DUE WEST

After serious consideration, we decided to move closer to where the action is !

West Wales is a hotbed of self built ecological homes. So moving within 1/2 hr drive of Lammas eco-village, and living and working on an organic smallholding, seemed like an ideal way of building skills, experimenting with permaculture and gaining perspective on building our space of love.

Our new abode is a small holding, consisting of mature broadleaf woodlands and organic pasture, nestled in a valley near the river Teifi. The farm is currently in a period of development, with vegetable beds being extended each year and new infrastructure such as poly tunnels being installed. The ultimate aim of the owners to make the entire farm off grid and as self sustainable as possible.

We have been working and living here for 18 months and have gained many useful skills that will stand us in good stead for the development of Maitreya.

The next series of posts will fill in the gaps of the last 18 months and will eventually become up to date. Be patient reader, Weddings, Births, Deaths and a myriad of projects are going to follow.. but all in good time..

..Life is unfolding as I type, and documenting it all is like chasing the tide.

green woodwork, chutney and rumtoph

We have been trying our hand at green woodwork recently. Making various tools (mallets clubs and wedges) from firelogs using a handsaw and an axe. Through reading about ceder shakes and splitting logs we have found a fantastic method of producing some lovely carved objects, the front yard has since become a woodworking shop, with shavings and split logs everywhere. great fun.

Our next venture may be the construction of a pole lathe, which is essentially a pedel operated woodlathe that turns wood with a nylon string on foot power rather than electricity, think old singer sewing machine with a wooden boom. 

The chutney making season is fully upon us and sloe gin and rumtoph are all underway, over christmas we may have our first go at homebrewing. It will be a jolly season make no mistake. below are a couple of our tried and tested recipes.

SWEET TOMATO AND APPLE CHUTNEY:

chop up two medium onions into a large saucepan or pot

add half a pan of finely chopped and peeled apples

top up with cherry (or chopped normal) tomatoes

add 500 – 600g of sugar and 300ml cyder vinegar

heat slowly until all the sugar melts

lower the heat to simmer keep an eye on it, stirring regularly

if after 5 hours of stirring regularly the chutney has not thickened, decant the vinigar from the top with a ladle and stir until thick

use any decanted vinegar as a base for next batch.

(makes about 5 small jars)

–

SPICED RUMTOPH

 place black/elder/goose/straw/logan berries into a stone jar with a loose fitting lid (a vase with a saucer on the top would do)

add a cinniman stick or star anise to inhance the flavour 

cover the berries with brown sugar

cover the berries with spiced rum

keep adding berries and sugar and rum until jar is full

keep jar in cool place – wait 3 monhs before seiving contents* into bottle – best served by a crackling fire, with friends and family on comfy seats.

*contents can be used to make a LETHAL crumble – not for the faint hearted/livered

Another project in the pipeline is the contruction of a woodburning stove, we have managed to salvage two little gas bottles and some flue piping and will be getting the welding torch out and having a crack at a conversion project WATCH THIS SPACE !

looking back through our photos from the trip this one stood out as being quite funny and relevant, perhaps we really will be fuelling eveything with wood in years to come !

a ‘fuelling’ station in Austria

credit where credit’s due

This blog exists to provide information for anyone wishing to embark on a similar project. As mentioned in our first post, we would not be doing this without the wealth of information we have found online that has inspired us to take control of our lives and take active steps to becoming self sufficient and closer to nature.

This particular post is essentially a bibliography, It keeps growing and as we find more inspirational books and websites we will keep updating it ! We hope this is useful. we have thrown in a few more photographs of Maitreya to break up the text.

a quiet moment on our first trip to Maitreya

websites 

all websites are shown in the categorized long list on the right of the blog. However we feel it is worth mentioning some really cracking ones that we always return to. We thank all the authors of these websites for their constant inspiration, taking the time to write a (non advertised) website is a wholly selfless act, this is what the internet exists for !

No matter where we stray online, we always find our way back to Simon Dales low impact woodland home and Tony Wrench’s that roundhouse for assurance and information. We also follow the Lamma’s eco-community closely. Since this project is happening now and is evolving constantly.

The articles and fact sheets put out by the low impact living initiative are fantastic, very easy to follow and generously described. The website dew drop provides brilliant information on water purification, finding springs and how to begin ‘pioneering’ a water system from underground streams to tap water.

Some great ‘how to’ guides can be found at the steward community woodland a great source of information for anyone living in or near woodland. Ianto Evans (a self builder) has published a book on very efficient wood burning stoves and his website rocket stoves gives away a few fundimentals from his book.

If this is not enough to get you dashing out to buy some hand tools and a tent then take a look at the long list on the right and dip in to a few of the books below – and keep checking back ! for even when we have our small holding established we will still be learning and finding new things to look at.

superb view across the hills on our first morning

books 

We recently bought two books by Lloyd Kahn (author of counterculture book Shelter) named Homework and Builders, both are full to bursting with photographs of self built houses and dwellings with interviews and practical information for anyone wishing to ‘take up thy hammer and build’ probably the best £30 we have spent this year !

We are amassing a small library of books on growing, building and permaculture and would like to make shorter work of the research we have made in finding them. All the books listed below are our favorite reference books, we keep coming back to them and have shaped the way we approach our project.

building :

HOMEWORK by Lloyd Kahn : isbn 978 0 936070 33 9 – examples of owner / builders and their homes, with plans and schematics and plenty of very good information on building naturally, remotely and on small as well as large scale,

BUILDERS by Lloyd Kahn : isbn 978 0 936070 43 8 – same as above but focusing on the pacific west coast of USA

BUILDING WITH COB by A Weismann / K Brice : isbn 978 1 903 998 72 4 – a step by step guide to building with cob, this will be our constant companion while building our own home.

BUILDING WITH STRAW BALES by Barbara Jones : isbn 978 1 900 322 51 5 – focusing on outreaching to the building industry, can be used as a step by step guide for building with straw bale, good companion book to the above.

GREEN WOODWORK by Mike Abbott : isbn 0 946819 18 1 – great introduction to woodwork, plans for a pole lathe ( no electricity ) and great resource for the novice on types of wood and their uses.

smoking our socks over the fire

gardening :

ORGANIC GARDENING by Charles Dowding : isbn 978 1 903998 91 5 – introduction to the ‘no dig way’ includes plans for raised vegetable beds, fantastic reference book, read this book even before starting a garden.

ASK MOTHER NATURE by Ellen Vande Visse : isbn 978 1 84409 163 8 – a conscious gardeners guide, whimsical and full of useful tips especially on companion planting and composting, explains how to warn plants before cutting and harvesting

ALLOTMENT MONTH BY MONTH by Alan Buckingham : 978 1 4053 4085 4 – very clear year planner for managing a veg plot, really useful reference book, just ignore the advise about spraying things with chemicals

THE PERMACULTURE GARDEN by Graham Bell : isbn 0 7225 2783 7 – full of very good clear diagrams focusing on improvements and establishing permaculture on a local level, good easy reading

wood campsite, summer 2011

sustainable living :

21ST CENTURY SMALLHOLDER by Paul waddington : isbn 978 1 905 81116 8 – how to smallhold in a variety of locations from city centre to isolation, describes animal rearing and veg growing in a realistic fashion.

SIMPLY SUSTAINABLE HOMES by Tim Pullen isbn : 978 1 905959 044 – good beginners overview of building sustainable homes covers solar, wind, hydro, different building techniques and compares them realistically to each other.

THE OFF GRID HANDBOOK by Alan & Gill Bridgewater isbn : 978 1 84773 158 6 – Similar to above but gives example of seven types of off grid energy applied in urban, rural and isolated scenarios, very good for novices.

THE MONEYLESS MAN by Mark Boyle isbn : 978 1 85168 754 1 – Mark Boyles story of living for a year without money. Includes useful information on how to survive on very little and reinforces the maxim ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Covers a wide range of topics including freeconomy, transition movement, foraging, off grid living and pay it forward.   

other :

WABI SABI by Leonard Koren : isbn 978 0 9814846 0 0 – forgotten how many times I have read this one, it is wearing out ! brilliant description of a difficult Japanese concept – how to appreciate the beauty in the simple, the everyday, the natural and the dilapidated. It is a holistic aesthetic sensibility summarized perfectly in a sweet little 90 page book. I never travel without it. (xmatthew)

surreal encounter with a concrete Pac-Man

humanure and tree felling – SUMMER 2011

humanure

Currently our bath taps leak, it will take time for our landlords to source a plumber, so in the meantime we let the relentless trickle fill an unsightly yellow bucket which we flush the loo with, this simple action does remind us how much water is used just to remove our ‘waste’ from our flushing toilet system, no better reason than to go ‘dry flush’ if managed properly human waste becomes ‘humanure’ that can be dug it right into the vegetable patch – Which is SAFE. if this confuses, excites, or even worries you, please consult the HUMANURE HANDBOOK to either enlighten, encourage or reassure you that dry composting toilets are not only safe but also cheap and simple to operate.

We have returned from our first working holiday at Maitreya, where we have managed to build a composting latrine, confirm presence of drinking water, ID the trees and plants, dig a fire pit, fell a small grove of trees and most importantly meet the neighbours.

Slept in a standard 2 birth dome tent beneath a heavy 4m by 3.5m canvas cover that allowed us to light a fire without worrying about the rain, the cover was tied to adjacent trees and secured to the floor with giant tent pegs, we will certainly be making and using more of these temporary shelters , this one cost £40 in canvas and a good 3 evenings of hand sewing to put together, highly recommended !

the first morning at camp

Maitreyan trees : LIME, FALSE ACACIA, SPRUCE, WILD CHERRY, WILLOW, ALDER, ONE SOLITARY OAK and couple we cannot ID at present, if you know the type of tree by the leaves below, please let us know 🙂

leaves of the mystery trees

The building of the composting loo was a two day job, from sourcing and transporting the materials to final completion, we have included a photograph and a rough plan of the construction, that was reasonably simple, hampered only by the steep inclination of the hill, on level ground this is a very simple task for anyone with a handful of tools and a little patience. We used a small hand saw, hammer, 1″ chisel, length of rope, screwdriver, hand drill + bits, a length of rope, 4″ nails and a dozen screws. A standard toilet seat was screwed to a framework that positions the user above a heavy duty rubble sack, that can be flushed with sawdust / woodshaving / shredded newspaper, in fact, anything dry and absorbent. When the rubble sack is full, the framed toilet seat can se swapped to the adjacent sack, when both are full, empty the first onto the compost heap and the cycle repeats itself, this video of Tony Wrench managing his composter was our inspiration. Our roof was made from a heavy tarpaulin and now provides an excellent place to store the firewood for next spring, we may well place a turf roof and a door on composting loo II.

dry compost loo doubling up as wood store

a schematic of construction

a diagram of the existing structure 

Our campsite is now a civilized one !

tree felling

The cutting of young trees was certainly a heartbreaking one, but with the knowledge that they had been warned and were being used sensibly and locally, made for cheerful work. With no electricity or chainsaws, all work was done with hand tools, a sharp axe and bow saw were adequate enough. Cutting branches off the main trunks and piling for drying, any small branches were cut to length for firewood. On our return we should be able to use the wood from the felled trees for construction. The foliage was also stripped off and piled to make an ‘eco boy toilet’ – composting heap.

the entrance to Maitreya

Rosehip, Hawthorn and Sloe are everywhere ! so next spring we will have a large pruning task, to tame the plants down to a harvestable state. Our next trip will be a busy one, since we want to begin the construction of our first dwelling, we have established where our little roundhouse will be situated and will be spending the winter researching its construction. We have forged a relationship with this place, and we just cannot wait to get back.

our work here is done – until our return

‘put another log on the fire’

10 days away from our extended road trip to Czech. Where we can begin the tasks of measuring, thinning, clearing and planning the use of our plot.

Wild camping and one pot cooking on an open fire seem really appealing when the evenings are hot and the river water is warm. Yet never far from our minds are the winters, which are deep and bitter, like winters of old. It could be a challenge to keep the cold at bay. However, wood does warm you twice, and with yearly coppicing, felling, sawing, splitting, carrying, splitting, chopping and slow burning, there may be no opportunity to cool off.

a roof you could ski off ! Cottage in Beskydy region

We have been struggling to find a use for wood ash, as it is extremely alkali, the idea of soap making – using animal fats – doesn’t appeal to our vegetarian tendencies. However with a bit of research we found that it makes a fantastic light abrasive cleaner, (keep the pots shiny) and more importantly, grit for melting compacted snow and ice ! This year we produced a binload from an auxiliary burner, so we are predicting a good three bins will be ready for keeping maitreya’s track clear (and pots gleaming) throughout the cold months.

We will be piling up more than fire wood and ash, heaps of horse manure will also be a by-product of our small holding, we have a hunch that the acidity of the manure and the alkali of the ash will be a good balance for improving the rather clay like soil. If anyone has any other helpful uses for wood ash, please, let us know.

blue sky chill – our little caravan in winter

There will be plenty to write about on our return to the UK in July, the snow can wait – since the sun beckons !

from the ground up

There is an idea that when we travel – no matter how far – our bodies feel the physical distance, centuries ago humans walked everywhere, making everything slower and more challenging. Today, even driving, flying or floating we feel the walked distance as a distant memory.

1800 km would take two weeks on foot, six days on a bicycle, 19 hours by car and 3 hours by airplane.

I would recommend the trains in Czech Republic, they run reliably and tickets are very affordable and if you are lucky enough to catch a pre 1990’s train, you may get your own cabin to yourself. Pull the window up and stick your head out, and watch the countryside roll by, at a sensible pace.

After finding a place to stay, we woke to a cloudless sunny morning, the sunlight noticeably stronger. We got the paperwork signed and drove to the hills to walk the boundaries of MAITREYA.

from the track over the valley to the hills, daisies in full bloom 

The main road winds along the bottom of the hills, slowly ascending through a small settlement, bearing right up a steeper clay track, the view of the surrounding hills opens up as we passed the houses.

looking South East – down hill – at about 550m

The plot has remained untouched for 60 years, this almost guarantees us organic soil and a good diverse ecology. The aspect of the land was always going to be important, as we will be relying on passive solar heating and protection from the harsh north wind in the winter. The siting of the dwelling will be determined by the landscape to avoid unnecessary adaptions to the environment.

One of our fears was a lack of local building materials and water, 3 existing wells and wet sink holes indicate a plentiful supply of ground water and there are more than enough trees to harvest for building and still retain its healthy ecology.

The only remaining resource to acquire is a sustainable supply of firewood.

It is always worth checking the regulations, restrictions and expectations of local authorities. The history of the land is going to determine many of these things – MAITREYA was previously pasture land for grazing , as a result it is classified as permanent grassland and is protected by the local natural trust (CHKO), who regulate the building and use of the land in the region. They will support any landowner who restores their land to its original state. Since we wish to graze horses, any application should be supported. There are financial incentives for landowners to follow seasonal meadow management including haymaking and grazing. We hope to work with the CHKO and will submit a full detailed proposal by the end of the year. Meanwhile, thinning the young trees and restoring the grassland can begin this summer.

view north – up the hill – the wood has encroached steadily creating a glade

This summer we are planning a fortnight’s work on the plot, in the next week or two I’ll be popping down to St Nicks market to acquire some heavy cotton duck or canvas to design temporary dwelling for us to inhabit, as we thin out the saplings and plan the project. Wood for construction will need to be left to season, so serious plans will need to be made for the roundhouse before we leave, as some large trees may need to be felled and cut to length this summer.

WARNING PLANTS : all plants need warning before you cut them, we will give all our trees fair warning before felling them. leaving the stumps a year before digging any up for firewood. Although this sounds long-winded, we consider all living things as ‘beings’ rather than ‘things’ and will treat them as such. According to advice from Ellen Vande Visse. ( ASK MOTHER NATURE chapter 26 pp76 -77 ) Trees require at least 4 days notice before being cut as they need to send their energy down to their roots and can hold this energy below ground for up to 7 days to avoid shock, this gives a 3 day window in which to cut the trees. Smaller plants like small shrubs or weeds require only a couple of days notice – whether you value the spiritual aspect of this advice or not, the forward planning makes your work easier and more relaxing – as you have enough time to make sure you have everything ready before getting the axe out. 

For every mature tree we cut down for construction, we will replace with apple, walnut, apricot or cherry trees, we ask anyone wishing to buy us a wedding present to consider a fruit tree sapling. A ‘family and friends’ orchard would be the greatest gift for a budding small holder.

The broadleaf forests that used to cover the highlands have been slowly replaced with non indigenous conifers, we hope to use most of the pine and spruce for construction, and thin out the overgrown woodland areas to strengthen the presence of the broadleaf trees in the area.

Broadleaf trees can be coppiced in the cold season for firewood – as they will re-grow – if we make sensible choices in these early stages we can develop a permacultural system that can sustain itself – and us – for decades to come.

A 160yr old ( broad leafed ) lime tree, this one will never be felled. 

A water test will need to done to confirm the presence of healthy ( pesticide free ) drinking water, if this can be confirmed we can begin plans for a catchment filtration tank, DEW DROP ( see links on the right ) provide excellent instructions on these projects, the anonymous founder of the site deserves credit for all the great advise on the topic. I look forward to putting some of the plans into action.

Its going to a summer of excitement and action, we will have to keep ourselves in check and make sure we don’t fall victim of haste. Keep reminding ourselves to work slowly and let the place determine our actions, from the ground up.

 

MAITREYA ?

Hello.

We are Matthew and Martina,

We wish to share our project, simply because we have benefited greatly from many blogs and websites over the years, and we hope that this can help anyone researching sustainable building, organic farming and the quietude of low impact living.

We would like this to be both a diary, and a source of practical information.We will post photographs where possible, and disclose plans and diagrams of projects we undertake. We are constantly learning, and as time goes by, we should be able to provide advise on ‘what worked’  and ‘what didn’t’ as we build and plant and sow.

MAITREYA comes from the Sanskrit word meaning ‘loving kindness’  and it is the chosen name for our future small holding on a 1 hectare plot of land in Czech Republic. (maitreya is also the name of the best vegetarian restaurant in the UK)

In a fortnight we will stand on this land for the first time and begin planning the project. It will be the culmination of 5 years of experiences, revelations and decision-making, that has shaped our vision for our future.

In 2009 we moved from a rented two bedroom house in London into a 7″ by 21″ caravan on a working farm near Bristol. This was an experiment in reducing our impact on our environment, living in a small dwelling and learning how to grow our own food, build basic structures, and climatise ourselves to a slower, simpler and more fulfilled lifestyle.

The Caravan : our porch going up and the garden going in

(we had to wood clad and stuff straw underneath the caravan to keep the heat in)

Land plots in the UK are beyond financial reach for most people (let alone a property to put on them!) the housing market , like many systems of modern society, is totally inaccessible and unsustainable. The decision to move to Czech where land remains a sensible price* was born from a necessity as well as a desire.

We are planning to build our own house, from the ground up, using low impact building techniques such as dry stone walling, straw bale, cob and timber frame building, employing materials from the locality and treading lightly on the land we have available to us.

Our small holding will be centred around the keeping of horses, chickens and vegetable growing – based on Organic ethics and Permacultural design. We aim to meet all our household needs – off grid – by growing fuel and food and drawing our own water.

We wish to start a family and by choosing this lifestyle, afford to spend the majority of our time with our children and our land. To found a family domain that can support itself through the transition we all will have to make – beyond fossil fuels – into a sustainable future.  

All our actions on this land will be performed with loving kindness – hence the name MAITREYA

* BUYING & OWNING LAND IN CZECH REPUBLIC : Currently Czech Law only permits Czech Nationals to own land in Czech Republic. This we found appealing, as this prevents foreign investors creating a real estate /  housing market problem. Since Martina is Czech, our land will be in her name.