| Author | Content |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 23, 2009
10:43 PM Post #6857717
| Buy a lot of land and build houses on one acre lots with solar panels, rain water collection, solar water heaters, ready to go gardens, fruit trees and mini barns in the back. The mini barn would be for chickens and goats. I would dig out a giant pond at the lowest end of the property for wetlands. There would also be a common orchard for all the families to pick fruit and picnic. I would set aside a few properties and offer them free to live in for retired doctors, dentists and other specialized professionals that would offer free advice and possibly minor services to the people that lived there. People would be able to get most of what they needed from their homes and neighbors. Eventually the government would call it a cult and arrest me for some made up charges but it sure would be nice for a while. |
podster
Deep East Texas, TX
(Zone 8a)
July 24, 2009
07:29 AM Post #6858490
| Admirable and lofty!
My lotto wish is less noble. I would set up animal clinics for free neutering & spaying for everyone. Then pets would not be dumped to starve or pillage on wildlife. Kittens and puppies would not be left at dumpsters or at the homes of soft hearted (or soft headed). There would be no excuse for indiscriminate animal breeding and hopefully less suffering for the animals.
... but I'll never win the lottery, I'm spending my lotto dollars on petfood and neutering and spaying!!! I wouldn't have it any other way as I am one of the soft headed. So I guess I'll come see you in jail when that day comes. LOL
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 24, 2009
08:28 AM Post #6858631
| I guess they do have a lot of cults in Texas, Jujube, but that one would be worth having.
If I won the lottery, I would just get my house fixed. It would cost that much to undo all the horrific things that have been done to it by scammers. Id buy a herd of goats to clean out the woods behind my place.
Maybe then Id plant some jujubes! And persimmons and pomegranates. |
podster
Deep East Texas, TX
(Zone 8a)
July 24, 2009
09:09 AM Post #6858753
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And at the rate the building materials costs are climbing, it will probably 'take' the lottery to get your house fixed. Girls can dream... can't they! |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 24, 2009
11:07 AM Post #6859245
| That is funny Podster because my wife and I started the lottery game yesterday in the car and she wanted a lot of land to start an epic sized animal rescue. We currently have 7 cats and 3 dogs that are rescue. Our fruit orchard has 7 rescue chickens. Yes, I said rescue chickens. We built a coyote/raccoon proof open coop so they can be free range and put themselves up at night as well. |
DiggerDee
Ffld County, CT
(Zone 6b)
July 24, 2009
12:14 PM Post #6859591
| Gee, I'm feeling a little selfish. My plans for my lottery winnings were just to fix up my house and send my kids to college. Maybe, depending on the size of the jackpot, selling my current house and buying a small farm.
You guys are all so thoughtful and generous. I'm feeling a bit humbled...
:) |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 24, 2009
01:51 PM Post #6859941
| Me too. Selfish. Well. It is an historic house - built in 1900. So getting it saved would be a contribution to something other than myself. My 2 dogs and 2 cats are rescues. My Henry the rabbit is just a rabbit. |
darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
July 24, 2009
02:02 PM Post #6859992
| Jujube, what you are describing is very like the sustainability goals of "Kin Domains" described and promoted in the book series, "The Ringing Cedars of Russia" and in fact several communities world-wide have been started.
One difference is that their emphasis is on FAMILY and encourage several generations to live together (I think their lots are about 2-1/2 acres) instead of shuffling old people off to nursing homes. Another difference is that I have seen little emphasis in the books on energy sustainability (these are in Siberia, mostly) although the monthly newsletter I get with updates on the various communities shows strong energy conservation and forays into wind and solar power. |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 24, 2009
02:11 PM Post #6860030
| And I do have a 2 1/2 + acre lot. That is a little sustainable to plan on taking care of myself instead of "shuffling off to the nursing home!" |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 24, 2009
03:35 PM Post #6860331
| Gloria, I have a 1905 victorian that is just a mess. We have a new roof and foundation but we are going room to room to fix up the rest. I also restored two more here in San Marcos and two in Savannah, GA. I firmly believe in preserving history except maybe for houses from 1965-1979. Boy they were stinkers. Sorry if I offend anyone.
Hey Darius,
I will look up those books. I currently have 11 acres with 3 acres of fruit orchard. I really would like to start there but it has flooded before. Maybe I can start the stilt house farm where everyones house is built 8 feet off the ground.
It really wouldnt be that hard to do if you werent out to maximize profit. If you were happy making 10 grand per house, you could easily make an off grid sustainable house/mini-farm.
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sevidra
Rockaway, NJ
(Zone 6a)
July 28, 2009
01:24 AM Post #6874241
| I'd use it to become an investor in a few businesses for future earnings, then use the rest to buy a nice large property somewhere - prepaid property taxes and all - that had been one of two things:
1. A previously-used biodynamic or permaculture farm, which would only need a bit of cleanup to be up to full production (promptly sold to local markets, whatever we didn't use for the family - again, see the first thought). (I might do this anyway for my own living space) or
2. A whole big stretch of _desert_, and the hiring of enough manpower and machines to 'reclaim' that desert into a beautiful oasis of food forests - then I'd utilize my (by then!) expertise in the matter to try to sell both our government and China's on the reclamation of deserts as food production 'facilities' that our great-grandchildren could still be farming. China's then-current leader would go down in history as the Man Who Fed China, whatever else his claims to fame were. Who wouldn't want that? Heck, if he took it to heart, Obama could go down in history as the Man Who Fed the World. That would be pretty amusing. :)
No, I'm not ambitious. Not at all. :) |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 28, 2009
08:31 AM Post #6874776
| Go! Sevidra! |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 28, 2009
11:11 AM Post #6875373
| Oooooh! That was a good one.
How about using desert land for the new algae based bio-diesel. It creates 10,000-20,000 gallons per acre vs. 700 per acre for corn. I wonder how they are going to stop the mom and pop algae fuel farms from popping up. Eventually the high yield algae strains will become available and all you need is a ounce to start. They can even use the CO2 emissions from the plant to feed the algae. The downside is they are going to develop all kinds of genetically altered algae for this.
By the way, do you use drought tolerant fruit and veggie species to reclaim the deserts? Do you only go after man made deserts?
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phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
12:30 PM Post #6880275
| Jujube id do the same as you . except id talk to a very good laywer first. makeing sure i cover my self from all angles the best i can. id all so try and set up a small wind farm. and sell the power off cheap to the locals. makeing freinds with the locals is a good way to start out. id start out with ten 3 acre plots for needy familys . house and food to start and elctric from the small wind farm. Paul PS id allso take care of all my family and freinds for my self i have all i need |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 29, 2009
01:44 PM Post #6880576
| We dont get enough enough wind in central Texas but I do have 11 acres in a valley that gets more that normal wind. It probably gets zone 3. Here is a map of wind potential. If you are in white, it doesnt look good. http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov/wind_maps.asp
I think wind/solar combos are the best. The new CIGS solar technology has some solar down to 1.85 per watt. The lowest three years ago was 4.50 per watt. It was around 20 dollars per watt in the 1980s. You also get 30 percent rebate from the Fed government and in Texas you get a 30 percent state rebate.
That comes out to 74 cents per watt when buying panels. That is cheaper that coal. Still people are holding off on solar to become cheaper. That will be the way until they become standard installations on new houses with the CIGS spray on roofing.
You would really need an iron clad waver setup for families moving in to save you from law suits. You could setup a co-op land ownership so everyone that lives there is an equal partner so if someone tried to sue you they would be suing themselves as well. That way, you buy the large lot of land, create the co-op and let people buy into the small plots. If someone leaves, the co-op buys the land back from them at the same price plus improvements so they cant sell it to a jerk with a Hummer.
It would rock to have solar, wind and a nearby stream for a water turbine.
Ah... hippie dreams. I have noticed, being an ex-punk rocker from the 80's that all those hate the world punks are now turning into hippies with a chip on their shoulder. I hope we organized. |
LariAnn
Miami, FL
(Zone 10a)
July 29, 2009
01:47 PM Post #6880588
| . . . I'd build the first mountain in south Florida, with huge concrete pilings supporting an earth-covered pyramid-like substructure. All the living units (condos, apartments, single homes) on the "mountain" would be earth-sheltered and virtually hurricane-proof. The central interior part of the "pyramid" would be open, with a multi-story waterfall cascading down to a lagoon at the base, with hanging ferns and other tropicals festooning the natural-like rock walls. Each living unit would have a balcony overlooking the waterfall/lagoon area and the top of the "pyramid" would be a huge geodesic dome to let in sunlight, made with a double wall of bulletproof glass (hurricane resistance). A lake would also be present on the outside of the "mountain", with trees, palms and other tropicals growing on the sides of the "mountain". Hiking/jogging trails would wind up the outside of the "mountain" The lower levels of the "mountain" would house equipment and an electrical station to distribute the solar and/or wind power generated to all the residents. Residents would be encouraged to grow their own veggies and of course fruit trees as well on the "mountainside". . .
I think I'd need to win the Powerball . . . |
sevidra
Rockaway, NJ
(Zone 6a)
July 29, 2009
01:49 PM Post #6880590
| jujube, from the vids I've seen of how Bill Mollison did it (he DID IT - it can be proven to work), they use swales to catch/harvest rainwater when it does come, and bigger trees on one side to prevent erosion. On the lee side of the swales, they then plant in things like bananas, figs, date palms, and such, to create a genuine desert food forest ecology. The sheer food production is amazing - what it does to the salt levels in the ground (it pretty much eliminated the garbage salt from an area that had been considered completely infertile due to it) is nothing short of miraculous.
Seeing a bare, cracked, ugly patch of desert turned into a thriving, green forest is the kind of thing that puts me in awe of nature's capacity for rebuilding, even if we did help her out a bit.
And yeah, I'd go for the man-made ones. Actually, my first aim would be the ones WE made with COWS in the southwest. Many of those areas were lush and green once upon a time, until we got there with huge herds of bovine methane plants.
Don't get me wrong - I love beef. I'm nothing like a vegetarian. But we really need a better way to farm for it.
Oh, and... you don't need a huge amount of professional training to get into the team for desert reclamation. So I could give jobs to out-of-work locals, as well as people who couldn't afford higher education, who wouldn't have much chance at any other time. :) |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 29, 2009
02:00 PM Post #6880623
| Cool.
I read an article about how one acre of natural prairie land left for free range grazing feeds as many cows as one acre of the genetically altered, pesticide filled and chemically fertilized corn. They move the cows from lots to lots so the grasses can pop right back up after they leave. No watering or chemicals and less antibiotics since they are not cooped up. Why the hell are we feeding them that crap corn? Check out King Corn the movie. Very good.
I would love to do one of those desert projects. It sounds like a challenge and rewarding. I am currently turning an old corn farm land into an 11 acre organic fruit orchard all by myself after my full time job. Well, it may not be organic but I use not chemicals or pesticides. I already have 230 trees in there. I am using non-invasive eleangus species to fix nitrogen to the soil and getting berries to boot.
Hey LariAnn,
I think you are right about the powerball thing. That sounds like a massive project. It sounds like an eco-friendly version of Citizen Kane if you ever saw the movie. |
phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
02:01 PM Post #6880628
| when i came back from Nam. in the Sixities i lived in a Coummne for a while in NorthernCa. Paul |
phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
02:05 PM Post #6880640
| sevidra
up in your state there mineing the old land fills for methane gas. i belive they have one or 2 small citys runing there eltric power plants from it Paul |
darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
July 29, 2009
02:25 PM Post #6880733
| sevidea, I don't think cows are methane plants by nature... most of the methane they produce is from their stomachs releasing gas from undigestible foods... (like corn)
http://tinyurl.com/naxxg4
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sevidra
Rockaway, NJ
(Zone 6a)
July 29, 2009
02:36 PM Post #6880774
| Wow, Darius! a quote: "95% of the methane from cows comes from burping (enteric emissions),"
That's kind of scary. I saw something once about how people had put these huge pink bags onto cows, to find out how much methane they produced. They had (gods, how uncomfortable this must have been) tubes up the butts of the cows, and huge pink bags on their backs. They found that the cows were producing HUGE amounts of methane gas that way. If the burps are worse, I feel really bad for those poor cows. Talk about gas pain!
But yes, the 'methane plant' comment was perhaps mis-educated, since the cows that desertified large parts of our southwest states would have been eating the grass and greenery, not corn.
The main point stands though - we (humans) are responsible for a large portion desert space. In China, it's getting really bad.
And yeah, phicks, but we also (I've been told) have more toxic waste dumps than any other state in the union. Not by size. By sheer numbers. And our state isn't that big. :/
I'd love to win the lotto and start that project :) |
sevidra
Rockaway, NJ
(Zone 6a)
July 29, 2009
02:42 PM Post #6880806
| Wow, Darius! a quote: "95% of the methane from cows comes from burping (enteric emissions),"
That's kind of scary. I saw something once about how people had put these huge pink bags onto cows, to find out how much methane they produced. They had (gods, how uncomfortable this must have been) tubes up the butts of the cows, and huge pink bags on their backs. They found that the cows were producing HUGE amounts of methane gas that way. If the burps are worse, I feel really bad for those poor cows. Talk about gas pain!
But yes, the 'methane plant' comment was perhaps mis-educated, since the cows that desertified large parts of our southwest states would have been eating the grass and greenery, not corn.
The main point stands though - we (humans) are responsible for a large portion desert space. In China, it's getting really bad, in part due to terrible (and relatively recent) abuse of natural resources and agriculture practices.
I'd love to win the lotto and start that project :) |
phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
03:17 PM Post #6880944
| http://www.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/methane.htm |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 29, 2009
04:10 PM Post #6881175
| They already have natural gas power plants in Rwanda and India that use the feces from the prisons to run the prisons. |
phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
04:15 PM Post #6881192
| theres more cow dung in india then any other kind paul |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 29, 2009
04:22 PM Post #6881225
| Poop Power!!! |
phicks
Lakeland, FL
(Zone 9b)
July 29, 2009
04:28 PM Post #6881249
| yup theres lots of small methane plants in peoples yards now . i have the plans some where that there gov. is giveing out Metheane Digesters. Paul |
darius
So.Appalachian Mtns, VA
(Zone 5b)
July 29, 2009
05:14 PM Post #6881448
| sevidra (sorry I mis-spelled your name, above)... I think that we humans have been (and still are) the root cause of ecological damage everywhere, not just deserts. |
sevidra
Rockaway, NJ
(Zone 6a)
July 30, 2009
09:39 AM Post #6884281
| Darius: Pretty much. But if we can reverse the damage, convince people that a place can be productive and 'useful' to humans, and still have it be good for wildlife, the soil, the earth...
I bring up deserts specifically because that's what convinced my husband. He's a good man, but occasionally a bit skeptical about being able to actually change anything. He said that if I could show him where it had _actually_ been done, not just done in theory, he might believe in it.
So I did.
He was blown away.
I think a lot of Americans would be, if they only had a chance to see it in action. |
gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 30, 2009
11:08 AM Post #6884654
| I think there is - possibly a subtle difference - between being a component in an ecosystem and being an agent of damage to ecosystems.
We are here. That should be a statement of triumph, not a statement of apology. Now we should take our brains and try to understand what that means - to be one of the many kinds of things in the world, not the agent of destruction. |
jujubetexas
San Marcos, TX
(Zone 8b)
July 30, 2009
11:14 AM Post #6884682
| The thing that changed my life was buying a historic house in Savannah, GA. It was 4000 sq feet and full of dangerous squatters of the drug variety. Everyone told my me that the neighborhood was too far gone and full of drugs and crime. This was true because we had four murders within 2 blocks of the house while I lived there for two years. People would deal crack in my front yard.
There was an abandoned house next door used for drugs, prostitution and gambling. Finally I got sick of it and boarded it up, ran yellow emergency tape around the yard like a crime scene and built a 6 foot privacy fence around the property. All in one night. I then started confronting the drug dealers to leave my yard or I will call the police. Then I started calling the police. I then started boarding up the other abandoned houses on the block. During this whole time, I started restoring the house with my wife.
Funny enough, all the houses started to sell in the next year and by the time I finished restoring it two years later, there were families living in 80 percent of the houses and only one house was still not restored or in the process of being restored.
Since then I believe that I can do anything. The orchard I bought was on land that no one wanted and I bought it up about 40 percent the going price. I am in the process of restoring nature out there now.
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gloria125
Greensboro, AL
July 30, 2009
11:20 AM Post #6884710
| jujube: I believe you can do anything, too! If you have any spare time, you are welcome in my neighborhood! |
grownut
Clarkson, KY
July 30, 2009
06:50 PM Post #6886553
| I'd want to design a neighborhood that could live within its own ecological means. Smaller lots, more common space, habitat for all kinds of critters as well as edibles in the common area. And a magical mystical machine that harvested wind AND solar AND water power...and while I'm dreaming Poo Power Too!!
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