Oh Well
We have not been blogging much lately, because spring is here and we’re on the land. When spring hits, the sparks start flying with action outside. We’re building Sanctuary, aka Factor e Farm. The last week we’ve been drilling our well...
Ecotech Infrastructure
We are planning some serious infrastructure building this year. Our technology goals for 2008 are: We are optimizing our hydraulic Compressed Earth Block press prototype , and building a swing-blade sawmill . We need good equipment so we can begin building....
An Outsider’s Visit
Well it’s taken me a while to get around to this, but here it goes. On December 26th, I had the great opportunity to finally visit the Factor E Farm. I had heard great things from my friend Richard, and knew right away that it was something I wanted...
Cordwood Addition Complete
I always imagined that when I am going to be in my mid sixties, i’ll retire to the woods and live in a small wood shack out in nature. Well, why wait? Here is my lovely little shack: You can view more pictures and more information by clicking below.
CEB Press Prototype 1 Completed
It is interesting to see the progress on the Compressed Earth Block (CEB) press from prior art: to our own conceptual and design drawings: to raw metal as shown at http://blog.opensourceecology.org/?p=36 and to reality: Now we take a mound...
From 12-11-07: Yesterday a stove; Today firewood.
The cord wood room was coming to completion and we were still without a stove to heat it with. Craigslist, ebay, and local newspapers only had dead ends; the stoves listed were either too expensive, too far away, too big or already sold. I had asked a...
Ups and Downs and the Plan
For all of you who are interested in building global villages in the future – here are some lessons from our experience. This applies to the case where you start with raw, undeveloped land. To begin with, the upshot is that we have just succeeded...
Only a drop to drink
When it rains I dance. I laugh and even clap my hands. I hug whoever or whatever is at hand. My joy springs not from the new layer of silt that has eroded from our hill nor from the layers of mud that coat the bottom of my shoes, which leave heavy prints...
