I decided to take the text from an Instagram post and publish it here as well. Right now I’m spending time clearing up parts of the land and observing where I want to put different elements in my Permaculture design for the farm.
Snow turns out to be an efficient tool for Permaculture design as I can clearly see where I (and other creatures) naturally walk on the land and where it would be beneficial to place growing beds, the future sauna, outdoor kitchen and other features I plan on building.
But the original post below contains some more thoughts on why I choose to live the way I do right now:
Why does one choose to buy a shabby old house with no running water in the cold north?
For me it’s about self-reliance and asking myself what I really need. Compared to how many live this is a real luxury life. I have electricity, decent internet connection, plenty of land and a clean well. Do I really need a washing machine and a fancy shower? I’m still figuring that out.
It’s partially an experiment. Considering where the world might be heading due to human impact, many of us might have to cut some of our comforts sooner than we think. Knowing what that feels like beforehand seems like an advantage.
It’s about asking what I can be without and what I can build up with renewable resources should I feel that I want to have them later. Finding creative solutions to building resilient systems. Grow food, know I have water even when there’s a summer-long drought.
Most of all, this is a beautiful location where I feel like I can build a future with meaningful daily tasks and enough space for my own messy brain and creative aspirations.
Hi Veronica,
loved your natural pond. we have a failed plastic liner in our pond. id love to make it a natural one instead. it is about 4m across and 3m wide. it was made for fish so some steep edges as well as shelves. we want wildlife only.
husband thinks it’s too much work and we will have to make the pond area larger to accommodate shelving (we do have the space). dont know if you might have any thought?
sorry about punctuation. broken arm . barbara
Thank you Barbara!
It will mean some work to do the pond with all-natural methods yes, but I would say that the benefits are many. First and foremost that you won’t have to worry about a failed liner and leaks again but also you won’t have to dig up the pond again at the end of the lifetime of the liner to remove it. I would go fully natural unless you have very sandy soil that makes it difficult to keep water in the pond.