Introduction

We moved to our new place about a year and a half ago, in June of 2007. We bought 10 acres of raw land, a couple of miles north of a rural village, whose economy depends on apples and cattle. The property is a south facing hill at 6300 feet elevation, with clay soil, juniper and oak trees, and lots of rocks.

We started off with no shelter, water, electricity, garden, etc. and have slowly been building up each system. Our set up as of right now is basic, but functional:

• Shelter: a 20'x12' unfinished, ferro-cement vault that will eventually be divided into a hallway, bathroom and power house.
• Water: 180 square feet of arched catchment area and 1500 gallons of storage tank. We get an average of about 25 inches of annual rainfall. Our grey water (showers, dishes and laundry – all of which are done by hand) goes to the garden.
• Energy: a 100 watt wind generator, 75 watts of solar, 8 x 6 volt deep cycle batteries. We have the house wired with both ac and dc electricity. Our fridge and stove currently run off propane and our heat is a wood burning stove.
• Food: 800 square feet of garden, which we double dig and compost heavily, in order to loosen up the clay. We have wheat, garlic and greens planted at the moment, after a very full summer crop. We also have chickens for eggs and occasional meat.
• Waste: We compost everything organic, including human waste. And we save almost all our other trash to reuse in some way or other.
• Transport: Unfortunately we are still dependent on gasoline, though we don't often leave our place. This is something we definitely want to rectify as soon as we get a chance!

Our eventual goal is to become totally self sustainable, but one thing that we have learned so far is that there is a lot to do and it all takes time. So our motto, while we enjoy our life and slowly get things done, is “little by little”. This blog is designed to keep track of that gradual progress.