It's hard to believe it has been my second week living on our ecoVillages land. It feels like i have left my apartment life far behind, and I am almost ready to let it go! It is amazing that it is possible to get my basic needs and comfort met so quickly. I sit here typing this in a cosy Yurt, powered by my small homemade lithium ion battery and just one 100W solar panel.
I have spent most of the last week making a compost toilet and composting 'box' that will treat my humanure well enough that in a year or two it will make great compost. I also have a wood burning stove in place and almost ready to fire up for when it gets cold here, which is very soon. I’m told that a yurt with a wood burner is much warmer than a traditional stone house which is very hard to keep warm even at moderate low temperatures.
The most important thing i am waiting for is still Water! I am currently using a nearby local spring, which delivers the most beautiful, clean, cool and perfectly clean water year round. Its been a bit like a game trying to make 30 litres of water stretch for as long as possible, and i have learned some neat tricks to be able to wash myself and my dishes etc. using very little water. My best discovery is using a water spray bottle. I’m able to clean my feet and legs and hands with almost no water at all ;) . I have applied to a water borehole permit, which i have just received and i hope that the borehole diggers will come in around a week to, i hope, find us an underground water source. That will be a great day for me, and just as importantly the tress and garden that I will soon make.
Compost Toilet
The Toilet
The Composter
Making the compost toilet was probably the most exciting part of this past week! For the first week i was scratching my head as to how i would deal with the bucket of poop that was fast filling up. I really wanted to avoid the traditional compost toilet system as i had no experience with it and was concerned about being able to treat it effectively. After the first week i realised i HAD to do something fast, and creating an expensive septic tank and then all the things that go with it seems a task too daunting to take on.
SO i got busy watching many YouTube videos and learned how to do it properly. There are as always many options,. but i settled on the idea of using saw dust from a local carpenter shop, and the grass that is dry and abundant in this land. I was very happy when i visited my local carpenter just 2 km down the road and he gave me a huge sack of sawdust for free.
I have enough for months now. I will also add my kitchen compost to this pile along with layers of leaves. That should really encourage the composting process, and will also add some worms as i find them in the soil. I spotted my first worm today, wriggling right next to the area under some trees. I must say that i can not even imagine how any worm stayed alive in this bone dry climate for so long. There is not a drop of water in that zone, and yet somehow these works are alive and kicking?!
My fist Volunteer, Josh is coming!
Until now i have been working alone, with some help available when it was needed. I don’t know that many people, and most of the people i do know are all busy working on their land! There are so many new comers to the area that we are all very preoccupied. One of my missions is to bring us together so that we can help each other more, and im planning to make a website to help us exchange our time and discover each other!
So im Very happy to say that my dear friend Josh is coming in about two weeks to help and be a part of this ecoVillages creation. Josh is someone i know from India, and has so much to offer and has given up everything he is doing to come and join me. I will exchange many things with Josh, and hope to avoid needing to use money. One of Josh's skills and passion is gardening, so i look forward to nurturing this land and bringing more vegetation and trees to it.
The Yurt Furnishings
As much as I wanted to avoid it, IKEA has really helped me in my mission of furnishing the Yurt as quickly, easily, functionally and cheaply as possible. I have tried to keep a balance between tasteful natural vibes, and i think its shaping up well. The office desk i bought is absolutely perfect, and i cant even explain how happy I am to finally have a comfortable chair, table, with ergonomics all taken care of so perfectly.
I have spent most of the past 5 months sitting on the floor with my laptop on a cardboard box and it has not been easy for me. My Neck, shoulders, back all took a big hit! I also FINALLY have a cooker and enough space to chop food and store some things. Ive not really been able to cook for 4 months and that has also taken a toll on my body. Ive been forced to eat a lot of bread and sandwiches, and Pizza. The local cuisine is not really what I would call good food.
I still need to create a living area some kind of sofa and area to relax and hang out with friends. I am trying to avoid buying a sofa as they are expensive and very hard to bring. I don’t even know if a sofa would fit through the door, which is very small in this yurt! I’m thinking to make one out of pallets and mattresses, which works well and lets me sit low to the ground which i always prefer. Lets see what i come up with!
So all in all im feeling much more settled! Im able to start meditating again, which is something that i have not been able to do for so long. I also have a new guitar so i can play my favourite bhajans when i need a pickup.
The rains are about to hit, literally any moment. When they come i will be able to see if my work on the yurt was good or not, and if it is truly waterproof! Let me just say i have done my best, and have my fingers crossed. I really hate leaks, and especially so when its in a yurt!
I am now SO close to being able to start planning for the earthship build.. I have been waiting for some time to get settled, and now i am able to function somewhat normally i am almost ready to hit the red button and start a planning application!
Much love, thanks for stopping by.. onwards and upwards!
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Great setup!! Hey, I have a tip for you which helps alot to save water for washing up - Lick your plate clean after eating! 😜
ha ha! no joke thats a good idea! ;-)
I've lived without water 10 years out of 11 and to be honest I lick my plate and use it even for multiple days just lick cleaned 😂
One time we found a shitloada' paper plates in the trash and that was legendary, not sure why we still call them 'paper' plates because there's more plastic than paper these days on them..
Another good trick if you have just one plate and no water, is to use baking paper to lay over your plate to use which makes a dirty plate instantly clean and then you have paper to light the wood oven with!
The spray bottle is a gooden to wash with, wait until you get an old pertercide sprayer that has a pump to pressure it up and then you have the luxury spray shower experience 😜
awesome comment. thank for those gems.. i just got my pump sprayer today.. . cant wait to use it!
Hahaha, powershower here we come!
Very good advice! And after licking your plate, spray it with vinegar (I used a 50-50 water vinegar mix). It cuts any grease residue like soap, but won't need water for rinsing, just a quick wipe.
Can also clean in general with vinegar! I'll remember that trick because vinegar is always quite easy to make and a great excuse to start making booze 🙃
This is quite interesting. First of all, I don't how a compost toilet works but if the rains come would it still be okay to use a compost toilet? I don't know how it feels to live off the grid but this is quite the experience.
If I many ask how long do you hope to live here? Hopefully with time, things like water and others can finally come fully, but for now I guess it's the spring then?
@tipu curate
yeah its fine when its covered.. also a little water is good.,. it works well
i HOPE in one week MAYBE we get water on the land.. lets ssee!
I can imagine all your words and I feel that you have gone paradise, watch out with the rains and the hinodoro of compost, I think that solving the theme of food the rest will come alone, I can imagine all the stage .🙋
I must say you've got settled in very quickly!
How long can you run that enormous monitor off your energy system for? I'm guessing it's something of a luxury with only a 100 Watt panel?!?
I'm heading down next Sunday, any help finding land would be most appreciated, no clue what I'm doing TBH! Just have this need to be over there!
hehe.. perfect question! it has an eco mode that uses i think around 30 watts.. then i turn my mac screen off.. so its not much different.. last night power was low but i have thiss 100 Watt li ion powerbank.. with builtin invertor.. so i tried it and it worked for three hours and still had some life in it.. that was NICE to see.. I also have a tiny 700 watt generator for emergencies.. GODDA have that screen really.. my eyes are just not up to laptop .. and its at the wrong height totally for my neck...
yEAH your coming huh! excellent news! I think we best meet up and I can hook you up with some locals.. avoid agents.. they just rip you off..
do you know where your staying yet?
I guess monitors have come a bit further than I thought in terms of power efficiency, three hours is pretty impressive.
30 Watt screen , 100 watt power pack and 3 hours use, anyone would think there was some kind of relationship going on there!
I've got an Air B and B booked for 8 nights initially, after that no idea, just going to see what's around really! I am set up to camp or maybe an apartment, maybe hop around a bit.
I've never been this relaxed about anything in my life, normally I plan intricately, I quite like this new approach!
A local land hook-up would be great!
yeah.. u can get them to work on 20 watts.. but not the biggg 4k ones.. LED is really the best for low power..
glad you got something hooked up.. Once you are we we can chat, and i can also throw you a few options.. i can offer you both camping and an apartment option.. im still not 100% if i should keep it or let it go.. it can be hard to rent here, most properties are for sale.. at least in Penamacor.. Castelo Branco is the nearest city where im sure you can rent for cheap.. but thats a 45 minute drive and a different world..
i klook forward to meeting you sometime soon! let me know if you need any travel advice also.. from the airport etc.. x
Hey cheers! Any assistance getting settled would be most appreciated. I might just take yr apartment over for a while, maybe camp, need to get the feel of the place!
I'm driving over as I've got a fair bit of stuff with me.
It'll be great to finally meet - happy to help out with any work on yr land - I'm most at ease when I'm working on something!
Are you on Discord btw?
Posted using Dapplr
yeah camping may be a nice option. i am planning to buy a huge canopy in the next few days that would be big enough to plant a tent under.. i think would make a lot of difference in the rains.. It's not yet that cold.. and at least finally we can make fires again. There is bone dry wood everywhere on this land!
The apartment is a nice cheap option.. though its unfurnished it does have hot water and power.. if you planned to stay a while you could in theory get some basics going there and use it to sleep in mostly..
im sure you will know what to do once you get here!
Feel free to chat with me on discord. the easy way is join the ecoTrain community then you can see me
https://discord.gg/nXANrAb
I'm surprised I haven't joined already, then again I do try and limit my Discord time, it can be a bit of a hole!
Love the dedication to go through all these difficulties and finally settle to have a little comfort.
This is sooo cool, seeing you all tucked in and ready for the rains to come! Your yurt looks admirable, and I'm sure with that heater it will feel as cozy as it looks. Oh, and your toilet area is quite aesthetic. One word of advice, coming from my personal experience in humanure composting over the last three months in California: My system was very similar, using wood shavings and straw to compost. It worked quite well, until I started adding kitchen compost, around the fourth week or so. This prompted some local critter to dig up the food, and scatter the crappy straw all around the area. :-( The solution was to stop adding food, which meant a few more attempts on their part (and a few more mornings of raking the shitty straw back together), but once they learned that there was no more food in it, they left my shit alone. So instead of composting our kitchen waste, we spread it around the property, where it disappeared (presumably eaten) within a night, including eggshells and corn husks. This situation is of course far from universal, depending on the local fauna, and it may not apply to your place. But having had a few very unpleasant morning chores, I thought I'd better share this.
Best of luck with everything!
oh woW!,, Awesome advice.. Thank you so much! i have been holding off actually putting the kitchen waste in.. what you say makes sense! and id REALLy hate to have turdy straw everywhere.. maybe ill just put leaves and add some worms when i see em.. <3
Oh, the worms are very resourceful, going by the premise: if you build it they will come!
What a nightmare! You have some wierd stuff happening when egg shells and corn husks are dissappearing, I wonder what would eat those?!
As for the egg shells I guess anyone who can smell the rest of dried yolk on the inside, and is big enough to crunch up the whole thing. In the case of the corn husks I think the wind may also have played a role. But the main suspect for digging up the compost is the javelina or the coyote. I haven't seen any evidence of the former, and only heard the distant yip-yips of the latter, but I can't think of anyone else who is big enough to make such a mess. Unless... well, I still may be surprised about what a hare can do!
Do you have a hunting camera to place outside to record?
Hahahaha, no. Also I'm not there at the moment. But anyhow, I prefer approaching the matter slowly, maybe by making a few wrong guesses before I arrive at a definite conclusion. It's more fun that way. Though a motion activated night-vision camera is still a fine thing.
Hahahah OK, I get it 😁 these cameras are quite cheap theses days, I got one from an Aldi store, (not sure if you in Europe or where haah) for 80 euro and its working great! I use it though to keep eye on my plants for critters😊
I'm in Mexico right now, the property I was talking about is in the US, but I'm quite familiar with Aldi from Germany: buy decent quality non-brand name stuff at your discount supermarket while supply lasts. And yes, it's good to have evidence of those critters as they're taking their late-night snack from your garden! 😆
I really admire what you do, it is not easy to leave a cozy place to go to a land and create ... I see you and you remind me of the biblical story of the creation of the world when Adam was alone and I began to name the animals and build things ... you are very creative and intelligent, as a child I always dreamed of having a motor home and traveling around the world, but I see this and it seems very special to me, I recently lived the experience of sowing at home and the energy and special things that they feel from the preparation of the soil to the growth they are special. I imagine your emotion in each step and advance you take in this beautiful project and different lifestyle. SUCCESSES AND BLESSINGS.
thank you for these kind words! <3
So happy for you and also quite inspired to hear about how much you've done in a relatively short period of time. Your dwelling looks awesome IMHO and I imagine it must feel great when you actually get a moment to sit back and appreciate what you've achieved.
thank you! its really nice to get some positive feedback.. ive been grafting solo for so long now i think its soon time to take a step back and see what ive done! x
I think you should do that and it sounds like you deserve a bit of a rest. Glad to hear your buddy is coming out to you.
yeah,,. you know i didnt take a day off for a long time.. now the rains have come finally.. its raining right now.. wow.. hard to believe it after such dry heat.. now we really test the yurt! so far so good,, ;-) so maybe tomorrow i will sit and just watch the rain.. x
So, did the yurt survive its first rain shower? I hope so...
its doing really well, thanks for asking! no leaks so far! Im doing some front door area protection so a few tweaks here and there.. but overall it somehow is dry inside! ;-)
Hello friend excellent work, you had a busy week, good idea the compost will allow you to have in a sufficient time organic material for the garden you make.
I hope everything continues to flow well, I'm glad you're well, see you later and success 🤝
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