A homestead cabin for $1000.Over the past year, my wife and I have made the transition from city to country life. Our 40 acre homestead is in NE Georgia, and was once a part of a 450 acre farm. Our woodlot is 10 acres of mature oak and hickory, 25 acres is tillable farm land, and the remaining five acres provide mixed foliage surrounding our home. Although the foundation for our semi-underground home is complete, we have opted to build and live in a one-room cabin that will later become our guest house. The cabin is 16' by 16' plus a four-foot porch on the front. Since our budget is limited, it was necessary to snoop and scrounge scrounge v. scrounged, scroung·ing, scroung·es Slang v.tr. 1. To obtain (something) by begging or borrowing with no intention of reparation: for building materials Building materials used in the construction industry to create . These categories of materials and products are used by and construction project managers to specify the materials and methods used for . . I found a local count that provided free slabs (first cuts from a log). More scrounging provided doors, windows, etc. for free or very little cost. The completed cost of our cabin is $1,000. That includes lumber and plywood ($500), electrical ($100), insulation and roofing ($200), and the balance in nails, concrete, paint, etc. The phrase "necessity is the mother of invention" is definitely the guideline to homestead survival. Since we don't have running water, a rainwater collection system provides all forms of wash water. Showering is a matter of heating rainwater in a black container in the sun; simple but effective. The water heater for dishes and laundry is an oversized o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. coffee pot A coffee pot is a kitchen implement; a cooking pot in the kettle family. A coffee pot is also a container to hold freshly brewed coffee. There are many types and styles. used only as needed as needed prn. See prn order. ; simple but effective. Drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. is traded for winter use of our woodlot by a neighbor. Now that our garden is complete and several outbuildings are ready, we can start adding animals to our homestead. Part of our program includes growing a substantial part of our animal feed, hence, we are the proud owners of a new tractor to take full advantage of our land resources Noun 1. land resources - natural resources in the form of arable land natural resource, natural resources - resources (actual and potential) supplied by nature . My advice to newcomers to the back-to-the-land movement would be to separate living into three categories: necessities, conveniences, and luxuries. Be fully prepared for necessities. Some ingenuity can provide conveniences, and luxury is mostly a state of mind - to each his own. Also, take full advantage of the resources provided by your land. Since North Georgia provides many such bounties, we've learned to make preserves, jams, syrups, etc. from wild plums, blackberries, sumac, wild black cherry black cherry, n See wild cherry. black cherry prunusserotina. , etc. Just be very careful with any unfamiliar foliage. For example, one species of sumac is poisonous, and the seed of the wild black cherry contains cyanide poison, so again, be very careful. Our first year of homesteading has been a lot of fun, and we look forward to many more years beyond the sidewalks. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion