After 2 more kids and lots of searching we found this place. It fit almost all our requirements perfectly. The land was purchased and is in the process of being severed to allow my parents to build up the hill from us. The property is 35 acres, 5 of which will be ours. The quiet street ends at a small lake. Maples line the front East facing boundary. About half of the land is receding meadow, the rest a mix of hard and softwood. Last fall we had a driveway put in, a well drilled, and septic installed. Then the mobile home was delivered to serve as temporary dwelling for the next year or so while we build our straw bale home. All 6 of us will be living in less than 700 square feet, with the dog and 2 cats. We needed storage for the things we could not fit into the home, so Chris built a shed that will later be used for garden storage. He also built a mudroom off the side of the mobile home.
We had hoped to move in last fall, but things took a lot longer than expected. Once the hydro was hooked up it was the dead of winter and much work still needed to be done to make the mobile home livable. So this spring we sold our city house and took the plunge! The water was still not hooked up when we moved, neither was the septic. For the first 6 weeks we used the well runoff for washing, and carried jugs of drinking water from the neighbour's. Our toilet was a bucket in a wooden box with a toilet seat on top. We covered the waste with pine shavings and dumped the bucket onto a humanure composting pile near the back of the property.
Finally, Chris got the water hooked up! Hot tap water meant washing dishes, laundry and SHOWERS! The septic was still not connected though, so our trusty bucket was still needed. Chris had the grey water runoff going out the side of the mobile home into the bushes.
3 weeks later Chris did a happy dance after he got the septic connected! Our bucket will be kept as our second toilet once Chris builds an outhouse for it...
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| Our driveway from the road |
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| Mailbox, our first project with personality |
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| The house site from the end of the driveway |
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| House location, as seen from the septic bed. We've already used some of the sumac on the left for making yummy sumac lemonade! |
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| The path from the back of the mobile home to the well runoff and shed. That clump of bushes under the pine to the left are wild raspberries! |
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| The path to the shed. To the left, our future pond, to the right our garlic bed |
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| To the left is an old stone pile. The property has many piles like this from over 100 years ago, when the original farmers were clearing the fields. This area was used for grazing but has been unused for so long the forest has begun to reclaim the meadows. The meadow behind this rock pile will be used to grow fruit and nut trees on berms and swales. The cabin is an ancient sugar shack |
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| No roof, and collapsing walls. Zander has found many neat artifacts in here. The "no parking" sign is one of his less historic finds |
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| Small clearing to the left of the driveway near the road. We just planted some willow cuttings here |
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| To the right of the driveway by the road. A small clearing before the maples that we will tap to make syrup |
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| A stand of birch, and the outdoor shower (in progress) |
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| The well runoff |
