First Nations Ontario: A hello to all

Discussion in 'Introduce Yourself Here' started by Native Girl, Mar 31, 2017.

  1. Native Girl

    Native Girl New Member

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    Hello all!
    Within the past month I would say I've begun an unexpected personal journey that began with a leisure contemplation of small homes for people on a very tight budget.

    I'm in the process of a transition in life where I thought I was just looking for a space to call my home for myself and my three children.
    Initially I was looking at mobile, prefab and tiny homes. Then I happened upon information about yurts which led me to looking at alternative homes. Through this process I came across cob building and it resonated within my soul. Every aspect of it called to me in a very unexpected way. From the sense of it coming from the earth, leaving a very light footprint and environmental impact to the opportunity to unleash my creativity and inner artistry. I found myself hungering to work with it and it felt like the process would become a part of my own spiritual healing. I was sadly disappointed to find that a complete cob home isn't realistic for my climate and came across straw bale construction with cob interior and earthen floor concepts.

    Through my research, I find I keep coming back to the vast experience and knowledge that exists within the permaculture forums. Each bits of info I find keeps drawing me further and further away from the grid. Realistically, I know I'm not ready for the full off-grid homesteading way of life, but I am dedicated to making conscious decisions to live more lightly.

    I look forward to the generously shared knowledge and experiences within these forums as I begin the next journey in my life. I hope that as I go through my journey that I can help other people who may be in a similar situation as myself.
     
    Last edited: Mar 31, 2017
  2. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    Hello Native Girl and welcome,
    I, too, would love to build with cob ... however there is no clay within reasonable distance from my home. Trying to use what local materials I have (which includes straw!). Have you begun building with straw bales yet? I did complete a straw bale chicken coop last autumn.
    Looking forward to following along with your discoveries.
     
  3. Native Girl

    Native Girl New Member

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    Hello Ganda1f,

    Thank you for the welcome.

    No. As of yet, I haven't begun construction. I'm at the point where I'm doing a bunch of research to get an idea of what I realistically can do and what my options are. As a novice builder, my goal is to do as much as I can myself with very little money. Part of this process is seeing what would be the minimal budget I can get away with given my lack of building experience. I'll be needing a loan for this and I really want to keep it minimal.

    My thoughts are to plan on doing my building in phases. (Ie. Start with a one room dwelling with a loft, shed/storage unit and an outhouse)

    The area where I live has notoriously terrible soil for agriculture (while the surrounding areas are considered Canada's most fertile lands...straw bales should be fairly easy to get). The ground is full of clay. I'm planning on doing some digging to get some soil samples within the next couple of weeks and experiment with some tests to see if it's suitable for cob.

    A chicken coop? How did it go?
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2017
  4. 9anda1f

    9anda1f Administrator Staff Member

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    The chicken coop turned out great and we had some very comfortable birds this past winter (which didn't get above freezing day-or-night for nearly three months).
    Since I was doing it ad hoc, I found that tightly stacking the bales (on some recycled vapor barrier) first, allowed me to frame in the outside to perfectly contain the insulating stack. I put a small hoop house on the west side to give them more floorspace and a covered entryway to keep the snow from drifting up against the "human door".
    Working in phases is a great idea; with each phase your skills will improve and your design will evolve.
    Have you considered a composting toilet in your outhouse? (download each chapter free here: https://humanurehandbook.com/contents.html )
    Good luck on your soil test! Have you tried this? https://extension.oregonstate.edu/lane/sites/default/files/documents/jartest.pdf
     
  5. Native Girl

    Native Girl New Member

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    That's great to hear!

    I've indeed been looking at composting toilets and have the book as part of my library collection of must reads.

    I haven't seen that test. Thanks for the suggestion!
    These are the books in my current collection. If you have any others to suggest, I would love to check them out Screenshot_20170407-103828.png
     
  6. BajaJohn

    BajaJohn Member

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    An alternative to cob building may be Adobe, given the clay soil you have (https://desertphile.org/adobe/brick.htm and https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/making-adobe-bricks-zmaz81mazraw). There is some discussion in these pages of using emulsified asphalt to waterproof the bricks - which may also be applicable to cob construction. There is also discussion of Adobe compliance with building codes. Not really sure if any of it applies to your location but it may provide food for thought.
    Don't be too discouraged by your soil. I grew up in England in a region with similar amounts of rainfall and heavy clay soil. Gardening there is popular and quite successful provided you amend the soil. It takes work but realizes rewards in beautiful, productive gardens.
     

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