New Tides

Hello everyone! Or is that, Howdy Doodie! (Insert wooden marionette)

New directions are happening over here. I won't have access to a garden anytime in the near future, however, plenty of ideas are brewing over. The upcoming posts will probably concentrate more on theoretical aspects in my life. The upcoming purchase of an acre of land (Within the Year) and the eventual building of a tiny house. Over the last half year my mind has been preoccupied with the notion of living without much overhead. Using only what you need. A luxury minimalism if you will.

Today while bored on one of my days off I spent a considerable amount of time in the box stores. After reading online about various LED lights my curiosity led me to find something tangeable.

The keeper? Philips L-prize winning 60watt equivalent. Producing 940 lumens (60w=800) at 10 watts usage. The L prize is the US' new program to entice manufacturers to make higher efficiency consumer products. This bulb is the first to receive that recognition. Also, thanks to Detroit Edison subsidizing a portion of it, it can be had for 40 bucks instead of 50. Yes. WOW. Heaps of money. Thing is though if you use it 6 hours a day it supposedly lasts 11 years. Yeah yeah. They never do. At least with CFL bulbs. However with CFLs we all buy the cheapest ones available which happen to be horrible chinese goods. I'm near certain the supposed lifespan of them is really based on the quality product which is missing at the base cost units.

So do I honestly believe this LED bulb is going to last? Actually yes. Part of the L-prize is quality testing.

Why the fascination with LED and alternative lighting? If the eventual idea is to use solar panels to produce what I need for a tiny house. Lighting is going to be a large proportion of its usage. If I can design a space with a minimal amount of recessed lighting throughout the spaces then an affordable PV system is attainable. I still wish to live in lavish luxury, however, I want to be efficient at doing so. ;)

LED Magazine - L-prize Winner

Ain't she gorgeous!

Quick Notes

I haven't posted in a few weeks because I was out of town. Thought I might be moving to Arizona. Instead became a nice vacation to visit my old friends and family.

Before I left, however, I cut back a lot of what was going on with the city homestead. This would make it easier for V to take care of. Now that I am back, I will slowly but surely place a bit of it back up.

Just before I had left I planted out lettuce and various semi winter hardy vegetables. That being 3 weeks or so ago. You can imagine how delighted I was to return to find them more or less still struggling on. Now with the approaching warm weather it should be off like a heard of racing turtles for growth!

I'll keep you all in the mix! BTW, does anyone know how long it should take a well chitted potato to surface once buried 6-9 inches down???

At what point should I be concerned. lol

Thinking again. Trouble afoot.

According to John Jeavon's research. A vegan can feed themselves on 4000 SF of cultivated earth. There is 43,560SF in an acre. Even with a 2 foot path between the rows it would come to a total of 5600SF. That is 5 beds of 4'by200'. An acre being nearly 210'x210'. This is both a large area and a small area in how you approach it.

If we designed out cities to where all houses were placed on the very northern edge of our city plot, we would have ample southern exposure for everyone of us to grow most of our food.

I am currently thinking of where to find an acre dirt cheap so I can build my tiny solar house with rain water catchment.

The nice bit is, while I have no idea what the actual cost involved is for the land.... I am happy to see that you don't actually need an acre to sustain yourself on.

With a plot 80 feet by 200 (A 1/3 acre) you could have your two story 20x40 foot (1600SF) home and your personal farm. Along with enough extra space to leave wild growing a cover crop like alfalfa to produce enough compost. :) If you did manage to get your acre then you would have a huge plot of wild green to compost.


So many thoughts. Now to find money to do it.