Another Earthship-type Design, Only Easier!

This morning I listened to an episode of the Survival Podcast, hosted by Jack Spirko (pronounced "Spearko", like a spear, or lance).  The Survival Podcast is, for me, a great way to spend some free time, or even while I'm working, if I've got a good set of headphones for my smartphone.  This episode was no exception to that rule!

The theme of the podcast was Earthship houses, but the guest was NOT the fairly world-famous architect and inventor of the Earthship building, Michael Reynolds.  This podcast was an interview with Biotechture CEO Mark Kirkwood.  Originally from Oregon, Mark lives somewhere in Texas now, heading up Biotechture Training, a cooperative non-profit organization.  Biotechture Training is dedicated to building community, as opposed to secluding oneself from society as a whole.  Additionally, Biotechture Training is focused on providing training for a means of enabling normal people to be free of the grid, free of dependence upon the "System", and to live decent lives in a happy way.  Ah, happiness!  That's a good thing, indeed!

Here's a link to their website - Biotechture Training.

Brilliant Older Farmer

I just watched this video by Kirsten Dirksen, and was really inspired to step it up.  This fellow shows that you can do all sorts of things if you set your mind to it.  It helps greatly to HAVE to do it, of course.

Enjoy!



Panchito

Perma-Prepping Again

I met recently with a young man by the name of Braden Trauth, founder of www.this-land.org.  What the?  This Land?  What in the world could that possibly be?  Think "This land is your land, this land is my land..." but then think permaculture.  Permaculture, you might be interested in knowing, is a design system that can create super healthy, super abundant environments that can eventually replace most of your food expenditures - in theory.

At a recent outdoor event nearby I picked up a copy of Edible Ohio Valley, a local magazine that had a booth at the fair.  In the latest issue, Braden had an article published about permaculture.  I read the article.  It was good.

I checked out the This Land website and ended up contacting Braden, who came over to meet me and take a little tour of my property.  We had some great discussions, ate some grapes that were close to being ripe that I picked from our Niagara vines, and discussed potential workshops that I might want to host and/or lead here on our land.

I found Braden to be an intelligent young man, full of knowledge, and very concerned about the welfare of others.  Hailing from a well-to-do family of Cincinnati, at a fairly young age he seems to have had a bit of an epiphany regarding life, faith, and how to live that faith out in a tangible manner.  In his case, helping others to create healthy, productive, natural environments via permaculture.

I'm all for that notion.   I've been studying, researching, and trying to put into effect similar ideas here on my own bit of land in the Cincinnati area.  My main problem is that I have neighbors, and those neighbors desire that my land look much like their land, dead, grassy, dandelion-less desert.  To do such a thing is sort of anathema for the likes of me.

So, I'm hoping for a good year of business from here on out, to be able to sell this place and purchase a place with copious amounts of land, build a better house, and start creating a permaculture inspired system.  I think it may be the only way into the future for humanity, although I also believe that we're approaching the final hour, before apocalyptic events kick in.

So if you stumble upon this blog post, and find that you’d like to know more, do more, give more, and potentially create such a living situation for yourself and/or others, contact me, via a comment on this post, Google +, or some other manner.

Ciao,

Panchito

Raised Bed Production

This Spring I came up with a great new source of free lumber.  There is a company nearby that purchases glass in bulk, making windows and doors for industrial situations.  They set the crates and skids outside their building with a sign saying "Free Lumber".  I avail myself of their lumber as needed, and have been able to build several nice raised beds as a result!

There are surely similar situations near where you live as well.  I obtained some great lumber from a sign company last year for the building of three other raised beds.  My thinking is that if there is lumber and other building materials to be had for free, why o why would anyone spend money on new lumber?  Why would us "Greenies" not do all we can to reuse, re-purpose, and recycle existing materials, instead of adding to the problem, enabling the lumber companies to continue making huge profits at the expense of our environment?

Anyway, here are a few shots of our raised beds for your personal enjoyment...

Der Krameterhof

Sepp Holzer, an Austrian farmer, has become a source of inspiration to me of late.  30 years back he inherited his father's farm, which amounted to around 111 acres, or 45 hectares, of rugged, Austrian Alps land.  You'd think that something at that altitude would NOT be a good place to farm, but as they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention".  His is a radical departure from the norm, alternative farming, alternative agriculture, natural farming, and back-to-the-land, are all good descriptions of what he has been up to for most of his life.  These descriptions fall short however.

Take a look at this video about Sepp Holzer and his farm, the Krameterhof.  If this doesn't inspire you, you probably should look for some other blog to read.



I am planning on purchasing a hilly tract of land and creating something like the Krameterhof, only in the Cincinnati, Ohio area.  I am thinking of an intentional Christian community, with a common purse, and a good work ethic.  We will produce most of our own food, electricity, various products, music, and much more, while working toward fulfilling the Great Commission, to the extent that we can.  We'll see what my wife has to say about it????

At any rate, I hope you enjoyed the video.  Sepp Holzer and his Krameterhof are a great example of permaculture in a temperate climate, or even in an semi-arctic climate, since he actually has plantings above the natural tree-line on his mountain.  We stand to learn a great deal from innovative people like him.  America really needs this kind of thinking.  Here in the USA we have spent the last 30 years screwing everything up,, while teaching the rest of the world to do the same.  Let's undo what we've done!

Ciao,

Panchito