, who knows!

That sounds good! It's been cool coming back to the Oregon forum and finding other folks moving to Bonanza/Bly Mountain!

I'm higher up on the mountain, I think, so I may be looking at more rock under the soil than you are. I guess we'll soon find out, lol!

I love to garden but with the extreme drought here in Texas for the past several years, I gave up, except for container gardening on my deck. This year, it's flood-arama! Heh. For my cabin in Oregon, I've decided to have a large lean-to with a slope side of windows attached to my main building. It will serve as a mudroom, utility/laundry room, AND a place for me to have a whole section of veggies growing in indoor raised beds, basically, on the side with all of the windows. I'll add some solar lights inside, too. We'll see how it goes!