A model sustainability homestead in Central New York
Jun 14th, 2008 by lilygpad
And so, as everything went full green, the sugar maples springing up, the aspens quivering in the breeze, we organized a small band of friends and spent our first nights out on “the land”.
But even before our circus came to town, we had a lot to do. First, we dug ourselves a toilet, as suggested by Living on the Earth, an excellent resource book for life. We even got fancy with some tarps and an old shower curtain. Continue Reading »
May 18th, 2008 by lilygpad
Moving to Ithaca, and me and Danila are on the apartment hunt. Of course, seeing the land is a must. I am nervous, almost expecting the gray of winter instead of the obvious green.
What we see:
This is too much.
Apr 30th, 2008 by sharonz
I’m being published in this fabulous new collection, ECTOPLASMIC NECROPOLIS, by Juliet Cook of Blood Pudding Press. She exemplifies everything I love about DIY publishing-fuzzy ribbon, hand binding, & lots of style.
Read more about Blood Pudding Press here and pick up a copy of ECTOPLASMIC NECROPOLIS. Lily wants me to be famous like yesterday & I’m currently behind schedule!
Also: my amazingly talented roommate, Rick Pickett, is spreading the word about the Midday MAY DAY Strike, which will be happening this thursday @ noon:
it is almost may-which means time for a cross-country road trip ending in the summers of brooklyn & time spent on our very own land. we’re officially tree huggers & dirty hippies now.
<3 sharon
Apr 7th, 2008 by lilygpad
Well, I was just sitting on my throne, reading the Home Power magazine, and I saw this Energy Fair in upstate NY. It looks like they have workshops on things like:
composting toilets!
fixing up your bike
permaculture
advanced solar photovoltaics (hmm…)
Yes, this looks interesting although it is held very far north. Check it out!
www.ncenergy.org
-lily pad
Apr 4th, 2008 by joe4324
Just a few minutes ago I received a new Gmail notification, google found a link to a bunch of posts I made back in 2004 when I was building my house. I almost forgot about all of this! It will take a minute to read everything but I encourage everyone too. Some good info here and much of it still pertians to us!
Apr 1st, 2008 by joe4324
OK, I have been heavily looking into many options for building, such as materials for walls, insulation and different methods to do things. As time goes on I am learning much more about annual thermal storage. I have found several sites on it, and even information on how to do it with completely normal looking (above grade) houses. They have to be super insulated of course but not necessarily bermed or earth-sheltered though obviously if they are they will work better/faster.
I have been trying really hard to find a better material than EPS (extruded poly-styrene) foam panels. This is what I used on my house. They work *really* well, but they are 3X more expensive now ($30 a sheet, vs $11 when I built) and well… they’re made of oil like everything else… So I am desperately trying to find alternatives for us because its very likely no matter how we decide to build we will need to insulate something underground.
Here are some links I’d like everyone to read, not that I want to endorse these things but its always nice to see innovative things being done.
Tire-Bale house
http://www.tirebalehouse.com/index.html
UltraTouch denim insulation
http://www.tirebalehouse.com/index.html
Huge PDF on solar heat storage
Passive annual solar heat storage PDF
True environmental costs is something so hard to really pin-down, obviously the most sustainable home we can build is what we should shoot for, but at what point do we draw the line? If using 100% local/green materials for the entire project means we are left needing to maintain/heat our home more, or a lot more at what point does the extra work-cost-wood to burn negate the benefits of building the ‘building’ so green?
Its a tricky concept and I really don’t know where I feel the balance is yet. Obviously using some non-green materials like EPS sucks, but what do we do if we don’t have any alternatives, or if the alternatives make our home need more energy to heat/cool? When do the ends justify the means?
I don’t think this is something we should be worrying about too much just yet (leave that to me!) because we don’t really have a clear game-plan yet but it will be a consideration in the future.
Mar 28th, 2008 by joe4324
It looks as if I will be robbed of the most exciting time of the spring, Ithaca and surrounded area’s of upstate New York get ‘VERY’ few tornados. Have a look-see!
‘joe
Mar 24th, 2008 by LeaLSF
After 4 hours spent surrounded by the smell of french fries in the Veggie Turbo Diesel (Joe’s Veggie grease car) we piled out into a sunny spot where an overgrown shale driveway ended and our imaginations began. Joe and I had been eating Family Dollar spaghetti and sauce for 2,2oo miles the week before, hunting for land and couch surfing from Saranac Lake, NY to Dorchester, NH. The coincidences and accidents of vagabonding led us further west than we expected, to find this particular spot ten miles from Ithaca, NY. Already there was a sense of beginning, here in a clearing where a house project was abandoned by the current owner.
Initially, things seem anticlimactic. The March landscape greets us without greens, leaves or flowers. We are lucky it isn’t raining. Instead, we see bare limbs of young trees and the glaring rooftops of neighboring houses. The ground is muddy yellow and thorny brush bites at our coats and scarves. Some abandoned concrete forms are scattered at one side of the drive, building bones in the snow. We set out to explore.
Despite it all, this is a special day. All six of our crew is here, a rare thing today since Sharon is currently doing an MFA in Cali and Marina just started putting on a suit in Manhattan. Lea and Danila have no wheels to get them out of Philly, while Lily and Joe are practically living out of the car. But with some luck and a lot of willing, we’ve all made it to this bare land. We’re happy to reunite, comfortable and generally goofy as we follow a trail past deer tracks and occasionally stop to listen to bird calls.
Mar 21st, 2008 by joe4324
Tomorrow is a monumental event. Thus far our extensive, exhaustive and sometimes circus-like search for land has produced little in the way of results. However, Ithaca seems to be beckoning us like a siren calling through the misty seas. A call so strong even munchkins have flown in planes and business executives from Manhattan have taken off their suits in favor of knee-high rubber boots.
Tomorrow, the brothers and sisters of the still to be renamed Green Nettle Dacha shall all go together to look at a place that they just may decide to call home. That is of course barring unforeseen disasters such as broken limbs, chiggers and people who don’t like overly motivated and under skilled farmers.
Pictures will be forthcoming!
‘joe
Mar 18th, 2008 by joe4324
So the Dacha still wants to be up north, but maybe a wee bit less north, since the growing season starts in June up in the ‘dacks. A new possibility, inspired by my reading of a book on Eco Village at Ithaca, the Dacha might want to be friends with the Eco Village. And here is weather situation for any carrots that might be interested:
