From Laura
The beginning of my personal journey toward the goal of energy independence started when a friend handed me a book entitled Ishmael. I was young and a little naive, but I had this undying feeling that I was not on the right path. The words in that book shattered everything I knew about human history, population, modern day society, and how we interact with our planet and behave towards other living beings.
Since then I’ve explored what it means for me as an individual to live my life in a way that our society deems as “right”, “successful” or “necessary”. Through this exploration, I’ve found that not much of what fits into those boxes suits me very well.
Consequently, one of my life goals that evolved from this exploration was the idea of someday living off the grid. When I first thought of this I had zero indication of how much actual *work* it might be, especially because I have no experience in things like building construction or electrical engineering. Many questions arose.
- Where do you draw the line and say you’re “off the grid”?
- Will this satisfy my need to take my life in a new direction?
- How does one begin?
- Can I endure all this hard work? ;)
In March of 2007 I moved from my native east coast to Portland, Oregon. I had learned that Portland and nearby Eugene were two of the greenest cities in the US and I badly wanted to learn more. I figured that if I could submerse myself in local communities that were more concerned with environmental issues I could learn more on how I might one day achieve my goal.
Not even a week after I settled I met Ben through an online meetup site. I learned that Ben shared similar values and through a slow but steady process of learning about one another and talking about our future, we decided that we might be able to build an off the grid home on some land that he would inherit.
On one of our “dates” we watched a how-to DVD on straw bale construction. This was my first glimpse of different ways to build an earthen home. For a few months this is the method we had decided on for the house in Georgia but later realized the climate just wasn’t right. Cob or rammed earth are better choices for hot, humid summers.
The land is a 50 acre plat in the foothills in Toccoa, GA. The actual town is roughly 8 miles from the land with a population of about 10,000 (2000 census). Ben’s grandmother lived in a house on the property when she was a child with her parents and siblings. However, before she became a teenager they moved closer to town. Since then the property has been vacant and the old house is no longer there. His grandmother still lives in the area today and we try to get as much information about the land, the town and her life as possible!
Over the next few years our plan is to build a rammed earth house, start an organic fruit and vegetable farm, and become self-sufficient. The details on everything we’re learning will be outlined in the blog.
Our hope is that we teach, inspire and provide resources for people with an interest in the many facets of building an earthen home, energy independence, self-sufficiency, and environmentally responsible alternatives to “the norm”. We hope you enjoy our stories!
