A new space

I have moved to a new spot:

http://bornofgaia.wordpress.com/

Thanks for checking in!

Next time... I'll wear a gas mask

Last Monday I began ripping out the carpet and padding and moldy bits of our 77 Cobra motor home. The carpet was just old more than anything (think 70's short shag old). It probably looked like the picture below 30 years ago but pulled up like thin sheets of cardboard.

A third of the way into the job I decided to put on one of those flimsy dust masks.

It didn't do the trick and I spent the next few days with one of the worst sinus infections I've ever had. Still fighting it now more than a week later. Thursday I am going back in to fight with the mold once more and will be wearing this.

Just kidding... I will be wearing a respirator however. We are currently looking into different hard floor options and trying to learn about the best adhesives to allow flexibility. It is really quite inspiring to see the ingenuity and creativity of people out there in the RV community and we are both looking foreword to making the space a little more homey.

Cobra

If spirit guides could exist in the way that Neil Gaiman had portrayed them in his book, American Gods, then we may have been joined by a spirit who came into being during the late 70's.

One week ago we heard from my mother, Marilyn, who had been in a conversation with her neighbor who was about to pay someone to haul off a 1977 Dodge Cobra motor home. The RV had become a project of hers last year but needed some interior work and hadn't been started in at least 12 months. Mom had told her that we might be interested in it and her neighbor said that we could have it if we could start it. We took our shot the following day and fed it fresh gasoline, a battery jump, and two bottles of Marvel Mystery oil. After tinkering with the Cobras inner workings for about an hour it started up and ran smoothly. There is a small amount of interior work that needs to be done, a small section of water damage to replace, filters fluids and tires that need replaced, but it is in what I would consider remarkably good condition for a motor creature that has spent the better part of the last 3 years in hibernation. We are very excited to say the least and have marveled at the timing of the Cobras appearance along with our closing of the land deal and our recent loan troubles. (Side note; Student loans add up quickly) We have decided to make Cobra our home while we build on the property and likely to use it as a guest house or mobile apartment for visiting family after the yurts have been constructed. We have also been propelled into learning about an alternative life group, that we previously knew little about, made up of people who choose to live a nomadic or semi nomadic life within a motor home. These are a few links where you can learn more abouto a few people who have chosen this life style.

Tynan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tylz5sfCAOc

Tara

TheOrganicSister

If Cobra were walking around like you or I, such as in American Gods, then it might look like this family...

...or perhaps like this woman...

...and maybe even like these guys...

My point is that I find meaning and hope in the spirit of the 70's. The 70's were, after all, a period in which many people in this country tried to live in harmony with the earth and to embody the spirit of nature. It was a time of great change and big wins on the environmental front. Some people call Juliana and me brave while others laugh and good naturedly call us hippies for the decisions we are making in the way we want to live. But hey, the hippies had some pretty good ideas like living in peace, living simply, and living off the land. They were happy people and it makes me happy to be reminded of that time and place through Cobra.

As a spirit guide the snake symbolizes a balance with the earth. It is said that the snake is the closest animal spirit to the earth. Since Cobra came into our lives at a time of transition I think that it will be important to learn from snake spirit and keep in mind our balance with the earth during our home building journey. Our totem seems to be growing as we now have a hawk looking down from high who can see the big picture and a snake hugging the earth to keep us grounded.

More pictures to come.

Recreational marijuana and the end of a prohibition

Over the last few weeks I have noticed an increased buzz about the legalization of marijuana. It seems that Californians are on the cusp of ending prohibition on the recreational use of this plant. In the same way that alcohol prohibition created criminals out of non-violent users, marijuana-related crimes have filled our prisons and drawn government resources away from social issues that really matter. This is relatively old news. What has been of more recent interest to me is the parallels between marijuana distribution, especially coming out of South American countries, and the distribution of legal crops such as fruits and vegetables coming out of the same countries. If you are interested in learning about the darker side of the fruit trade, (this is why we will try to buy locally or from a fair trade importer), check out Juliana's blog about the banana trade industry and the paramilitaries that they employ: http://spiritofdreammountain.blogspot.com/2010/03/yoga-mats-flexible-babies-and-bad.html

How many of you out there who smoke pot or who have smoked or who will smoke if the prohibition is lifted have ever considered the morality of your supplies' origin? You might think twice before throwing down on that next sack. In 2000 the DEA estimated that between 40 and 50 percent of marijuana in the United States came from Mexico alone. In 2006 the Justice department estimated that the four largest drug cartels (the Federation, the Tijuana Cartel, the Juarez Cartel and the Gulf Cartel) were operating in about 195 US cities. So what's the big deal you might ask? Well the cartels are warring factions of highly developed gangs who fight against one another in territorial disputes catching innocent civilians in the cross fire. They also use brutal tactics to run off small scale marijuana farmers in order to broaden their growing territory. According to an NPR broadcast that aired today "More than 10,000 people have been killed in Mexico in drug-related violence since Calderon deployed the army against the cartels in late 2006." As I listened to the broadcast this morning a reporter described the small hut he was speaking from where he said the door was stained with blood from the farmer who had been executed by one of the cartels earlier this month. Mexico legalised the recreational use of marijuana in 2006 as part of the ongoing effort to combat the cartel violence however the U.S. market has continued to fuel the cartels and enable their brutal tactics.

What it comes down to is that with any purchase it falls upon us all to make an informed decision. The end of recreational marijuana prohibition in California likely signals a nation wide end in the near future. As we are given back this freedom we will have new choices to make. Whether we chose to grow this plant our selves, buy from a local farmer, or purchase it from afar, we must accept some responsibility within the global community and realize that this choice may have real impacts on a very humanitarian level. Let's just make sure that our decision to relax, and have a good time doesn't come at the expense of some unfortunate farmer. Let's not facilitate violence with an act that is all about getting along and getting together.

Or perhaps to paraphrase a more recent piece of wisdom Think Globally Smoke Locally!

For more info on the drug war in Mexico check out this link to the NPR story:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124703094

Environmental themes in Japanese animation

So, I have a nerdy confession to make. Last December we bought a new lap top for me and named it "Agito" after the main character from the animated film "Origin: Spirits of the Past." I was so taken with the film and its interpretation of the nature vs. man theme that I have even given some thought into incorporating its images into a tattoo design. Films like Origin, Princess Mononoke, Howls Moving Castle, and Nausica are a few amongst a sub category of animated epics, many coming out of the Japanese animation studio "Studio Ghibli," whose moral underline fall closely to those of our little family. Yes, the films do have some scenes of violent acts but I do not find these scenes to stand out as brutal simply for the sake of shock value. Rather they seem to take lessons from our past, a past dotted with acts of humanitarian and environmental atrocity, and transpose them onto a new landscape where one can feel compassion for a wide range of characters including humans, animals, gods, demons, and even the land its self. It is interesting to me that the characters in these films are rarely polarised to one side of good or evil and I believe that in this they represent a more realistic interpretation of humanity and the natural world. These are the types of stories that I want my daughter to grow up remembering. I remember how shocked I was to learn that Studio Ghibli, the animation studio brain child of Hayao Miyazaki, had close ties to Disney in the US market. Only recently did I learn of the fighting that took place between Miyazaki and Disney over the release of his films in the US. It seems that Disney, Miramax, and a few other distributors have tried to heavily edit the content and even change plot points of the films for the US market. Now that sounds more like the Disney that I know! Fortunately Miyazaki stood up to the corporate power houses and though the films US release dates were often pushed back for months they maintained their original philosophical and artistic integrity. We recently began watching the Nickelodeon animated series "Avatar: The last air bender" and have happily discovered it to be a close similarity to the environmental themes of the before mentioned films. If you have not watched the series I highly recommend checking it out as well as the following list of movies.

Naussicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Castle in the Sky

My Neighbor Totoro

Princess Mononoke

Spirited Away

Howls Moving Castle

Origin: Spirits of the Past

WALL-E

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within

Nothing thing

We are in a holding pattern. This week has been marked by days of intense business with land purchase dealings, finance institutions, and creditors. At this point we are waiting to find out whether we will be able to receive a loan or whether we will have to zap our savings in order to purchase this piece of land. The comfort in this waiting period comes from the realisation that we will be able to purchase the land if the financing falls through.

Taking no small part in our credit woes are my mounds of student loan debt. I have been feeling more and more disillusioned with the university system as the last few years have ticked by. I can't help but feel that there is an inherent fallacy in supporting the idea that a college education will facilitate a better quality of life. In our society it seems to mostly facilitate reliance on a class system that one can never truly be free from. For the vast majority of Americans the reality is that we die as members of the same class that we are born into. The amount of work you put into a day does not necessarily determine your chances of success. Some of the hardest working men and women I know are constantly struggling to keep their financial necks above water.

Things really haven't changed much in our country over the last few hundred years when it comes to the haves and have nots. The people with political power hold the vast majority of the nations wealth and with that they reserve the right to make the rules up as they go. Giving themselves special privileges while writing laws to discourage their competition. They create lop sided taxes to levy hard earned dollars from private citizens and small business owners while throwing fist fulls of cash at corrupt business executives and war mongers. They tell us that if we work hard enough, if we go to college, if we keep quiet, we will get a little slice of the pie. So we do this and we think "this is the right thing to do and this is being responsible" but we walk out more hopelessly reliant on this tilted system than ever before. This is another of the reasons for our current life plan. I feel that the only way out of the cycle is to play a different game than they are playing. Stop relying on the self value images that they force feed us through media and advertisement. Find things to value in our lives that do not fall within the category of material possession.

Tribal counter-culture

For as long as I can remember tribal cultures have held a fascination and draw for me. As a young boy my mother would take me to American Indian gatherings where I was able to observe and participate in the arts and ceremonies of the culture. Juliana and I now find ourselves moving to North Carolina, which has one of the highest populations of American Indians of any state, to live out a more simple existence. A life more in tune with some of the aspects and spirit of tribal culture such as living in greater harmony with the land.

I recently picked up a copy of "The People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. Over the first chapter Zinn explores a lesser told tale of tribal society as it existed among North Americans before the onslaught of European settlers. Zinn paints a picture of an egalitarian society whose members lived in harmony with their natural surroundings, avoided gender discrimination, fought but never exterminated, and avoided defining them selves through material possession. They had no word for poor. Only members of a group working toward a common livelihood. It is sad to think how far we as a society have come in the opposing direction. Now nearly all is defined by material wealth and the average American thinks of casino owners and baseball teams when considering a modern American Indian.

Lay of the land

We have found a piece of land that would work quite nicely and are now in the process of putting the financing together. One the bigger pieces of the puzzle came in to place today when we recieved a message from a local excavator. It confirmed that we can do what we wish to do with the property for a price that we can afford.

The property is a hill side and so the ground must be graded in areas for us to build upon. Our basic idea is to place a driveway entrance at the N.E. corner of the property. We will then have three 50' graded levels dug out that will be separated by two 25' wooded slopes. The top level will be the 30' yurt and a parking area. The middle level will have the work shop and guest yurts on it. And the third level will be for gardening, chickens, a wood shop, and possibly goats.

We are planning to do as much of the tree management our selves and to leave as many trees as possible.

A story teller's ring

I am very excited to be wearing a wedding band for the first time in my life. Mine arrived shortly before we left to look at properties in NC. I actually spent the morning before we left hunting down the mail carrier because I realised at the last minute that I had shipped the ring to our old address.

The ring is a piece of Navajo story teller jewelry. Part of the story depicts a traditional Navajo dwelling, know as a hogan, that is a round wood and earth structure which I feel closely resembles a yurt. The ring also depicts woolly animals coming down from the mountains and a person running a rudimentary loom.

We have not made specific plans for a ceremony yet but I know that we are meant to be together in this life.

"...them there hills..."

Well we didn't exactly find gold on our property search through the Appalachians but what we did find feels nearly as exciting. We were fortunate enough to connect with a real estate agent, Ron, who has proven to be very giving of his time and who spent a day giving us the guided tour of one of North Carolina's SW counties. Even though we were shopping for land acreage in the 10k and under category and Ron stands to make very little from working with us we were given the true "Southern Hospitality" treatment.

We spent Tuesday strolling through the down town area of the county seat, were treated to lunch at the local coffee shop, and visited three properties at nearly opposite ends of the county. The town has a quaint and energetic feel and primarily supports locally owned stores in the downtown area. On the outskirts of town is a folk school that caters to a wide variety of do it yourselfers, hand crafted works men, and art enthusiasts. Natural food and farmers markets appear to be blooming within the city. The people we ran into were warm and friendly.

We have chosen one of the three properties as a potential site for our home and entered into the beginning stages of negotiations. The property is nearly an acre and a half, heavily wooded, and has access to a creek at its down hill side. The land can best be described as a hillside and will require some excavating to make a building lot. It is about ten minutes from the downtown area and is buffered by several nicely kept homes. I have begun drawing up some images for a three tier set up that would allow a single level for the 30' yurt, one for Julianas writing workshop yurt and a guest house yurt, and one level that would be dedicated to gardening and a wood shop space for me. I am envisioning a wooden stair and walk way that connects the three tiers and a privacy fence that circles the property.

We have ants in our kitchen...

We have had a few days of warmth and it is beginning to feel like spring is nearly here. Tonight I steeped out onto our back porch and heard a chorus of insects and possibly tree frogs or spring peepers. Then I spotted the first black ant I have seen in months crawling across our kitchen cabinets and scoping out our compost waste. Spring has really crept up upon us this year.

The yurt project has turned a corner and we are transitioning into a more specific design phase. The materials collection has gone well but it is time to draw up some more specific designs for the structure. We are leaving town in two days to visit family in GA and check out some potential properties. My goal is to have the basic structure, deck, hub, loft, and cover plans completed or well on their way by the end of our week long trip.

I spent some time this week sorting through our wood pile and was able to consolidate the whole thing into about half the space. If we get some sun on Friday I would like to catalog the pieces we have collected. It looks like there are some concrete blocks available near Julianas mothers home. We might pick them up and store them until our move.

Oldies but goodies

Last night we picked up a 1930's or 1940's gas oven/stove, the "Grand Oven" model, that Juliana had spotted on craigslist. It was manufactured by, "The Cleveland Co-Operative Stove Co," a small manufacturer that has since closed. The factory where our oven was made seems to be under threat of being torn down. As of March 2009 a historical restoration group in Ohio was attempting to save the building, the city of Cleveland wanted to build a new middle school on the property, but I have not been able to find more current information on what has happened since then. The oven is aesthetically beautiful and it's design is simple enough that I should be able to do any minor repairs that it needs. The man we bought it from only wanted $50 and I found the same model on an ebay auction starting off at $995 so I feel like we got a pretty good deal. It will need some basic clean up but overall is in great condition for a 70-80 year old stove.

On Saturday night we received an unexpected donation of lumber. While I was at work a man, who had seen the materials wanted flyer we posted at our local recycling center, dropped off a truck load of barn support timbers and tongue and groove pine flooring. Several of the barn timbers are heavy 12' 3x8" boards and I think may be hard wood. We have decided to put a hold on salvaging any further lumber until we can catalog our current wood pile. I think that we will probably hold off on the 16' rafters until we get down to the NC GA area and see what is available. I am hoping to find a pine timber operation where we can get the rafters as cheap rough cut boards or pole like limb timber scrap.

Washing machine

Yesterday, Juliana discovered an alternative washing machine that uses a design similar to a high pressure cooker. The Wonder Clean looks like one of those late night TV miracle products at first glance. It is reported to use 90% less water and detergent than the average in home washer, does a load in 1-2 minutes, uses no electricity, and costs less than $50. It sounds too good to be true but the reviews and testimonials from a broad spectrum of sources, including FOX news and the New York Times, indicate that the product really does live up to its claims. We feel like this is the perfect option for yurt living because it only uses 8 cups of warm water per load and will not require any electricity. It is also small and will store easily. By using an Eco friendly detergent we can also put the dirty water directly into the garden.

It seems that the inventors of the Wonder Clean may have gotten the idea from an early 1900's barrel butter churn. One of the barrel churn designs that was quite popular over a number of years was available through the Sears catalog and bears a remarkable resemblance to the Wonder Clean. There is even an old do it your self article that describes how to turn the barrel churn into a washing machine. The wooden design of the churn makes it a solidly constructed machine while also being more aesthetically pleasing. In concept the two machines should work the same way. However with a $300-$400 price tag from antique dealers we will settle with the plastic version for now and wait until we find a deal on the wood version or until I can figure out how to replicate the pressure plate portion of the wood churn design.

Do a content search for "barrel churn" in the article below for more info about turning a barrel churn into a wooden wonder clean:

The wood pile

The top picture is of some 1x24x36" compressed wood particle panels we salvaged from a local department store. There are 20 panels in all and I am planning to use them for the floor in our bedroom loft. The next two are a couple of pictures of our salvaged wood and the truck after hitting up a construction site yesterday. I've been keeping it all covered with a canvas construction tarp to keep the snow out. I'm looking forward to some warmer days so that I can sort through the pile and see what we still need.

A day for solar energy and salvaging

I spent some time last night and this morning doing research on 12 Volt and 24 Volt solar energy system components. I was able to come up with a couple of possible systems that would be made up of components that would best balance cost with long term durability.

Possible 12 Volt system:
-(x2) Kyocera, 135 Watt, multi-crystalline panels (Total 270 Watts)
-Morningstar, 45 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Pulse Width Modulating charge controller
-Sima, 1500 Watt, Modified Sine Wave, inverter
-Trojan, 130 Amp Hour, Flooded, Deep Cycle, battery

I have not yet researched the cost of cables and wiring. The 12 Volt system actually came in a around $600 cheaper than the 24 Volt system I cooked up.

Possible 24 Volt system:
-(x2) Kyocera, 185 Watt, multi-crystalline panels (Total 370 Watts)
-Morningstar, 45 Amp, 12/24 Volt, Pulse Width Modulating charge controller
-Power Bright, 1500 Watt, Modified Sine Wave, inverter
-(x2)Trojan, 130 Amp Hour, Flooded, Deep Cycle, battery

While the 24 Volt system would provide an additional 100 Watts of power I am leaning toward the 12 Volt system since we believe that it would provide everything we will need to power the 30' yurt. We would be able to add an additional Battery and another 130 Watt panel at a later date.


We also had some fortune visiting a construction site today. It was at a home building site that we had noticed going up over the last few weeks. I stopped to ask if any of the wood was headed to the dump and was directed to a bin with a truck load of mixed sizes pine 2x4" and 2x8." We even found a few pieces that ranged into the 12-16' lengths. Will post some pictures tomorrow.

Solar panels and Wood burners

Our yurt plans are beginning to pleasantly remind me of "Neutral City" from Keiichi Sugiyama's animated film Origin. Yurts lend so well to the combination of old and new in their design. The basic structure has been in use since the time of Genghis Khan and yet we are incorporating things like cutting edge photovoltaic technology. We will have compact laptop computers and a home made composting toilet.

Juliana worked through some numbers again for us today and put together a sizing profile for the solar panels that will provide our electricity. She used the "Backwoods solar electric systems" book we received today as well as info from the web for references. This is the chart she came up with:

WATTS, Hrs/day, Watt hrs/day,

Food blender, 200, 1/25, 8,
Sundanzer fridge, 240, 1, 240,
Fluorescent bulbs, 15 (x2) = 30, 4, 120,
Computer, 100 (x2) = 200, 3, 600,
Printer/toothbrush/shaver, 90, 1/4, 22.5,

991 Watt-hours per day/6 = 165 watts
165 x 50% = 247 watts (to allow for solar module derating)
247 x 33% = 328 watts (to allow for lack of sunshine)

Sample system:
(x2) 130 watt Sunelec panels
Trojan 120ah 12 volt golf cart battery
Steca Prs 1515 charge controller
Wagan 1500 watt inverter

Awesome work Juliana!

With this information I was able to begin searching for deals on the system components. We have decided to look at buying the components separately rather than in a kit form. So far the best deal I have found is for a 180 watt monocrystalline panel at $425. Two of these panels would be enough to power everything in the 30' yurt and probably have enough left over to run the 20' workshop yurt we have in mind for Juliana's writing seminars.

We have also decided on a wood burning stove called the "Five Dog Stove." The Five Dog Stove is made by the Four Dog Stove company out of St. Francis MN. Check them out at fourdog.com. It was a suggestion Juliana discovered after researching some yurt forums and we both feel that it's the best thing out there for the price.

Sketches

These are a few sketches I have been working on. The first two are of a couple of warm up projects that I want to get into this winter. The first project is a easy to break down wooden truck ladder rack that will help us carry larger pieces of lumber. I also want to construct a couple of saw horses that break down for easy storage and made a preliminary sketch in the middle picture. The last picture is of a foundation and platform design that I have been working on today. The plan also includes a 10x28' front deck. The entire platform/deck will sit on concrete blocks. I have yet to determine whether we will incorporate a significant raise.

Two heads, or even three, are better than one

Above is a picture of Juliana and our daughter Luna. Juliana is using her brain power to figure out some of the math that was boggling my mind. Luna is helping. It's a good thing she ran through the inner liner calculations because I almost ordered 30 fewer square yards than we need.

The calculations that Juliana did also gave us an estimate of the amount of insulation material we will need. I spent most of the evening pouring over shopping results for for "Reflectix" double bubble double reflective insulation rolls and converting the varying sizes to determine the best price. At some point my thoughts turned towards wishing that someone made a generic version of the product but I had seen nothing about one. A quarter second google search later I had discovered www.insulation4less.com and a line of insulation products from the maker "Prodex." Prodex makes a double bubble double reflective insulation product that compares almost to a T with reflectix performance ratings. Prodex also only costs 1/2 as much as the most discounted rolls of Reflectix I could find. In addition Prodex also makes a "Total" insulation product that is supposed to last much longer than the foil bubble wrap insulators and has won awards for the best metal structure insulator. I even found a few reviews from people who have used it in their yurt and this stuff sounds amazing. The Total insulation also costs about $100 less than the best reflectix price I could find.

We also may have found a nice piece of property. It's just under an acre of land with a stream and lots of flat area for building. It is sandwiched between two wooded hills and will probably look amazing in the spring. It has an old single wide trailer on it that we could remodel to be a guest house/wood shop with a log cabin feel. We will be traveling down to visit family mid March and will make a day trip out of looking at the property and it's surrounding area.

Solar panels and interior cover

These two items have proven to be quite the math home work problems.

While researching the solar power set up we encountered the issue of sizing the system to our needs and were forced to begin thinking about what electrical luxuries are most important to our family. In a traditional home the number one consumer of electricity is the AC/furnace system. We can easily avoid this since we will be burning wood for heat and relying on passive solar design and ventilation for cooling. The number two traditional big electricity consumer, the refrigerator, is something that we are not ready to give up. We cook nearly all of our meals at home and generally keep our refrigerator moderately to well stocked. This will be by far the greatest consumer of our solar generated power. Aside from that we will use what I think of as very few electrical luxuries. We will need to power and charge two laptop computers, a minimal use of 2-3 lights in the evening, a toaster oven, possibly a coffee maker, and occasionally an electric tooth brush or shaver. We will likely add a small flat screen TV at some point. From the research we have done so far it looks like we will need something around a 160 watt system. It has been difficult to figure out what kind of energy needs our gadgets will have but I hope to do some more productive work on this aspect soon.

The interior and exterior cover layers have proven to be mostly a problem of conversion or lack of information on 30' yurts available. We are still waiting for our amazon book order to arrive and I am hoping that they will contain some direct guidelines pertaining to square yardage of material. There is a rather ingenious yurt calculator at http://www.simplydifferently.org/Yurt_Notes?page=1. My only issue is that everything on the site is in centimeters or meters and I am used to working in inches, feet, and yards. It has mostly meant a lot of plug and chug into conversion calculators. What I think I have come up with is a total of 135 square yards of surface space for the roof and wall of a 30' yurt. We will be getting the vinyl outer material free, thanks again to our local outdoor advertisers, and the inner lining should cost us between $150 and $175 from an online clearance sale. We considered using burlap sacks that would cost in the neighborhood of $80 but decided that the material is too dark and that a lighter natural color will help the feeling of space in the yurt. We found an unbleached 100% cotton fabric, pictured above, for 1.98 a yard and are thinking of going with it.

Aside from this we were able to salvage some excellent pieces of finished particle board that were being thrown away by a local clothing store. The boards have smooth finished surfaces and we are thinking that they will become the floor of our loft area. Juliana brought home some nice fruit crates today that we are thinking of making into cabinet storage in the kitchen area. We have also begun the process of cutting down our physical belongings in order to accommodate less storage and less clutter in the yurt.

Lessons from those who have gone before us

By fortunate chance Juliana ran into our midwife's apprentice, Connie, and discovered that she and her partner Matt have been on a similar journey to our own. They have been living in a 30' yurt, off the grid, for a while now and invited us to come over earlier tonight. They have done a lot of work on their own and now have a warm cozy yurt to call home. They have made good use of re-used furnishings, fallen timber, and even brought new life to an old wood burning stove after refurbishing it. Matt built a loft area for their bedroom using cedar branches he found on their property as posts and also erected a beautiful center support made from a trimmed cedar trunk. They plan to build a larger sustainable home in the future and are also in a constant process of digesting green living information.

From our visit I learned that we will really only need 36 rafter supports rather than the 60 called for in several of the plans I have looked at. This is good news for me since I am expecting the rafters to be some of the more difficult or pricey material pieces to come by. We also got to see a well thought out and simple shower/toilet system. I am relatively certain that we will not be worrying about building an additional outhouse structure and will be using a composting toilet instead.

The visit was exciting for us both. We left feeling energized and with many new ideas swimming through our heads.

Resource management in the lumber industry

I've spent the last few days looking at saw mill operations both online and in my surrounding community. In Len Charney's book, "Build a yurt," he suggests that mills are a good place to find nearly free 1x2" lumber for khanas and even cheap larger pieces of scrap lumber for the rafters. Granted the book was written in 1974 but I still expected to be able to find some freebies that would otherwise be going to the dump. This was not the case. Instead it seems that any scrap lumber is being sold as firewood or ground into saw dust. One of the men I spoke with informed me that he was making around $1,000 a week from the sale of his ground wood scrap. I am glad to see that the scrap is being used for something and not just ending up in the landfill in the same way that construction debris does. At the same time though this eliminates the primary source I had been expecting to be able to get cheap long cut lumber from.

If we were to buy the wood new, in rough cut pine or douglas fir, we could probably get everything we need for the yurt's frame for 2-3 hundred dollars. Feasible though this would be it does not really fit into the green design concepts. After all we are trying to do this in the most ecological way possible and I can not see where supporting the timber industry really follows our guiding construction principles.

I'm heavily leaning towards salvaged lumber but as one person put it "salvaged lumber is a good deal, provided you are the one doing the salvaging." From what I have found a lot of the lumber being sold from salvage operations is reclaimed antique hardwood which carries a heftier price than I would care to spend. In our most recent craigslist ad I offered to help dismantle existing structures, such as collapsing barns or outbuildings, in exchange for the lumber. In essence I would be conducting my own salvage operation. A single site could potentially provide all of the longer 6' and 16' wood beams we will need. Best of all no new trees would need to be cut.

Hunting for tools at the pawn shop

I spent this morning searching for a good deal on the last few tools that we needed. After searching through the Lowe's website and visiting a few local hardware stores I was sure that we would spend a hundred dollars or more if we bought things new. The local pawn shops were a different story. They were filled with gently used, and some not so gently used, tools. I spent a little time picking over the selections and came home only $48 lighter and with more tools than I had originally gone out in search of. In all I bought a heavy weight framing hammer, 16oz fiberglass handled curved claw hammer, slap stapler, 26" cross cut saw, leather tool belt with 4pc utility rig, and a 19" multi-compartment tool box. I will definitely be checking the pawn shops first from now on.

Recycled billboard vinyl

Last night I did a little research on materials for the weather proof outer covering of our yurt and discovered that some people have put recycled billboard prints to good use here. There is a whole sub industry of manufactured goods that are derived from recycled billboard vinyl. Industrial tarps, color guard flooring, purses, wallets, book bags, etc... are all using this material. The vinyl material comes in 14'x48' sections and is UV resistant, water proof, easy to work with, and best of all FREE! I looked up an outdoor advertiser in the yellow pages, went to their local office, and told them about our yurt project. The gentleman I spoke with informed me that they regularly make donations of the material and would be happy to give us however much we need. Right now the company is sending all the extra vinyl they have to the relief effort in Haiti so we will need to wait until the middle of March when they will have a surplus again. The only catch is that we can not display the advertisement on the outside of our yurt.

The end of a long wait

We were finally able to pick up Juliana's wedding band today! It was made for her by a local jeweler and features forget me knots and willow branches. It has a nice organic quality to the design and suits Juliana perfectly. (picture to come)

Foraging for materials

Earlier this week we picked up a 1984 Dodge 150 pickup truck (pictures to come) for $700. So far it has proved to be an oldy but a goody and has allowed us to begin looking for materials. It drives like a tank and is slow to do everything, starting, acceleration, braking, but feels solid and has already nearly hauled it's purchase price in salvaged lumber.

We have only been dumpster diving at construction sites for a few days but have already learned a few interesting things. To begin with it seems that 2x4" is pretty expendable at large work sites. We filled up the back of the truck with 2x4" after searching at only two sites. There are lots of short cuts, as could be expected, but oddly enough some 6' or longer pieces can be found as well. I actually found one 24' board. It also seems that asking permission to do this puts the project manager in a sticky insurance position. If they were to give a salvager permission they would become technically liable for any injuries which that person sustained while on the construction site. It felt like the various project managers who I spoke with were saying "don't ask permission" so at the next site we checked I just jumped right into the dumpster. I found that all of the people we encountered working at the site were either indifferent to our presence or offered help by pointing out where some particularly good pieces were at. On a return trip to the same site I found a neatly parceled bunch of treated 1"x2"x6' boards at one end of the dumpster. It kind of felt like someone had left them there for easy access.

I began downloading yurt foundation and deck plans last night. There is a nice assortment of free plans on various prefab yurt websites. The sets from Colorado yurt company look very detailed. The Rainier plans seem very user friendly. I think that this needs to be the next serious research portion of the project. We are planning to order a couple of yurt building books from Amazon.com and are hoping to find some useful info there as well.

Tonight I have been putting together some drawings of a few wood building warm up projects. I learned my lesson after carting around a 24' salvaged piece of lumber today. I tried to pull in at the University parking garage only to discover that the board wouldn't pass the 8' clearance. We need a ladder rack for the truck but I refuse to spend several hundred dollars on one. After looking at some of the designs online I was able to modify a removable wooden ladder rack plan to serve our purposes. It will be using a tongue and groove design to allow for relatively quick release of the horizontal beams and the vertical supports will attach to 2x2" posts that will slide down into the sides of the truck bed. I also modified some sawhorse plans to make a 3pc sawhorse that can be broken down easily and only requires 2x4" and nails or screws.

Almost forgot to mention that we found some yurt builders who have been using the recycled vinyl from billboard signs as an exterior waterproof layer. The stuff is super cheap and seems to hold up well. We also discovered that recycled concrete blankets can be a cheap insulation material.

Family time

In considering our current project, and looking at the other people who have built or are building yurts from scratch, I see one stand out difference. That our project is a family project and not a bachelor project. I mean to say that the stories I have read up to this point seem to be those of the single guy constructing a yurt in his spare time. I feel that one perspective we have to offer in this journey is how do you do this as a family unit? How do we incorporate family time into what can be an all consuming project? What choices do we make to facilitate togetherness during and throughout this process?

It is easy to get caught up in the project. There is so much research to do, so many places to check out, that we can end up going non stop for several days in a row. This last week has been particularly crazy with Juliana sick and then Luna sick. We were rushing around gather tool donations, rushing around to check out trucks. All of this in the midst of our normal, already full, school and work schedules. We both stopped tonight and, 5 month old daughter Luna permitting, crashed out on the couch for a few. It felt pretty great. I feel like we are accomplishing a lot but we are also going in lots of different directions. Juliana especially has been pulling extra time with Luna so that I can run project related errands. We need to set some time aside to decompress now and then. We also need to set aside some time for Juliana to get away on her own.

Rescued from the city dump

I forgot to mention, previously, that the tools we received would have gone to the city dump. The lady who gave them to us was in the process of moving and didn't want to take the time to sort through her tool shed. She had seen our ad's asking for donations and decided to give the contents to someone in need. Lucky us! In one fell swoop we received nearly all the tools we need that we didn't previously own.

Included in the donation: 12' 7' 5' and 4' tall aluminum step ladders, 10" tall table saw with extra blades, 24" 9" and 8" L-squares, 2' aluminum level, 1' wood level, 10lb sledge hammer, 5lb mattock, post hole digger, shovel, 2 strait line chalk reels, 10" tin snips, 10" steel snips, 70pc ratcheting screwdriver set, combination crimper and wire striper, 7" strap wrench, wire cutter, putty knives of various size, large groove joint pliers, 18 range multi-tester, respirators, goggles, rosin core solder gun, 2 bow saws, caulking gun, files of various size, circular saw with blade assortment, jig saw with blade assortment, jewelers saw, router with bit assortment, drop light, extension cord, interior and exterior electrical outlets, light switches, outlet plate covers, 100+ drill bits and grinding accessories, 3 hand wood planers, ball pein hammer, small hatchet, 3 C-clamps, 12 assorted concrete troughs and plainers, 6 wrenches of various size, small chisel, 2 canvas painters drop cloths, 50' rope, oil can, 2 antique hand crank drills, 15'x24' black canvas tarp, painting supplies including brushes sponges squeegees, 1 five gallon bucket of various hardware pcs, and an LED flashlight.

Thank you again Shelley!



We still need a 26" ripsaw, saw horses, protractor, heavy duty stapler, cable cutter, and a couple of heavy claw hammers. But I think that’s about it.

Today we got to meet up with a local man, Chris, who has a 16' Pacific yurt sitting on a nice secluded piece of property not far from us. It was reassuring to see the simplicity of the frame construction. I will probably be using 2"x4" for the rafters now rather than the 1"x3" boards I had been thinking of. Chris also tipped us off to a potential exterior material, recycled billboard print, that can be purchased in 14'x48' section for $25. We need to do some further research on the durability of the material but it looks similar to a water proof canvas.

A Gift of tools

Wow, I'm honestly a little overwhelmed by Shelley's donation of tools. There are now very few tools that we need. Tonight I lashed four ladders to the top of the car, including a sturdy twelve footer, and filled the trunk and seats with five gallon buckets of tools. We now have a circular saw, table saw, jig saw, router, drill, level, L-square, shovel, trench digger, post hole digger, sledge hammer, wood working tools, concrete tools, electrical equipment, antique hand tools, ...the list goes on. Tomorrows task will be sorting through everything and taking stock of anything we still need. I feel like we are going to need a work truck just to haul the tools around. I will need to decide on some outdoor storage options for the yurt. Maybe I should put some thought into a raised, semi enclosed, storage area underneath the yurt. I will post some pictures of the entire donation tomorrow.

Excitement over donated tools!

On Sunday we will be picking up our first goods donated to the yurt venture. A local woman, Shelley, who saw our ad on both Craigslist and the Bloomington freecycle network, has offered a myriad of tools including saw horses, ladders, hand tools, saws, and everything else in her tool shed. We also set up a meeting with a man, Chris, who has offered to show us his 16’ pacific yurt on Monday.

I spent some time this morning searching for a “bar carrier” roof rack for the car. It is a simple design, and not rated above 150lbs of weight, but should allow us to transport salvaged materials without having to invest in a pickup truck at this time. It looks like the best place to find the carriers are at auto part and accessory stores and it should cost around $30.

We have been talking about ordering some blue prints as well. Bill Coperthwaite has some really ingenious designs, "they look like yurt palaces" my partner Juliana exclaimed, and the 30’ plans sell for around $50.

I spent a little time looking at construction sites yesterday and ran across an apartment site that looks to have a lot of lumber laying around in big piles. Made an attempt to talk to the foreman, or superintendent, but he was away at lunch. The guys working at the site were friendly and helpful. I will return early next week to try some salvaging there.

We also came across an interesting site, tumbleweedtinyhouses.com, where we got an idea to use a ceramic water dispenser that sits above the sink instead of running plumbing for water. We might also adopt a similar idea for the shower. Something like an outdoor indoor shower.

Down the Rabbit-Hole 1/28/2010

Over the last week we have really cemented the idea of buying a piece of land and building a Yurt down in the Blue Ridge Mountains. We started our research online and I am in the process of reading two books, the first of several to come, “Build a Yurt” by Len Charney, and “Tipis and Yurts” by Blue Evening Star. Build a Yurt has some interesting design concepts but might be a little out dated. Tipis and Yurts has a nice simple design and an easy to follow materials list. There is not much detailed information about Building at the 30’ size and we are forming an idea about writing a book about our experience.

We made up an ad for materials that we hope people will donate to us and posted it on both Craigslist and the Bloomington Freecycle Network. Our first response was from a man named John who has some experience building the traditional style Ger and who offered to meet up with us to talk about the process. I also plan to make a flyer out of the ad and post it at the recycling center, Bloomingfoods, etc.

Today we spent about an hour and a half touring some home construction sites. So far it looks like there is a lot of smaller 2”x4” lumber pieces and particle board being thrown away. We need to get a roof rack on the car so that we can start salvaging.