What we do

First off, we are building a few more houses ... working out energy systems, starting with rotational grazing of cattle and laying hens.

There is no shortage of things we'd like to see happen but we remind ourselves that this is a lifestyle not an occupation. We value our leisure as much as our Earth Garden!

3 Perspectives guide our thinking ....

* to be good to ourselves

* to be good to the earth we steward

* to be good for people who are worthy of support

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What we do

We are just getting started. The good news is we have a great blank slate .... the bad news .... its blank!

It's going to be a hoot imagining, designing and creating our spaces and ventures.

Build it Up Buttercup

We are building small, private, self contained cottages using a variety of methods. While not being up to city specs or having luxury finishes, they are climate appropriate and very comfortable. One technique we are pioneering is to lay empty stubby bottles in mud between poles. The bottles take up a lot of space that would otherwise be heavy mud, they are easily available and are super strong. Mud is usually hard work ... this makes it a lot easier. A caravan is a good first step, and we all pitch in to build each house. Tools and materials are supplied by the owner.

Animals Moooving

We graze cattle on a "paddock shift" or rotational basis. This means that a small area is grazed intensively each day. As the cattle move on the laying hens follow. They destroy the cow dung which would other wise make that bit of pasture unavailable to cows and eat the maggots and bugs that have used it as a nursery. At night the chickens roost in their mobile home, and are released to the paddock the next morning after laying time.

Gone Fishing

Aquaponics requires a bit of work to set it up but once operating it produces an abundance of fish and lots of veges too. We supplement our commercial feed by growing earthworms and Black Soldier Fly larvae, trapping lots of termites in rolls of newspaper, and source restaurant scraps for them also. Circulating the water through growing beds of veges keeps the water clean and grows great veg, some of which we feed back to the fishies.

Shared Leisure

We like to spend some of our free time together, doing all sorts of stuff. A lot of talking and planning, A bit of music and singing, we enjoy table tennis, darts, cards, and carpet bowls as activities. Its a good thing we grow such good food as we are experts at eating it. We have a large kitchen dining facility that is where most meals are prepared and eaten. Of course, each home has simple kitchen facilities also, but often its easier to just use the pantry and all the gear in one place.

What Else

We don't know. We should learn to brew beer. We'll probably get into some honey production soon, that might get us into brewing mead. A pond / spa pool set-up where we move water between the pond and spa each day, warming it as it goes in winter, would be nice. But what else is up to the people who stay there to suggest. The owner will fund anything that can pay for itself in 5 years or less.