Underground House in Northern Minnesota

[glenn kangiser]

I have referred several to your postings, Bruce.  Glad to hear you are bringing more.  We will be waiting.

[lodestar]

I had a warning that this topic hasn't been posted in for at least 120 days...but it seems it's still the best place to post the success of our 'west wing' addition.  Last year's was the 'east wing'.


I have to figure out how to link to the pics I have, again.

Hope all is well with everyone.

[glenn kangiser]

Yup - generic warning, Bruce. 

We want more. 

I have recently sent nonmembers that emailed me to look at this very topic, so I know there is interest in it.  I am also working with others who are doing an underground build and have referred them to your methods of using organics - compost - on the roof there.  BTW, How thick is your roof compost there? - don't remember if it was posted earlier.  I had someone building one in a deep frost area.

Looking forward to your update.

[lodestar]

I forgot if I could upload pics directly from my drive or do I need to link to them?

[IronRanger]

Hi lodestar,

How much wood do you usually burn?

I'm undecided on building an earth-sheltered home or a super-insulated home.  I'm in northern Minnesota too, and so far, a super-insulated home seems to win.

A lot of advantages to building underground though- mainly expense and maintenance costs are far lower.

Thanks.

[lodestar]

Hmmm.  Well, we heat my shop, my office and Cheryl's studio off and on.  But if I was to hazard a guess it would be 2 cords m/l for the house.  We often sleep with the window over the bed (an awning type) cracked a bit, for the breeze.  Even when it's zero.

Also, the house stays remarkably cool in the summer.  The leaves of the squash keep direct sun off the roof and respirate.

[IronRanger]

2 cords a winter.  That's cheap and a manageable amount of wood to split.

Also, the house stays remarkably cool in the summer.

Yes, that's another appeal of underground living.  I like the composting roof too.  I'd definitely use that idea.

[glenn kangiser]

I forgot if I could upload pics directly from my drive or do I need to link to them?

Load them to a free Photobucket account, Bruce then copy the bottom tag - the one that starts with IMG in brackets - and paste it into your posting where you want the picture to appear.  I use Gadwin Printscreen - free edition to copy my pix from the screen- name it an easy name -  then load from the copy to make them smaller - they load fast.

[lodestar]

Sorry I've been remiss in uploading these pics.  These are on flickr and are a bit out of sync...my bad.  Please use your imagination and you can kinda figure out which are the eggs and which are the chickens...y'know, which come first.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27818911@N03/

Let me know what you all think.

Have a wonderful season.  The days are getting longer.  We gain two minutes between now and Christmas Day.

Peace on Earth.

[Sassy]

Hey, thanks for posting the link to your pictures!  Enjoyed looking at them - reminds me of some of our stages.  Looks great!

[ben2go]

Sorry I've been remiss in uploading these pics.  These are on flickr and are a bit out of sync...my bad.  Please use your imagination and you can kinda figure out which are the eggs and which are the chickens...y'know, which come first.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27818911@N03/


Let me know what you all think.

Have a wonderful season.  The days are getting longer.  We gain two minutes between now and Christmas Day.

Peace on Earth.

Sweet home.You are really close on how I want to set my underground domain.I wanna find to small hills.Build down between them and use the excavated material to cover the roof.Oh yes.I plan to use Mike's books and vids for the construction.

[lodestar]

Ooops...my bad.  My wife notified me that I'd uploaded pics other than the construction.  I deleted a few, but let a few others ride.  Hope you all don't mind.

I like the simple elegance of our homestead.

Peaceful holidays to all of you...and in the coming years.

[IronRanger]

Thanks for the pictures, lodestar.

One of my favorite threads here.

Happy holidays to you too.

[alexkgore]

Looks like you get a ton of natural light in there. Very cool.

[glenn kangiser]

Nice addition, Bruce.  Thanks for the pix.

[altaoaks]

your place is beautiful, just beautiful!  i love everything you have done, and it just is so peacefull and blisfull.  congratulations on a great success.

[lodestar]

Just wanted to say hello to everyone...haven't been on the forum for awhile.  Lots of changes still happening around here, which is our nature...Hope this finds everyone well, happy and prosperous.

[lodestar]

Once again, I've been remiss in posting for another year or so.  Stopped by to see what is going on around here and to let everyone know that we are still up and running here at the homestead...don't know if I ever posted a link to Cheryl's shop, which we built in 1994 out of strawbales...we had visited several in the SW USA including Athena and Bill Steen in the Canelo hills of AZ, and Steve McDonald's place in Gila, NM...(also Sue Mullen's place)

[lodestar]

Also wanted to mention...

The absolute best question to ask of anyone when learning about their alternative building techniques is, "What would you do differently"...

We learn best from our mistakes, and those of others.  Much more than from success.

[Sassy]

Cheryl's shop is beautiful!  Thanks for posting    How is the underground house coming along?

[lodestar]

It's great, as usual...although we had such a dry summer, it made us a little nervous here in the deep woods...not the house, but the lack of moisture.  That said, we had bumper crops of nearly everything we planted...and harvested a year's worth of wild rice for the pantry.  We're ready for winter. 

We actually have a 'boulevard' now...well, that's what we call it.  It's basically a series of small sheds for firewood, machine shop/blacksmithing, storage, cook stove wood...we turned the old wood shed into a 'cantina' and garden shed. 

Been cooking baba ghanoush, pesto pizza on the grill...









Made some sauerkraut today, too





Here's some of the boulevard





And there's the cantina



machine shed



Built a new solar shower overlooking the upper garden this spring







Oh...and so many other projects, too...

Always busy.

[Sassy]

Looks like an oasis - very nice!  The pizza looks good, too    Our cabbages never get that big.  What is your recipe for sauerkraut?  I have a nice big crock that would work well for making kraut. 

[lodestar]

Thanks Sassy...I read that you are expecting surgery in November.  May I wish the best outcome for you.  I know that I have some things coming up in my life (65 this coming Feb) which will need to be dealt with surgically...really not looking forward to them, but amazing strides have been made (and hopefully, we'll be able to be helped by them).  Have a friend who had his hip replaced a couple of years ago in the winter, late spring found him back on his skiff in Alaskan waters fishing for salmon again...for me it's an aortic valve which will need replacement within 3 to 4 years (pig valve...I'll never be kosher again)...and then my right knee...and then my left knee.  If all goes well I should have some good times ahead.  Our thoughts will be of you in November.

Sauerkraut...really simple.

Cabbage and salt...lactic fermentation.

http://www.wildfermentation.com/making-sauerkraut-2/

We have a wonderful Harsch Gartopf Fermenting Crock Pot ...kim chee, kraut, pickles, etc.

[glenn kangiser]

Really great to see all of the new stuff, Bruce.  Thanks for the pix.

As Sassy said... That pizza looks good.... I'm hungry...

G/L with your upcoming surgeries etc.   I try to stay far away from doctors whenever I can.

[Sassy]

Thanks for the link for the recipe on sauerkraut!