EcoVillage update #5 - just a quickey
(edited:Thx @revisesociology)
Hey everyone,
Just thought I'd give a quick update, as the last post was both long overdue, and just long...
So what going on with the project? And where are today?
Things certainly seem to be moving forward. Due to the bureaucratic challenges regarding permanent housing, we have decided to start with temporary accommodations.
As you can see we finished putting up a couple of tents for Shir.
And I started work on clearing an area to set up our Tipi.
I'm very happy about our choice for a Tipi, as, besides the actual fabric, ropes, and other techinacal parts, we will be building all the rest from on-site materials. We have a few Eucalyptus trees on our land, which we can take to fashion the long straight poles that we need to hold the structure. As for the floor, we have an idea I haven't seen done in a Tipi yet, though I'm sure someone has.
We want to make a cob floor.
I love the feeling of earth under my feet, it is by far my favourite floor to walk on year round.
And of course, there is the added benefit that the materials are rocks and stones, which we have in abundance in our land, clay, of which we have too much...! Sand, that's probably our biggest challenge, but with enough sifting, I'm sure we can reach the quantities we need, and some form of straw, which we can use the over growth on the land for, as we clear it.
So, the plan is, hopefully, to be able to build the floor from all locally sourced materials. And considering we haven't brought anything to the land yet, this is all what we can find here! I'm pretty excited about it...
In the course of clearing the area, unfortunately I injured my foot, not too badly, but have been resting in bed for most of the last couple of days healing. It's coming along well and I hope next week to get back to the land, but I'm taking the time I need to heal. The story of the injury is actually a curious one, maybe I'll write about it in another post.
For now I leave you with the panorama,(the ends are curved, so you're seeing a semicircle) where you can see my foot resting after the accident.
)
That's it for now, hope you have a wonderful weekend, and I'll be updating further as events warrant.
Namaste
The down side of communities is that the "regular" ecotrain people don't see your ecovillage content anymore - I had to go looking and had NO IDEA there was an eco village community too.
Talking to the few who already know you has its limits when you're trying to grow a project globally. Always welcome to crosspost - or ask Alex to do that - to keep your fans up to date.
Thanks for using the ecoTrain tag!
Posting from our ecotrain community page and using any tags you like at: https://steempeak.com/c/hive-123046 is another posting option. Always. :) Then we can all see you and keep supporting your posts!
Keep up the great blogging, photographs, podcasts, vlogging & inspiration.
With Love From ecoTrain
I'm so pleased for you that you've made the decision to go with nomad accommodation, it's absolutely the right one, and just as homely as a more permanent build in many ways.
I think the climate in Portugal will suit a Tipi perfectly well, and a cob floor sounds like a great idea.
How exciting.
Hope your foot doesn't restrict what you can do for too long.
NB you've got more typos in that post than you'll need posts to support said tipi!
@tipu curate
Thx so much!! I've fixed what I could find..
And I agree that a Tipi should suit us well here.. We'll have the main house until we get all the 'infrastructure', water, electricity etc, so that's good to have..
And Yeah, it's nice to finally be on the land working...
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 10/15 - need recharge?)
wonderful! it must feel good to get something on the ground!
when we come, jon who has a LOT of experience, and I can help with how to deal with the floor.. there are of course a Lot of options.. but get some stones ready for starters ;-)
p.s please do copy n paste this into the ecovillage.io/communitynetwork site .. you can ADD A BLOG post.. i think its great to have it all in one place .. things can get a bit lost on Steem ! xx Congrats!
p.s kisses to your foot ;-x
@orlev You may want to consider sealing the eucalyptus poles of the tipi especially if you plan on having a fire inside or use another heating method. The oils from the eucalyptus tree can cause respiratory difficulties, rashes and irritate the eyes.
Good luck turning that raw land into something wonderful. It is always difficult in the beginning doing such a thing and then later it is still difficult but eventually things get a bit easier.
Thx so much for the heads up, we were going to treat them so as to prevent rot etc, but I didn't know about the oils, so Thx for the info! Good to know.
We're not planning on an open fire, but a closed fire will still heat them up, so better safe than sorry. (we also have a little one who's more sensitive, so better be on the safe side just in case.)
You are welcome @orlev.
I was also thinking that just the sun alone would heat the poles up inside the tipi.
Cheers and best of luck to you.
ooh interesting.. i always thought the eucalyptus oils were good for our respiratory system.. do you any more info on that, what kind of difficulties it can cause and why? thanks!
Like most essential oils it is generally fine in small diluted doses but consider the effects of basically steaming the wood while being in an enclosed area with it for a prolonged period of time. I do not have any more information but if you do a little research you will find that high doses of the stuff are not at all healthy.
In my initial comment I was simply siting my own experiences of dealing with a eucalyptus tree and picturing a scenario where I was in an enclosed area with it. The strong undiluted oils definitely acted as a skin irritant for me and breathing the oil was assuredly unpleasant.