Howdy, folks.
We got delayed a little, but today is the big day. We're finally heading out. We're leaving southern California, bound for Asheville, North Carolina, by way of the Grand Canyon, Taos, New Mexico, and Louisville, Kentucky.
When we arrive at our destination near Asheville, we'll begin work on an earthship. An earthship is, "a type of passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials." Thanks, wikipedia.
My buddy, Redline, decided that he wanted to live in an earthship in NC. I told him that if he ever got around to doing it, I'd help him. So here we are. We'll be heading out sometime this evening. We should arrive at the Grand Canyon at around sun up. Maybe that will be awesome. I've heard that the Grand Canyon is one place that doesn't disappoint. You can hear everything there is to tell, and when you see it, your socks will still roll up and down. We'll see.
An earthship is designed be a self-sustaining home. I won't get into too much of the stuff here. If you're curious, the wikipedia entry is pretty good and so is the official earthship site, both of which are linked up above. One thing I thought was neat is that rammed earth is a very old technology, which has now been improved upon. That picture of the Chinese watchtower from the 3rd century AD says something about the longevity of this type of construction.
Why am I doing this? We can look at the philosophical aspects later, so let's start by saying that I'm interested in the systems involved. Solar and wind power, water collection and greywater management, natural temperature regulation, greenhouse food production. And that's just in the earthship.
Outside, we're going to explore a number of other interesting projects, including: farming, beer brewing, goat and chicken husbandry, goat-milk cheese and soap, fish farming tilapia and the creation/building/nourishment of soil through composting, vermicomposting, biochar, natural fertilization from goat manure and fish emulsion, and remineralization. Each of these topics will be discussed in more detail as we go along. I'll also include a ton of links I've set aside to share.
It sounds like a lot, but I'm optimistic. Maybe I have no idea what I've signed up for. We'll see!
Redline and I have talked and thought a lot about this. All that's left now is to put the research into motion. I expect this to be awesome and difficult and worth it. I believe that we'll both learn a lot as we work through this.
We're going to try to update this blog at least once per day. We'll be keeping a log of our progress and documenting everything possible. In addition to those entries, there are a number of "feature" type pieces that we'll post. Examples would be in-depth looks at the projects listed above, our thoughts on the earthship, the smaller projects, personal philosophies, and probably some random stuff as well.
Another one of the reasons for doing this is to keep loved ones from worrying. You see, if we keep posting, we're still alive. So I hope to be posting quite a bit.
If any of you have any comments, questions, suggestions, or any topics you like us to address, please leave a comment and we'll do our best to answer.
That's it for now. We'll definitely post pictures from the Grand Canyon and earthship headquarters.
- CheeZ
