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Our library of articles, photographs, and illustrations can now be browsed by topic.
Alternative Fuel
Alternative fuels have the potential to drastically reduce carbon emmisions in this country, though practical applications have yet to be defined. We hope that our experiments with methane and hydrogen will help us to integrate alternative fuels into our everyday lives and will completely eliminate the need for fossils fuels on our homestead.
Building Our Homestead
We have begun the process of building our homestead. In this section we will highlight projects that are directly related to building our home. Already, we've created the master plan for our off grid homestead, our property survey has been prepared and our fresh water well is underway.
Geodesic Domes
Geodesic domes are great! They can withstand the forceful winds of the high desert and provide shade from the intense sun. We've constructed our our geodesic dome and have provided plans for building a dome tent from steel conduit (EMT). This section offers a geodesic dome calculator, as well as plans for the construction of a dome cover from heavy duty tarps.
Local Community
The homesteading life doesn't offer many frills, but we have a good time anyway. We are active in the local arts community and have participated in several craft fairs. We also enjoy alternative energy club meetings, weekly shopping at the Concho Farmer's Market, and homebrewed gatherings.
Organic Gardening
Organic gardening is an important aspect of our quest for sustainablity. We still have a lot to learn about greenhouse gardening and organic farming methods, but we hope that soon we will be able to produce our own organic fruits and vegetables year round.
Passive Solar House Plans
In the process of designing our sustainable homestead we've developed several different passive solar house plans. Passive solar building methods capitalize on the heat provided by the sun and reduce the need for heating with fossil fuels. We expect that passive solar building will help us to achieve energy independence.
Solar Power
We live off the grid and use only the power that is harvested from our solar panels. As solar enthusiasts, we never miss a chance to collaborate on solar power projects with our friends and neighbors, or share ideas with other homesteaders.
Solar Hot Water
Our experiments in solar water heating began with our flat panel collector. While it worked great in the summer, our more recently built batch collector can withstand freezing temperatures. We've written articles outlining our solar water heater experiments, as well as provided illustrations of varying solar water heating systems.
Winterizing
Winter is anything but warm in our temporary housing situation! Skirting the trailer and making RV vent pillows has helped us to reduce our fuel costs, though. We've posted several winterizing tips for anyone who is planning to winter in a travel trailer.
Egg Laying Chickens
Our egg laying chickens are the first animals that we brought onto the homestead. We constructed a passive solar barn and indoor chicken coop to house our egg laying chickens. We've improved egg production by modifying our chicken nesting boxes and installing an automated light.

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