Self-Sufficiency & Sustainable Living
Find it here in Green Pioneer.com
"Country road...take me home...to the place...I belong"
John Denver
Enter the 'Homestead' Life
As the economy continues to take a nose dive, we've been gathering more information on renewable energy sources and ways to increase our own self-sufficiency. This dovetails nicely with the whole homesteading concept and there are so many great ideas and innovations already available with more to be introduced in the next couple of years or so. Another aspect to consider is the local self-sufficient community and economy as well as developing ideas to work within local neighborhoods and communities to become sustainable and more insulated from outside volatile factors - whatever they may be or whenever they may come.
Starting with the home, there are several ways to start minimizing energy usages and, if building from the ground up, the benefits get significantly greater. There is some really interesting stuff out there--so much, in fact, it's hard to know where to start!
So, we're going to begin based on the topics we're researching or thinking about for our home (yet to be built). We all know how to cut back--that's been covered pretty thoroughly over the past decades. What we're looking for are radical new ways of confronting oil shortages, alternative fuels, home construction, storing and freezing food, sheltering livestock, etc. This is where, we think, it gets really exciting!
As an introduction, let's just define some terms. We discovered an entirely new vocabulary...words like passive solar, active solar, thermal mass, photovoltaics, combustible heat, gasifiers, glazing, daylighting...just to name a few. Many of you out there are very familiar with these concepts and terms. To others, relatively new to the scene, it might as well be a foreign language.
So with this as the starting point, we're going to provide some links to information and examples addressing these various topics. We're going to throw questions, suggestions, and concerns out there for you to think about for your own particular situation and, of course, feel free to post comments as much as you like. Please fill in the gaps or educate us and others in ways we've totally missed the point. This is a broad new frontier and requires innovative and creative ways of looking at certain principles and discovering new applications and ways of harnessing the energy produced in practical, do-able forms--that make sense and aren't cost prohibitive. Any backyard inventors out there? We're seeing all sorts of potential for our engineering-minded, inquisitive son!
An important aspect in all of this, which sometimes eludes the avidly zealous "go green" types, is that choosing alternative energy sources has to make practical sense--and that does translate into dollars and cents. Many people out there have difficulty caring too much about the caribou in Alaska when they're struggling just to meet the never-ending monthly bills piling up and keeping the bankers paid on time. Fortunately, renewable energy sources are becoming more cost-effective (especially with utility and gas prices increasing). Also, many families are searching out a lifestyle that is more self-sufficient and less dependent on utility companies, corporations, foreign distributors, and big government. A large capital expenditure on such things as acreage, livestock, renewable energy sources, timber lots, etc. are viewed as investments that can pay for themselves in the long run as well as in peace of mind and quality lifestyle.
We're finding that in many cases, it's not so much what we're spending but how we're spending. If we can continue to find ways for our family to funnel the money into supporting ourselves which in turn benefits the environment and the local economy as opposed to supporting global companies and foreign marketers, it becomes more of a win-win situation (unless you're a global company or foreign marketer, of course).
Here is a conventional-looking home here in Maine, near Kennebunk, that has incorporated a number of "green" ideas with photos and also a short video clip on how it all works in addition to how the systems compliment each other.
This article details many of the considerations involved in how we can go 'green' or at least how to investigate more of the possibilities.
Other Homestead or Self-Sufficiency Topics and Links
Acres U.S.A
Christian Homesteaders Association
Day Creek
Food Storage for Small Places
Homestead.org
Lehman's
Little Country Village
Soap Making
Lavender Mint Soap
Natural Family Home
New Harvest Homestead
Permaculture Defined
Permaculture Design
Polyface Farms
More on Permaculture...
Things you can do to Promote Permaculture in your Environment
Harvest rain water
Compost garden waste
Build a chicken tractor
Companion plant vegetables in your garden
Raise earth worms
Raise bees for pollination and honey
Use natural manures to fertilize plants
Plant an orchard
Plant trees for shade
Build a green house
Build a pond
Raise Fish
Plant fruit trees near septic drain field
Build a chicken pen system, rotate vegetable garden
Use a ram pump to move water uphill from a stream
Use terraces on steep slopes
Rotate crop fields
Use ashes to add potassium to the soil
Use diluted bird manure to add nitrogen to the soil
Raise mushrooms
Use mushroom compost to add nitrogen to the soil
Use lady bugs to control aphids
Mulch with straw to keep in soil moisture and reduce weeds
Water plants around the house with gray water
Plant trees to replenish wood lot
Plant green manures (cover crops) such as clover or alfalfa to replenish nutrients in the soil
Build an energy efficient house
Collect non-hybrid vegetable seeds to plant next year's crop
Use sea weed to add potassium to the soil
Build a root cellar to store harvested fruits and vegetables
Use wild flowers in your landscape design
Build a purple martin house to control insects
Build a bat house to control insects
Plant trees for a natural wind break
Use raised beds to warm and drain the soil for vegetable crops
Plant nut trees
Plant a berry patch
Remove non-native species of plants
Use wild game to supplement one's diet
Maintain areas for wildlife foraging
Use newspaper or other waste paper products to mulch your garden
Build a solar dehydrator to dry vegetables from the garden
Build a house or shelter using natural resources such as a cordwood home or strawbale
Practice no-till gardening
Use rock powder to increase the fertility of soil
Use renewable energy whenever feasible. (Solar photovoltaic, solar hydronics, wind power, hydro power)
Align vegetable beds to a east west orientation to maximize solar gain
Slope vegetable beds to the south. A 5° slope gives you a 60 mile / 100km advantage towards the equator
Take a solar shower using a solar water bag or painted black bottle
Use cold frames to give vegetables an early start in the spring
For City Homesteaders...
Urban Homesteaders
An Urban Plot
Judy's Square Foot Garden Blog
Little Beach Homestead
Little Homestead in the City
Patti the Garden Girl
For Mainers...
Northeast Organic Wheat
Superb Grains Grown in Maine
Taste of Maine in Grain