After looking over recent blog entries, I realized that Teresa and I have basically failed to give our two loyal readers (hi mom!) an update on where we stand on our homestead development plans. At last report, our property was under snow!

Well, things are starting to thaw out now. Most of the snow is gone and the days are heating up quite nicely out here... of course not including the current cold snap that is gripping the nation.  So we have started the process of gearing up our land development.  Here is our current status:

Floor plan:  We have been consulting with Craig Neilson of Rising Sun Design-Solutions, LLC who just happens to have an office next to ours.  He's already provided us with lots of valuable feedback we'll be incorporating into the plans.  Teresa will need to spend another couple of days to incorporate that feedback, but she's currently working on a paying job which should finish up on Wednesday.  FYI, we plan to run the plan by a few other folks too, just to get a few more sets of eyes on it to make sure we aren't doing something stupid.

Energy consulting:  I have a number of leads on energy consultants who will be taking a look at our plans to ensure our house performs as best it can, utilizing passive and active solar heating systems as well as other considerations.  With the plans still in flux, we aren't quite ready to talk to one of these folks yet.  Within a week or two, we should be ready to give it a go.

Planning:  As you notice from the above two bullets, we are basically deciding to spend money NOW in the planning phases while it is cheap to change things.  Hopefully, in the long haul, this will prove to be money well spent.  So far, the feedback we've received from the designers has been invaluable.  It's hard to be patient, but I'm sure it will pay off.

Water: We are going to have the property "witched" ASAP.  Yes, believe it or not, people still use divining rods and similar techniques to figure out where the best place for the well.  Due to the topography of our lot, we are likely going to be digging down in the "valley" near the road where we have aspen trees (usually a good sign there's water nearby).  We hope to have the well driller lined up within a week or two.  Hopefully, we'll have a well by month's end.  This leads us to the next problem:

Trenching:  Because the utilities (power and telephone) are coming up to our building site from the road, we're gonna need a trench or two.  We'll need a very deep trench (at least 5 ft deep) to bring water up from the most probable well location down in the valley.  (5-6ft will put it below the freeze line.)  Basically, we'll have four lines in the trench: 1) the water line, 2) the power main [hooks up to a meter closer to the home], 3) well pump line, 4) telephone line.  And I'd like to keep that telephone line away from that 60 hz hum if I can help it.

Subs:  It's time to start interviewing and making calls to various sub-contractors and builders to check on their availability, references, etc...  Hopefully, we'll be able to figure out exactly who we are using, and get them on board with our plans.

Driveway:  Still on hold.  Too wet, and still some snow on the ground.  Our excavator asked us to make some calls about "heavy pit run" (coarse rock) material for a driveway base.  Once we figure out who we are going to use, and once the driveway dries out enough, we'll have them lined up ready to go.  Hopefully, we'll have the driveway ready to go in June.  Let's hope things are a bit drier this summer.

Septic/Gray Water: We plan on having low-flush composting toilets in our home, but those still require a small septic system.  We might also hook our trailer up to the septic system as well.  In addition, we plan to put a gray water system in place, allowing us to re-use filtered bath water (biodegradable soap only of course) on the garden.

Moving:  At this point, with power, telephone, septic, water, and a functioning driveway, we actually might be able to move our trailer up to the property and experience living on our property for the first time.  Yay!

Propane:  Probably the least expensive item in this list, we'll be getting a larger temporary propane tank for the trailer that will be filled by a propane delivery guy.  We won't have to constantly head down to town to get our 30lb propane tanks filled.  Eventually, this will be replaced with a full sized tank for the house for backup heat and hot water.

Building:  We'll want to get our detached garage built first for storage of our stuff (now stored in four different locations across the USA) and construction material.  It will be detached to prevent toxins from entering the house.  Then we hope to at least get our foundation ready before the snow starts flying again.  Construction generally happens year round (and so does the snow!), but concrete should be poured before the ground starts to freeze.

So that's about it for now. Stay tuned for more updates. I hope to get a podcast up soon that shows us performing our farm duties.  Should be a blast!