(I posted this in Homebuilding but thought I might get some valuable insights in this forum):

Hi folks,

My wife and I are in the design process of creating our dream home at this point. We don't want to hire an architect until we're mostly certain of what we're trying to build (though obviously we will be open to suggestions made by a professional).
We are completely off grid so we want to build a house that is passively heated by the sun as much as possible. The rest of our heating needs will be met by burning firewood.
The house build location is on a slight slope with a fair bit of wind exposure (I'm already planting wind rows to manage that). We want to build a house that takes in to account the view, energy/water efficiency, lasts generations (if that's possible), and that can comfortably accommodate our family and a certain number of guests.
I should also mention that the road to our house is for 4x4 vehicles only so we can't have a big cement truck drive up there or anything like that.

Essentially we want to build a 3 bed/2 bath, 2 story house with a living room/kitchen space as the main gathering space on the 1st floor. Here are some of my more specific questions:

1. Insulation: I've heard that rockwool is good for it's fire resistance but it also is an all out attraction for rat nests.. is this true? The other alternative I'm considering is this injection foam stuff. I've heard it insulates extremely well but I don't know much about it. Anyone have any experience with that?
2. Structure: We are strongly considering building our house on steel stilts (is that what you call them?.. or structural posts?) cased in concrete. It would be impossible for a cement truck to arrive at our location to pour a foundation so I believe that is really our only option. I would consider wood stilts if we didn't live in a climate with lots of rain and moisture which over time would rot the stilts. I'd like to make the frame of the house out of steel too but with wooden inlays like large wooden rafters on the ceiling for their aesthetic value. In fact I believe we will make the entire interior out of wood. So my questions: Is it possible to combine wooden structures with a steel frame? Is steel a good option for the frame of a house? I assume it's substantially more costly?
3. Heated floors: We want to connect our wood stove to a water heated thermal floor. I'm not exactly sure how this is done.. is it done with PEX or copper tubing? What are the requirements to make sure it never leaks or fails? A steam vent? Case the system in cement?
4. Bathrooms: We are toying with the idea of separating bathing areas from toilet areas (as they do in France I gather?). Is this worth the extra plumbing/space use?

Also this is probably a really ignorant question but do waste water drains have to line up vertically (i.e. do we have to place our 1st floor bathroom directly underneath our 2nd floor bathroom?)?

5. Roof/outside paneling:

We plan to use metal sheeting (kind of like corrugated steel panels) for the outside layer of the house and the roof. So my question is related to moisture barriers (like Tyvex kind of stuff): In a climate that is both rainy and cool do you place the vapor/moisture barrier on the outside of the structure (like right against the outside layer of panels)? Or do you place it somewhere on the inside?

6. Building on a slope:

What considerations are there to be made for building on a slope? We have bedrock at only 2 or 3 meters down...should I anchor our house stilts to the bedrock somehow? Is there a recommended depth for house stilts on a slope? The likelihood of a mud slide in this area is pretty much nonexistent but I like to play it safe in general. Is there anything I should consider in my design?

7. Water:

Maybe this isn't the right forum for this topic but we will be collecting water on our land from a stream that we have water rights to. And we will be using gravity to drop it down to the house. The source of water is something like 80 meters above the house which I know is too much pressure using gravity. My thought was to send the water down to a holding tank at the perfect altitude from the house to create pressure that will easily reach the 2nd floor bathroom. Does anyone know what kind of pipe I should use for such a system? I'm thinking about just using 1 inch poly pipe but I'm not sure this sort of pipe could handle the pressure.. maybe 2 inch poly? Also what depth should I bury it to prevent frozen pipes?

Well that's all the questions I can think of now. Hopefully I can get a few of my questions answered. Always grateful for some solid advice.
If you have any thoughts unrelated to my questions I'm happy to hear them as well.

Thanks in advance!

I'm considering several options but I'm not sure of what to do. It has foundation issues, issues with rot (on the bottom) and generally it just wasn't well built to begin with. In my educated opinion (in the trades for 30 ish years) it's not something I can fix and make safe without rebuilding it.

https://preview.redd.it/btegdttfa44e1.jpg?width=1024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc6619fe1d9fcd4f9c0e41ab5a9be371f66c34ce

• Option 1: Sell it to a barn wood company and let them deal with it. - build new
• Option 2: take it apart myself and rebuild it for my needs using as much of the old wood as practical - time consuming but possible
• Option 3: Burn it - poof problem gone - build new
• Option 4: do nothing and let it rot while continuing to be home to several wasps nests -not really practical
• Option 5: ???????? you tell me
• edit add - Option 6: Give it to another homesteader in Western NC. (Rutherford co.)

I don't have livestock of any kind and I don't plan to have anything that would need it. I also have a 30x50 shop on property which I'll be expanding come spring time to 30x100 so I don't need it for storage. Any rebuild would be for more for a man cave / art studio of sorts.

Any canning experts here? Can you can Mexican salsa? Does it need to be refrigerated after canning?

Thanks in advance

I want as many as is possible but I want it to be as cost-effective as possible while not having to use feed as much.

Howdy Ya'll, Curious if my fellow homesteaders are using drones for property safety and herd viewing. Looking at the dji mini3 pro. Whatcha got or tried?

I failed growing melons in zone 6. What are common mistakes. Or where is good information on growing melons?

I'm getting ready to break ground on my new home. One thing I'd like to also build is a pantry building that I can put an a/c in to turn into cold storage for dry & canned goods. Refrigerator temperature, not freezer, but a full sized room, separate from the house, that will also house my well water filter (I need SOME kind of building for my well equipment. I just thought I'd multipurpose it into a pantry, too). My question is....what size should I make the building?

So can I ask what size your pantries are? Or how big you wish they were?

I'm looking for recommendations for a really nice kitchen scale. It needs to be accurate and it needs to be big enough to weigh large bowls, trays, etc. I have an Ozeri which I love but it maxes out at 12 lbs and it is fairly small so I can't weigh pots or food trays.

From r/farming

I need help writing a hypothetical math question about land usage, but I have no frame of reference for how large a farm needs to be for a small family.

I figure 1lb of food per day per person is about the average, so the field would need to be at least 5lb per day for a year, or 1850 lbs (rounding up for no reason) a year. If an adult potato is 1/2lb, you'd need to grow about 3700 potatoes a year; which I'll double-round up to 4000.

How much space do you need to grow 4000 potatoes a year?

I know that isn't how farming is typically done, not since ancient feudalism; it's just for a math thingy. It also doesn't need to be potatoes is can be whatever; cuz no one is gunna eat only potatoes for a whole year... I just want a ballpark estimate for a hypothetical

Ummmmmm I thought someone was posting like a “forbidden guacamole” meme to the disgusting chicken pic but nope just a poorly placed chilis ad lmao

Hi everyone! I’m new to keeping chickens and want to make sure I start off on the right foot. I have an acre of land in Connecticut, and I’m planning to get a small flock of maybe about 6 chickens (is this a good number to start with?). I’m looking for advice on everything a beginner needs to know, including: • What type of coop and run design works best in a New England climate? • What breeds are good for egg production and cold-hardiness? • Tips for predator-proofing the coop and run. • Suggestions for feed, care routines, and seasonal considerations.

If there are any beginner mistakes to avoid, I’d love to hear about those too. Thanks in advance for your advice!

We had a fair harvest of spaghetti squash despite powdery mildew late in the year

We just found 5 out of the 9 remaining squash have gone soft and nasty. Never had that problem before. Stored same as previous years, in a darker and cooler room of the house

We did not rinse/wash them after picking. Lesson learned

I did bag and discard the old vines instead of throwing them in the compost

Howdy! New to the subreddit and to homesteading, if that’s what you can call what I do 😅 my wife, 2 young daughters, and myself all live in West Michigan with a big enough yard to grow some stuff. Next summer we’re hoping to do 3 sisters for the first time — our biggest issue is agreeing on what varieties to grow (I’m aiming for some shelf-stable corn and beans, she wants sweet corn and green beans, so we’ll see who wins). We also had some volunteer sorghum from our bird feeder and a couple pumpkins from last Halloween, so we’ll grow whatever we’ve got! We also have a grand total of 6sq feet of winter wheat in the ground, which I’m hoping will yield well enough to give us seed for next fall. I’m excited to be part of the subreddit and learn from y’all!

Hi all, this is probably a silly question but wtf. Has anyone tried either successfully or not to have a small aquatic farm or fishery if that's what it's called. I'm thinking of using excess water from collection system into a water trough or similar. I can't eat fish but can eat shellfish, mollusks, etc. so was thinking muscles or crawfish would be doable?

Idk if that is even possible or would require too many additional nutrients, etc.

Thanks!

Cross posting this. I've seen people posting about feeding leftover milk to their chickens and pigs. If raw milk may contain flu, is this as potentially dangerous as it looks to me?

Hello! I'm comparing and contrasting all my fencing options for my horse and sheep. I've pretty much settled on a polymer tape electric fencing (if anyone has serious reasons I should avoid this that I haven't read on yet, please don't hesitate to share), and I'm deciding on different post options. Fiberglass might be my best bet, but tragically cost is a factor here, so I'm exploring metal options as well. But if I'm regularly having to repair or change out posts because they've rusted, obviously that's not going to be cost effective long run. If anyone has experience with this, I'd be very grateful for your insight. How have you kept your posts from rusting away, has polymer fencing been good for you and your livestock? Is fiberglass durable enough to make its low conductivity and rust resistance worth the price? Thanks so much!

As I promised in comments of this post, here's a look at how I grow mushrooms in my basement. These pictures are a mix of this year's and last's. I was going to wait until this year's were starting to grow, but since it's a good winter project I decided to go ahead.

I'm by no means an expert at this, but I'll try to answer any questions.

I'm mostly growing different varieties of oysters. They're a very forgiving place to start. I've done lions mane in bags from a local supplier, but I don't have the hardwood substrate figured out for myself yet.

Grain Jars: I use a gasket punch to poke 2 holes in the lids. One hole gets a stopper type injection port, the other one gets a 0.3 filter sticker. I soak rye berries 8 hours - overnight. I strain the rye out of the water, fill the jars about 2/3 full, then they get assembled. I cover the lids with tin foil to keep drips in the canner from ruining the filter sticker. Then they go in the pressure canner for 2 hrs at 20 lbs (I use a little more water than I would when canning)

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Cultures: I haven't started working with my own cultures yet. I'm not sure if I will. I get my liquid cultures in syringes from Etsy.

Inoculation: Once the jars have completely cooled from sterilization, I remove the foil, wipe everything, including my hands, down with alcohol, and inject through the port. I usually use 2.5-3 ml per jar. For the way I store my syringes, I take the needle off the syringe every time. I make sure to keep the needle with the same syringe for later uses and use an open flame to sterilize the needle before later uses.

https://preview.redd.it/bbsn9axboq2e1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9d40491fd746673970a31a3f718f51ff2e646a9a

https://preview.redd.it/vd0pu27doq2e1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7728c1d241a9a595651b6f484b4507aaa4360a1e

Sterilization: Mostly, I just wipe everything (buckets, hands, all tools, etc) with Isopropyl Alcohol just before I need it. I also completely clean everything between each bucket.

Buckets: Food grade buckets from Lowes. I use the 2 gallon ones, with1/2"-ish holes drilled around the outside. I cover them with 3M micropore tape for the first week or so.

Substrate: Fine chopped straw bedding from Tractor Supply. I fill up a winemaking filter bag, put it in an old cooler, weight it down with a couple jars full of hot water, and then fill the cooler with hot water (200°F - not boiling). I let it sit covered for about 2 hours. This is pasteurized, not sterilized. Mushrooms like Lions's Mane and Mitake need a hardwood substrate that must be

https://preview.redd.it/gks2k1tgoq2e1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a39cab36dd8a0f0ebb64b06cd98efbbcb945818c

https://preview.redd.it/q14nd2tgoq2e1.jpg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=806229059c8c001fa349e6ce30d5ea8a34e23625

Assembly: As soon as the substrate is cool enough to handle, I layer it in my buckets alternately, with fully colonized grain. I alternate it in 3 or 4 times, ending with a layer of substrate about 1.5" from the top of the bucket. Then I pop the lid on and put it in the tent.

https://preview.redd.it/sgurwpusoq2e1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=52ea352e1dd816a6bb3b2753e3bba7ec2577ab45

Tent: You can buy martha tent kits, but they're simple to piece together. It's just a bookcase style greenhouse. On the top shelf is a 4" in-line duct fan with a variable speed controller. It's set up to suck air from the bottom of the tent and exhaust out the top. Everything is sealed back up around the fan with duct tape. I keep the fan about half speed and the outlet is covered with filter material to trap spores There's just a household humidifier on the floor under the bottom shelf, it's controlled by a Willhi Humidity Controller and it turns itself on and off to keep it the right humidity. I keep it set to kick on below 80%. I added a light overhead on a timer (12 hrs on/ 12 off) because our basement is dark and they seem to pin better if they get some light. My tent is set up directly on the concrete floor in my basement, but if you've got a finished floor you probably want a drip tray that is slightly bigger than your tent.

https://preview.redd.it/mbxx0injoq2e1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=55e3820461c62acc509127b8095feab282d96a27

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Growing: The mycelium will completely overtake the substrate before they start to pin. Oysters just about double in size every day. Mushrooms "breathe" oxygen like we do. If they're spindly, they probably need more fresh air so turn the fan up a little bit. Don't give up on a bucket one it's produced once, often it'll produce a second flush of mushrooms. Everything should look white. It may yellow just a little if it;s drying out. If it's green, get it out of your tent before it infects everything

https://preview.redd.it/jw4lqza3pq2e1.jpg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bfd49a2c411f5484af620ba2c497e9574aaae3f

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Outside: Once the buckets are spent, the straw and remaining mycelium goes into small wooden beds with wood chips. Each little bed only gets one kind of mushroom. So far, only the lion's mane blocks have produced a flush outside. I also have logs inoculated with plug spawn, but so far no luck with them..

More Resources:
- (book) Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets
- https://northspore.com/blogs/the-black-trumpet/martha-tent-aka-martha-tek-or-martha-technique-step-by-step-tutorial
- https://learn.freshcap.com/growing/

Less instructive but still fun:
- (podcast episode) https://www.alieward.com/ologies/mycology
- (podcast) https://www.welcometomushroomhour.com/
- (book) In Search of Mycotopia by Doug Bierend

Hey! So my spouse and I just inherited several acers that we are starting to work. We have a good amount of chopped wood and store it against the house, barn, and between trees for overstock; but does anyone have a creative way to store kindling/sticks from the property without them sitting out in the rain and snow? They dont exactly stack the way the fire logs do.

We have well water and a multi-step filtration/treatment system. We recently went through a drought and are looking into options for future issues, and want to add a large rainwater tank. We were looking at options to treat the water, but realized the tank would be right on the outside wall of our existing water treatment system. I’m wondering if we can connect the tank and well to some sort of splitter, so we can switch between well water and rainwater if needed? The tank would already have a coarse particle filtration put in place, so in my mind we’d just need a way to pump it to keep it pressurized, and a way to change the source. I can’t find any info online about doing this, so I’m wondering if it’s harder than I’m thinking or altogether impossible.

I am interested in doing work with multispectral imaging for crops with drones. This imaging can help determine plant health during growing season, irrigation needs (water tiles) ,crop count, etc. Is this something that is a growing need for farmers and their operations and are farmers interested in this service?