new here, typing in dark

[waldenpond]

wow i was amazed..i have been looking for small cabin plans, rural land to put one on, and so forth..found this site by accident and have been reading through all of this for the last few hours.
my DH is sleeping so i am sitting in the dark. just wanted to introduce myself. i am 46 yr old stay hme mom at this time. mother of 5 "unschoolers", all grown and on their own but one. three in college, one in MBA program.i have a diverse background and have homesteaded off and on for the last 15 years. we do live in a rural area at this time, in an old order Amish settlement. i'll tell some more next post when i can see better. (please forgive the typos). i'd say if one had to label us, we might be called "hippy/hillbilly/homesteaders". professional in training, but most skilled in self reliant living.

i am quite touched by the honest and open stories told here. you all seem to be wonderful people.
we live in very low Michigan, but are originally from the south (many moons ago).

i would like to find a spot of rural land and go totally off grid. at this time we have draft horses and a buggy horse, chickens and ducks, cats and dogs, have raised rabbits and goats but not right now.
we raise most of what we eat and have 2 wood stoves, one coal stove, and one wood/coal cook stove.
we have pretty much every horse drawn implement and a host of other equipment paid for. we have learned a great deal from our Amish neighbors.

sounds ideal i know. but this is not the place for us. however, because we have been at this for a good long time, before and after my DH and i met, we have the tools and skills. we have a solar panel and hook ups for that too. all sorts of gadgets DH has come up with. he put pitcher pump on one of the hydrants and also a solar well pump just in case. DH was pig/crop farmer, 3000 acres for 20 years and built all his huge barns himself, and has remodeled several homes.

by now someone is asking why we would want to move? theres more to the story of course. but don't want to bore with so many details.
i've been looking at home plans, and at one time years ago i had 5 acres in MO. i was a single mom then and lived north. had a dream to build a place for me and my kids. (post divorce and had to move somewhere).
i had the thought of buying two of those pre-built storage barns, and either connecting them, or setting them close together. using rainfall system, wood stove, compost toilet, etc.
that was a long time ago but i still have that dream. its all written out. i have a well used copy of "your cabin in the woods".

i'd like to ask a question, if anyone knows? is it legal to use a compost toilet vs having to put septic in?
i've used human manure in my gardens and they always did exceptional. in some parts, Amish actually sell it burned in compost as fertilizer.

i'll quit now as i am sure i am putting you to sleep, but i will add that i tried planting in tires this year, did about 9 along with rest of crops, and it is an easy and excellent way to garden. almost no weeds, good drainage, plant early, several harvests and succession planting. very easy on the workload. i didn't do anything special. just put them down, put paper bag on the bottom to stop grass, filled with compost, and planted. and tires are free.

thanks for listening, and for being here!

[NM_Shooter]

   Waldenpond!

Beware that every one of us is insane.  Really.  Some more, some less, but all are nuts.  That being said, there is a significant skill set among the insanity.

Regarding your composting toilet, well, it depends (you'll hear that phrase a lot).  If you live in Naperville IL, you are probably out of luck.  Live on the fringe of the Mark Twain National Forest, you are probably OK.

We'll be looking forward to your story.

-f- 

[rwanders]

    Sounds like you are in a ideal spot (mentally & skill-wise).  Do you have any areas in mind for your big adventure? It would seem to me that you will have to go further west. Alaska, where I am, certainly has the space and freedom you seek but, living off the land here has it's own special challenges around agriculture---though many have been able to do so. A lot of the west is too dry for low-tech and low $$ farming while the good stuff is crowded and expensive.

Look forward to following your progress----welcome to the forum!!

[HomeschoolMom]

I just wanted to welcome you.  This is a great place, isn't it.

I am in southwest Michigan and we also homeschool.  While not full fledge "unschoolers", we strive for it.  I know a lot of hippy type homeschoolers and they are my favorite kind!     

Being that you are living with the Amish, I am going to assume you are right on the border with Indiana?  We are just outside of Kalamazoo. 

Look forward to hearing more of your story. 

[Redoverfarm]

waldenpond   

I am not sure exactly how I got associated with this bunch     but I haven't regretted the adventure.  Although I haven't followed suit in the design phase of the plans offered I have gained good solid information during different stages of my build.  Experience is " the best teacher".  Sounds as if you have the basic skills to be self sufficent and build what you are seeking.  Good luck on the land search and the adventure.  Hope you gain some insight to help you along the way.

John

[rick91351]

Hi!!!

Waldenpond aren't you sort of famous - seems I read about you in a book somewhere.     Hey guys I think we have a real famous person on board. 

From what I have read and seen.  For a composting toilet to work properly and year around you need to go more south where it is warmer, or supply a heat source.  Humm!! Wood fired toilets??  Least it is warm in the winter time.     Now as far a the legality that would best be answered by your state and local governments where ever you choose to relocate to.  The short of it I guess is them a call.           



Rick

[John Raabe]

Greetings and welcome.

There are various types of composting toilets some of which may be approved as "alternative" systems by your health department. Both state and local laws govern this and it varies considerably not only by where you are located but by how the written regulations are enforced on the ground.

The main thing about composting human waste is that it can spread disease - therefore proper material handling and toilet maintenance is critical. Usually a critical temperature has to be maintained for a period of time to kill off pathogens. (In a septic system this is done biologically without heat in the tank and the first few inches of the drainfield.)

Health laws are designed to allow really sloppy people who don't do any maintenance to keep from becoming a health threat to themselves and their neighbors. Responsible people are sometimes offended by what may be unnecessary restriction of their good habits, but the codes have to ask, "What about the next person who might own this house?"

[glenn kangiser]

Hi Waldenpond.  to the forum.  You seem to have great stories too and you type much better with the lights on.  Hopefully I am the craziest one on here but who knows.

Do you do digital pix?  We would love to see some of your area.

[poppy]

   Nice to have you aboard.

My place is in Amish country in southern Ohio (Adams County).  They make good neighbors.

You are way ahead of many of us in attitude and aptitude, so should have no major problems going off gird.

Keep us abreast of what your plans are and you may be surprised with the good info. found here.

[glenn kangiser]

When you get ready to do the pix, start a free Photobucket account then load them to it.  After you load them there- copy the IMG tag below the picture - the bottom one and post it here where you want it to appear.

Looking forward to seeing them.

[Sassy]

Welcome, waldenpond!  Looking forward to hearing more from you & seeing pics   

[poppy]

Some more thoughts for you.

There is a lot of good info. on this site:  http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

Composting is at the heart of that info. which should be of some value for anyone going off-grid.

You mentioned central OH, so you are already probably aware of the large Amish community in Holmes county.  I'm sure you have some contacts amonst the Amish around you who could put you in touch with the OH clan to answer questions about stuff.

Ohio in general expects homeowners to have septic, so if anyone knows how to get around that, it would be the Amish.  Each county's health department is independent but have to follow Ohio law.

As I mentioned in a previous post, my place is in Adams county where there are few building restrictions so I can do most anything I want as far as housing, farming, or agriculture is concerned.

You also mentioned finding a place that already has septic, etc.  That's the kind of place I have, so it was routine to reconnect the electric power (I'm not going totally off-grid) and I'm counting on being able to run electric to the new cabin without having to put in a new septic system.

[Arizona Highlander]

 

Looking forward to reading more.

[MountainDon]

You tried to post an attachment, right? That does not work. If the attachment was a photo you can do that but need to have the image hosted on a website like photobucket.com. Once uploaded there you copy the IMG tag and paste that into the forum message. Not all web photo albums are forum friendly. Gleen and I like photobucket but you are free to use whatever.

Items other than photos, like a PDF document need to be linked to for others to download.

Any questions, simply PM me.

There is a photobucket tutorial in the Forum News section. Photobucket has changed a little since I wrote it but it is still an aid.

[Redoverfarm]

This is what should appear.  Put the mouse on the photo and then move just below it.  There will be a box labeled IMG> Left click on the IMG and to the right will be blue.  Move the cursor to the blue area and then right click to get the "Copy" then move the cursor to copy and left click.  Now it is copied.  Then go to the place where you want it to appear and then left click at the location followed by "paste" (right click) and then left and the photo will appear when opened by the viewer after you post.

You were getting so close.  Thought I would give you a hand.