Ok, Whats your own personal idea of a good homestead?
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Timber framed very well insulated house, multifuel stove, solar panels. There's no way on earth I would ever want to live in a badly insulated, damp house again.
Stone cottage? No thanks. Lived in a couple of those and they are hugely inefficient to heat.
Especially when some wally wants exposed stone on the inside so it can't have decent insulated walls.
Cob built? Hell no, they are even worse.
Barn conversions are some of the worst houses out there for retaining the heat you throw into them.
Massive shed space, enough woodland to supply wood for the fire. Good amount of space to grow vegetables and a decent orchard.
Decent workshop for my motorbikes and chainsaws and whatever else. Maybe a lift or just a pit so I can work under the van.
Poultry maybe.
After living on a hillfarm when I was younger there's no way I want livestock and would far rather go out to work doing what I do now (carpenter) than trying to make ends meet farming beefstock or sheep.
I've also spend quite enough of my time trying to help pregnant animals deliver to know I don't want any more of that either thank you very much.
I like getting out and about so apart from free heat fuel I'm not so keen on the staying on the land every day knitting my own socks part.
Stone cottage? No thanks. Lived in a couple of those and they are hugely inefficient to heat.
Especially when some wally wants exposed stone on the inside so it can't have decent insulated walls.
Cob built? Hell no, they are even worse.
Barn conversions are some of the worst houses out there for retaining the heat you throw into them.
Massive shed space, enough woodland to supply wood for the fire. Good amount of space to grow vegetables and a decent orchard.
Decent workshop for my motorbikes and chainsaws and whatever else. Maybe a lift or just a pit so I can work under the van.
Poultry maybe.
After living on a hillfarm when I was younger there's no way I want livestock and would far rather go out to work doing what I do now (carpenter) than trying to make ends meet farming beefstock or sheep.
I've also spend quite enough of my time trying to help pregnant animals deliver to know I don't want any more of that either thank you very much.
I like getting out and about so apart from free heat fuel I'm not so keen on the staying on the land every day knitting my own socks part.
For some reason every time someone says that, a picture of an aboriginal on walkabout pops into my mind.
Evening!
Does anyone know of an online resource that gives a rough idea of the quality of land at a particular place in the uk please?
Does anyone know of an online resource that gives a rough idea of the quality of land at a particular place in the uk please?
Self-sufficiency is an interesting concept. When I am out in Falmouth Bay with the handlines down for whatever interesting and tasty fish may be about and I lean back and admire the passing yachts that is sufficient for the day. Of course there is a whole hydro-carbon based industry that puts me there but if necessary I could be in a skin or sewn planked boat built by myself using gear also made by me. As an experiment the latter is fun but it is the simplicity that technology offers that is so attractive. Sit on kayak requires virtually no maintenance and is there ready for whenever.
Incidentally look at the price of fish and work out whether protein from poultry or from self-caught fish is the better deal and ask if hunter-gathering for the individual isn't perhaps a better deal than working an allotment.
Incidentally look at the price of fish and work out whether protein from poultry or from self-caught fish is the better deal and ask if hunter-gathering for the individual isn't perhaps a better deal than working an allotment.
This is quite a good start
http://archive.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/landmanage/land-use/documents/alc-guidelines-1988.pdf
Radio 4's Gardeners Question Time.
Haha, I do occasionally mate, but I don't think the weekly question from Gladys regarding why her orchid fails to establish is going to help me choose which land to buy
Out of interest, does anyone know of a way of accessing cheap, cabins/huts/ for sale in the UK? I'm thinking of basic dwellings without many facilities that ordinary buyers would not look at.
No........... but I notice my cheap garden shed is still dry after many years (about 6 or 7) with nothing done to it. And I also notice the walls are the same as fence panels that are about 6' x 6' and cost somewhere between £10 and £20 each. The roof is chipboard. The floor is particle board. And the water proofing that tarry stuff that comes on rolls. Keeping going with a similar mindset on materials and I'm sure something can be added for insulation. In theory you could do the lot for £200. If you need cheap 2" x 2" look for for sale/to let signs that have been taken down by the ownwer and are destined for the binman/dump.
Roofing felt
Pressure treated 2x2 and 6x1 deck boards are my bodging timbers of choice (along with exterior grade plywood). I have made everything from raised beds to greenhouse staging out of them. This morning its a new lid for the coal bin!
i was a roofer for many years but have been out of it for some time now, i hated that chipboard stuff, it crumbles up to a horrible mess when it gets constantly damp, even when remaining dry it can sometimes ''sag'' anyway after many years and create dips in the roof that hold water, ply is far better, chipboard used to be used for cheapness but was false economy long term, felt-roofers these days usually use ''torch-on' felt but i was in the trade when felt was laid rolled over hot bitumen which is a much better job in my opinion.
[h=2]Ok, Whats your own personal idea of a good homestead?[/h]
Mine:- Intelligent design and use of the land using basic permaculture principles to stack systems and minimize waste and labour whilst maximizing potential harvest and animal input.
Mine:- Intelligent design and use of the land using basic permaculture principles to stack systems and minimize waste and labour whilst maximizing potential harvest and animal input.
No, osb is made from bigger particles and better than chipboard
this is chipboard http://beta.wickes.co.uk/Products/Building-Materials/Sheet-Materials/Chipboard-Sheet/c/1001105
this is osb (http://beta.wickes.co.uk/search?text=osb+board
and plyboard is even better
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Sure I get the difference - I just haven't seen sheds made with chipboard. OSB for sure - but then again I bet there are some cheap sheds out there
Most timber kit house walls are 140mm timbers at 600mm centres, covered with OSB, a layer of Tyvek, then either timber clad on the external skin or a cavity and brick/block/stone on the outside so its not just the cheap stuff that's got OSB on the outside. Between the 140mm timbers they can fit a good amount of insulation, cover it on the inside with a vapour barrier then plasterboard the inside.
Not a fan of it as a roofing material admittedly but I don't have any problems whatsoever with it being used in the way I just described.
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