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tags: :lifestyle:ecology:economy:
~1500 words
I'd love to live in a 'back-to-the-land' lifestyle.
The total success of my plan would look like:
- I can throw a rock any direction. It lands on my property.
- I can look around and see no man-made constructions except mine.
I'm sure I'll have to compromise a lot, but here are some key points if "the dream comes true":
- ~6-10 hectares (~14-25 acres) of land to host:
- a small herd of sheep
- chickens
- a part left to wilderness as a natural forest
- a pond/river
- a big garden for vegetables
- A log house buried on 3 sides, the south one being a bay window for light and heath. Not connected to national services such as electricity, water, gas, internet.
That seem and feel very far from what I do now.
I grew up in the back country, but lived the last 10 years downtown for work. And I hated it.
Like most dream there is a risk; maybe *actually* living that way sucks, and it's nice and rosy because it's unreachable.
Some steps that are real commitments like getting animals or buying land. You can't turn your back as easily as you would from your condo landowner.
So no big cold-turkey-all-in move. I'm working incrementally towards that goal, and will stop when I feel like it's too much for me.
So what follows is a list of the steps or experiments I undertook to work toward that goal. Since it's very factual it's going to be a bit dry.
A few stuff changed for me this year:
- I divorced
- Negotiated a full remote position (thanks COVID)
- Moved with my dog & my cat in a new house during summer
The way I live there is not yet what I'm aiming for, but the place allows for some fun experiments.
It's in the back country, and I'm 100m from the closest forest, I still have a few neighbors though.
I have a ~500m² garden full of pines. There is a wood stove. There is a small bakehouse and a water collecter.
_A seemingly unrelated anecdote that helped me pinpoint what I call the "stool" concept._
I was told this story by and old Corsican terrorist who became quite wise spending so much time reading in jail. I never checked its veracity, who am I to ruin a good story ?
Before being an emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte was a young and shy Corsican immigrant in France.
At the time, being Corsican was equivalent to being a foreigner in continental France. Different language, different culture and your basic racism.
He got admitted to a military school where the first years were known to be really tough physically and morally. For the sake of his honor and career, the kid really didn't want to fail.
In the middle of the barracks there was a ringing bell hanging high on a wall.
The officer in charge of the young students explained to them:
"This is the bail-out bell", he told the students, "Go there, pull the rope and ring the bell to quit anytime. No more harassment, no more exhausting training. Ring the bell and you'll go home like the chicken you are".
Now for every student there is a temptation to ring that bell at some point.
More so if you're far from your home, friends and family.
Napoleon did a really simple thing: he took a stool, climbed on it, and cut the bell's rope.
This short story had a big impact on me.
Admitting you can be weak, and planning for it so you're not. Make the failure harde _in advance_.
That doesn't need to be a definitive move: he didn't remove the bell.
Anyone could've fetched the stool once more to reach what's left of the rope and be able to ring it again.
He just made it _harder_ for him to quit.
That's why I have all social networks blocked in my host file.
If I need it, I can edit it, restart the network manager and access it.
But now it's *harder*.
My hostfile is my stool.
And it works.
A `+` is a positive point, `-` a negative one, and a `·` a neutral one
_That one doesn't need any specific house, so I actually started it before moving in_
Status: Failed. I've yet to "_find the stool_".
Action: Cut all form of electric light after 22:00
Goal:
· Better sleep, with absence of blue light
· Don't waste nights reading gemini/wikipedia aimlessly
· Find alternative non-electric hobbies
Means:
· Buy candle & oil lamp
· Buy/borrow books
· Use acoustic instruments (banjo ! \o/)
Result:
+ it helped me reduce my screen time, read books and practice music more
+ I slept way better. Darkness and boredom does wonder for getting asleep early, and thus waking up early and rested
+ Some energy savings
- Couldn't keep the discipline to cut off lights on time after a few weeks
_This is the big one. I didn't realize how much I was relying on the grid before starting the experiment._
Status: Success except for laundry. Only 4 weeks in. Waiting after winter to conclude
Action: Turn off as many circuit breakers I can.
I left two breakers on: living-room and office. Powering ceiling light and wall plugs in both room.
Goal:
· Reduce energy usage
· Simulate an off-grid installation with an average < 1 kWH (KiloWattHour) of electricity per day.
Results:
+ Fridge:Three months without fridge (it broke when I moved in)
+ No big deal so far. I expected worse.
+ Did not eat much meat in the first place, now it's restricted to grocery day, about once a week.
- Have to shop for vegetables once a week to eat them before they rot.
+ Heating:
+ Electric radiator are inefficient as hell anyway.
+ Wood stove provides enough heat so far, I plan to sleep in the living room if it's really cold in my room.
+ Hot water bottle does wonder heating a person instead of the whole room
- Not tested under the coldest temperatures in my region yet
+ Hot water:
+ Small gaz burner in the kitchen for small quantities (i.e. tea/coffee, cooking, hot water bottle)
+ Dishes:
+ Doing the dishes with cold water isn't an issue so far. The dog licks the plates mostly clean before I wash them, so there is no fat left to scrap.
+ Laundry:
- The laundry machine is the big offender here, consumes quite a lot of power and bumps me above the 1kWH per day target. Might be an issue, or at least taken into account.
+ I never had a dried anyway, so I just hang the clothes
+ Shower:
+ I purchased a 12V camping shower that you can plug on your car's battery, and an adapter for a wall plug. A bucket of water heated on the wood stove is plenty enough for a 10 minutes shower. Taking the showers outside so far, but I plan to put the setup in my bathroom in winter.
- Can't take shower's on a whim. It's ~30 minutes to heat the bucket or a cold shower.
+ Internet:
+ I unplugged my ISP box, and started using my laptop's internal 4G modem. See my previous article on this very topic.
+ TV:
+ I traded the TV that was unused for years for a hot water bottle :)
_So far so good with this setup, the laundry is still a weak point on my plan, so I'll investigate other solutions at some point. Winter is not there yet and we have a very warm autumn so far so let's see how it holds up with winter._
The circuit breakers were the perfect "stool" for that one. I'm generally to lazy to put it back on.
Goal:
· Eat better: I don't eat nearly enough vegetables and rely on bread & pastas way too much
· Shop better: when I'm shopping and I'm hungry, I buy the silliest products (cookies, crisps etc…)
Status: Planned.
Action: Subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture
Results: SOON™
Community Supported Agriculture:How it works:
You pay a farmer for a "food basket" that you can collect at the farm every week.
The twist is that you don't choose what's in it. You get what got harvested during the week. You don't choose the quantity, either. You can get too much in summer, and too little in winter.
You have to pay a full year upfront and you are usually required to help in the fields 1 or 2 days a year.
On the farmer's side, it's advantageous because everything is sold. No unsold food, no time spent selling stuff on markets, and no distribution logistics.
On the client side:
- it's supportive of local agriculture
- it's dirt cheap ! About 12€ for a week's worth of vegetables.
_Since I'll end up with vegetables I already paid, it looks like a good stool._
Goal: Not being dependant on tap water anymore.
Status: Total lack of plan.
I have a rainwater collecter, but I've only used it for showers and giving to the animals so far. I'm a bit wary of health effects here.
It works because we've had a lot of rain the last weeks, I'm not sure I'll have enough to grow stuff *and* take showers in the summer.
I also don't know how to test water potability and should look into that at some point.
I would really love suggestions about that one !
_If you read so far, thank you ! That was a long one._
I tried to be brief, but there are so many things I'd love to experiment !
Suggestions and critics are always welcome at ahub@rawtext.club
I'd love to here about similar experiments and new ideas !