I wanted to share some progress from the past year where, I had really hoped government would change its mind. Anyway I suspect they are very scared if they can read. In actual fact there are reasonable things that can be done but alas these are not profitable at scale. I find at small scale these solutions work fine and even at large scale..

The most serious factor in earths bumpy future is an imbalance of the biome. Population is a main driver with each human requiring inputs and outputs. These inputs and outputs like the populations themselves are not well managed. This makes the primary stakeholder in my new life EARTH.

For shelter I am opting for an earthship based system. This building system balances in a well thought out way human needs for life. The rammed earth tire is cheap problematic to dispose of (locking it into walls and foundations actually quite a good solution) and has insulator and conductor properties that are unbeatable at that price. The insulated wrap starts looking a little expensive but worth it as in principle the building is a "thermos" with top up heat from the sun on the glazed south side. I hope to use polycarbonate as it is cheap and strong. Each dwelling holds its own water and treatment or recycling in the form of oxygenation through plants or food. The water system may need adjusted to deal with heavy metals.

This building principle is demonstrated in the deep winter greenhouse concepts. I hope to use the air treatment features in the home to provide a passive boost by reclaiming heat from the upper greenhouse, storing it in the ground below. A key crop is spirulina algae so polycarbonate tanks should allow a monthly yield of nutrition suitable for humans and animals. The external grounds will be monitored microscopically for soil health and soil structure. Soil food web principles.

The external grounds will use key line design to hold water for plants using trees and bushes to support birds and insects. This creates natural lanes that will be designed to allow a tractor, potentially for hay or grain crops. Initially these lanes will support pastured animals, chickens being provably useful to soil health. The chickens live in movable coups which can follow probably sheep. All pasture is managed with electric fencing allowing expansion or contracting areas.

Fundamentally power generation looks to be possible by key line water management coupled to hydro generation. Batteries are too expensive and too difficult to service for a working homestead so energy storage away from water will be minimal. Solar technology layered cheap panels are not finding their way to market as they cant resist cannon balls. There are affordable panels and the homestead would use a mix of renewable energy. I like the Darwin style wind turbine that funnels wind from any direction to the generation. I am interested in a copper, zinc, iodine battery which looks serviceable and reproducible but I have yet to test this and will likely take the best value batteries available. Ideally hydrogen fuel cells would be used but each home having its own power station is not commercial even after sixty years; the prototype systems produced for the past 20 years are impressive. I expect the high temperature heat pump technology to fill the hot water gap.

Internal systems for preservation of produce are also key. Looking quite seriously at technology available on a craft scale: freeze drying; combing and spinning; canning; pottery; knitting; weaving; fermenting; distilling and so on.

Making it all possible I am transferring my pension to a wrapper that allows property and allows multiple investors a share in equity. There are many laws to navigate which is why it seems to be slow. I expect we have less than three seasons based on the war transactions to bed everything in. My wife is expecting an overnight pod/glamping experience to provide some extra cash and will continue to make scented candles, with thoughts to expand into cosmetics and supplements.

Thats the plan, it works on marginal land hopefully high up in the mountains. I expect if doing this as a group the labour and costs can be shared which makes the basic proposal very cheap to start - my wife objects, probably correctly a group dynamic can also go wrong.

Salome