“See an example of a cabin made from black locust wood and an old billboard that is around 300 sq. ft. and costs right around $100 to make. This cabin will be a great three season home or can be insulated later with straw bales to make a comfortable place to live. All resources sourced locally for minimal gas use to get them. The main cost is in the Black Locust ‘slabwood’ from a local mill (waste, or offcuts of wood) at $75 in total for three $25 truck loads, and ~$25 in high quality #2 square driven PGP screws (2.5″ mainly, and some 1.25″ for roof battons and side wall batton fastening.)”
natural building
High Tunnel Greenhouse Construction
A polytunnel (hoop) greenhouse like this would be faster and easier to build than a dome. This particular polytunnel design is low cost, strong and easy to build. A greenhouse this size would provide more than enough fruit and vegetables for one family. Instead of bending galvanized pipe for the hoop sections, consider using gray plastic pipe or electrical conduit (polybutylene). I’m not sure how durable it is, but I have seen it used on hoop houses and it would be much easier to use.
A Do-It-Yourself GeoDome Greenhouse
“You don’t have to spit far these days to hit an urban garden. The trend, says the New York Times in an article about an Urban Farm in Milwaukee, has everything to do with the recession and the growing awareness of the impact that shipping food long-distance has on our climate and our pocketbooks. Of course, not all of us will be able to feed ourselves with what we grow in our back yards during the lean, mean growing season here in Southern Colorado. But there are ways around it, and John Sondericker has built an inexpensive Geo-Dome greenhouse in hopes of growing enough vegetables to supply his family of 5 for the better part of the year, if not year-round. We visited John and his dome for a brief tutorial on how he did it and how it’s going thus far.”
6,000 lbs of food on 1/10th acre – Urban Farm – Urban Homestead
“Since 1985 … Pioneering a journey towards self-sufficiency … One step at a time.
Over 6,000 pounds of food per year, on 1/10 acre located just 15 minutes from downtown Los Angeles. The Dervaes family grows over 400 species of plants, 4,300 pounds of vegetable food, 900 chicken and 1,000 duck eggs, 25 lbs of honey, plus seasonal fruits throughout the year.
Bio-Construction with Adobe or Earthbag Building
March 17 at Tres Amigos farm, Las Marías, Puerto Rico.
“A 6-hour hands-on and theoretical training facilitated by Fox McBride & Owen Ingley. We invite you to learn about tropical bio-construction with earthbags, an inexpensive, sustainable and easy to learn alternative; appropriate for the tropics and highly resistant to natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes and floods).”
How to save $1000’s on your micro house project
I love videos like this with brilliant, thrifty ideas. Learn how to tap into treasure hiding in plain sight.
“Hi micro housers. Here is a tip on saving $thousand$ on your house. I will be using these in my build series so stay tuned to learn how to. When you’re done harvesting [gutting the RV for usable parts] you can use the shell for storage or as a guest house or sell it to recoup more of your money.”