Barnes homestead

Location: Tweed, Ontario, Canada, USDA Zone 5a
Project Start Date: August, 2008
Expected Completion Date (i.e. when expected to be self-reliant): 2010

Project Concept:

The goal is to first and foremost to have a home and base of operations for business. The site will also serve as a teaching and demonstration site. As time progresses, the site will become more and more energy self-sufficient with a goal of 100% on-site energy generation. We also aim to produce as much of our own food as possible.

Detailed Project Description:

The site is a vacant lot on approximately 32 acres of rural farmland with about 20 acres of hay pasture and 12 acres of pioneer forest. An earth-sheltered home, approximately 2000ft square is in the final design stages and it is hoped that permits will be available to incorporate tirewalls and used shipping containers to both reduces costs and to put waste products to productive use. Power will be grid electric initially, supplemented with wind. The feasibility of microhydro is being assessed, but does not look too promising.

There are numerous sites for ponds on site and it is hoped that this can be put to multiple uses including aquaculture, microclimate adjustment to extend the range of possible plant species, chinampa systems, and safe housing for poultry (as everything from weasels to bears are a problem in the area).

In addition to fruit and nut trees, a coppice crop will be set up on site to generate fibre for fuel and materials.

Project Duration & Schedule:

Contour will be mapped out on site this summer. Some ponds will be dug this autumn and a pass with a subsoiler (Yeoman’s plough or Wallace plough equivalent) will be made. Tree planting will be done in spring, 2009. The house is to be completed in summer 2009. Animal systems will gradually be added to the site as their support systems come online. First on site in 2009 will be bees. Small flocks of chickens and ducks could be handled onsite without any difficulty. As fodder systems mature, goats will be added with the possibility of other livestock in time.

Project Needs:

The project is self-financed and local resources will suffice for supplying necessary species for the site.