greetings

[mountaingirl]

Hi folks,

I have recently come to the conclusion that I want to intensify my self-sufficiency goals and start to learn about how I can reduce and perhaps produce energy in the home.

I am at a cross-roads at the moment in that I have to move and am trying to find another house in the countryside to rent, hopefully one with a range. It is getting more difficult to find a house here in northern ireland due to an economic boom fueled by £100 Billion in 'peace money' from the US and the EU which is being shared among a population of less than two million, in large part by giving huge grants to people to build houses in the countryside and demolish old and historic buildings, and grants to shopkeepers to destroy traditional shopfronts and replace them with modern ones. Unnecessarily demolish old buildings like libraries and colleges and replace them, and also offer big incentives to builders to construct housing estates in the towns while also giving big financial breaks to attract mega stores and hypermarkets into the countryside.

A few weeks ago I knew nothing about energy efficiency and although I grew some vegetables I was not doing so with the intention of saving money on bills. Now with peak oil having arrived and all indications that energy costs will escalate dramatically and soon, I realize that the rising cost of energy will have to be met not only by cutting energy use but by reducing other bills.

I was pleased to discover this forum and hope that I find a place to live where I can benefit from all the good advice and experience on offer from the other posters.

[judyofthewoods]

Not too long ago I had contemplated moving to Ireland to be able to live simply in the country. Had I done so, I feel I would be doing a bit of reverse migration now. Ironic. Have you contemplated coming over here? Mind you, property in the country side is very hard to get these days here too, including renting. Its just getting too crowded everywhere, reducing affordable choice. Not sure what to suggest, as these days its even become very difficult to get cheap land and just defy the planning regulations. It certainly calls for out-of-the-box thinking. The peak oil, and all the other crunch-time scenarios are greatly influencing my lifestyle and deciseons, though everything would be precarious in such a time, including ownership, which is after all just a piece of paper, it just puts you in a slighly better position if things should ever go apeshit suddenly (if you are stocked up with plenty of weapons and ammunition!).
Well, I wonder what the word filter will make of the simian excreta word

[mountaingirl]

Hi Judy ,

I could'nt rent a house in England (my heartland) Scotland or Wales because I am now on benefits and the rent was always well ahead of ones income.

The Irish Republic had a massive boom in the 1990s due to billions in support from the EU. This money as money generally does, destroyed not only the cities and towns with new buildings but pushed house and land prices through the roof.

So I came to Northern Ireland from London at the end of what they call 'the troubles' here. I dreaded peace because I realised very quickly that the political situation was preserving the countryside and landscape and giving poorer people a chance to rent in the country.

Sadly 'peace' came and along with it the £100 Billion in aid. In just the last few years many thousands of anti-nature northern irish people have returned from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, England, Saudi, Hong Kong etc and proceeded to reclaim their ancestral lands and destroy them with diggers and innapropiate dwellings. The whole of Northern Ireland (which is a very small area) is turning into a giant Philadelphia style suburb and it is getting harder and harder to rent.

If I had the money I would go to the vast and still slightly populated backwoods of America or Canada, that is the only land I know of where one could follow a natural lifestyle without worrying too much about the future, and you get the right to defend yourself as you mentioned! Lots of very cool people living in log cabins etc with well established 'green' networks.

Though if I had a good load of dosh I would consider a remote farmhouse in Wales.

Even if one got some cheap land in Eastern Europe now it is only a matter of time before 'prosperity, economic progress and (this word was directly revealed by the devil!) re-generation' reaches these places.

In the meantime I hope to just get somewhere to live been trying for four months now, my landlords daughter is to demolish this old stone house and build a new more palatial one.

But like you I will be determined to use resourses better in order to survive the future........as long as one can have the chance to do so without being driven into a bedsit in a town or city.

I am praying that the exponential increase in oil prices will lead to recession and slow all this environmental destruction, bring back emigration, slow immigration and create more opportunities for those of us who want to get back to nature.

[Wombat]

G'DAy Ladies,

sounds pretty bad over there. There is still cheap stuff over here but if you thought that a Welsh farm could be remote.............

The problem as always is to get a decent climate and land you can actually grow things on. Lots of luck.

I thought that you were fairly well placed Judy?

Nev

[judyofthewoods]

I am quite well placed, Nev, just had my moments of doubt when everthing went ape with the authorities. Have decided to stand my ground, and it seems that my determination or rather faith in what I am doing and that its 'meant to be' have swung tings my way again, no one has hassled me for a while and my neighbour from hell has moved now. I plan for the future, but have also learned to live for the moment and not let hypothetical things get me down. What happens happens, worry doesn't change anything.

[Wombat]

That's great mate,

I am glad to here that things have worked out well . You have done so much work it would be such a shame to have to start again somewhere else. Although you are obviously well schooled and experienced so that I suspect that you could make a go of it anywhere.

Nev

[Chickenlady]

When you do find your new abode Mountaingirl, have a look at the Centre for Alternative Technology website about alternative forms of energy. When I renewed my membership recently they gave me a little booklet about solar water heating which I would like to organise. Their address is www.cat.org.uk.

I was a bit shocked by the picture you painted about Ireland. I haven't been there for years, but in my mind it is the Emerald Isle, a green and pleasant land. Just proves that money isn't everything, doesn't it? Good luck with the house hunt - have you considered rural France?

[mountaingirl]

Thanks chicken Lady, I'll check that out and mark it as favourites. With elec and fuel prices set to rise it is time to learn,


And I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you Judy.

Yep, Nev it is tough here in Western Europe, I know what you mean about Aussie, having enough water and so on. I often wondered if veggies in parts of Aussie need a canopy over them to avoid the midday sun and retain some moisture.
mountaingirl

[Wombat]

G'Day MountainGirl,

Funny you should mention that! This summer I made a shadecloth cover that I can use for seedlings that have just been planted out. Otherwise the summer sun takes its toll, the mature plants are OK but the heat/sun is a problem in the early parts.

Nev

[mountaingirl]

Hi Nev,

I guess I live in an extreme opposite climate to yours!

Sun is a rare commodity here with so many clouds about.

Here the summer (light) season is very short and more than often the flowering/ripening season terminates before time. Even when the sun shines it is generally weak.

This is especially difficult when growing 'herb' and the real answer is polytunnels.

I also suffer from damp induced fungial attacks and weeds which grow thick, fast and overnight, attracting pests and diseases. This makes it hard to grow anything apart from potatoes, marrows and pumpkins. Delicate plants like lettuice ar'nt worth growing and tomatoes can only be grown in a greenhouse.

NI used to be a rainforest and with climate change it is becoming more like one every year. The original natural spongy plants which absorbed water, and the billions of stones deposited by the ice age which gave a firm foothold have been mostly cleared for farming long ago.

You cannot for instance go for a walk in fields because there is no firm topsoil and you either sink in mud or trip over holes made by the feet of cattle. I used to walk for miles in London parks everyday but here I dont walk at all because the roads are tiny and the SUVs fast!

[Wombat]

G'Day MountainGirl,

If it's any consolation to you, I have lots of trouble with lettuce myself. They seem to be going well then you get a hot spell or a dry spell or a load of rain or something and the buggers bolt up to seed!

How do you go with other root crops like carrots or turnips? Are any of the weed species useful? I get plenty of staggerweed (not useful) but also dock, shepherds purse and dandelion, which are useful.

Otherwise it sounds like a hell of a climate to de self sufficientish in!

Nev

[mountaingirl]

Yep Nev, climate has changed much since I arrived, very high concentrations of pollution growing through the construction of many thousands of homes in the countryside, SUVs, millions of cattle, slurry etc. The winters are milder and the summers more wet......or at least cloudy.

There are all sorts of weeds but I am not up on them, certainly all the ones you mentioned and many more...bindweed, briars, nettles, thistles, but they are voracious due to the climate and grow like mad in any bed, all the slurry and dung runoffs wash into the acidic (ex-bog, peat-moss) garden soils as most country houses have a tenant farmer with cattle at the back of the yard.

This means that many plants I put down were just poisoned, including some bulbs.

I am told that all the major watertables are now poisoned with slurry here.

But if you can get a place with some tenure you can put in a pollytunnel and buy some garden soil. Potates can grow but have to be sprayed twice for blight which is endemic. Yes you can grow onions and root vegetables but you have to buy garden soil.

I normally concentrate on marrows because of the weeds etc, but they wer'nt too good this year. Clouds set in in mid-July and hardly left so they are pretty tasteless and not properly ripened.

My 'herb' was also almost devoid of flowering last year and mainly just leaves, hard on the chest.

The last good hot sunny summer was nine years ago, the year before I arrived, it melted the tar on the roads.

Main thing is to have a place on a long-term basis that you can develope to counter these factors.

[Wombat]

Wow that sounds really bad!

Have you considered no-dig gardening or even perhaps hydroponics? I have been experimenting with organic hydroponics for a couple of years but have not published any results (which have been variable) yet.

Nev

[mountaingirl]

Perhaps Nev I am just a bit down looking for a new place to live and sounding negative?

But thats the reality of life in modern modern Western Europe.

You dont notice these things normally, but I'm grateful to Judy for telling me about plastic cause I burnt tons of it in ignorance!

Now that I know how to do the right thing I will feel better for handling it better.
mountaingirl.

[Andy Hamilton]

How rude of me not to say hello mountaingirl, sorry been a bust time. But hello now and welcome to the site