Friday 5 August 2016

The Log Cabavan Way

Ruth and I are really proud of everything we've explored here on the farm. I do take issue with people who say or write words to the effect, "Oh dear, everything's going down the tubes but there's nothing we can really do, so I'll just carry on with my unsustainable life style anyway. Sorry about the kids." I feel we've done a lot of what we set out to do, demonstrating that it's possible to get back on the land without spending much money and for ex-townies to work in partnership with farmers, exploring together what exactly a sustainable future might be like.
The blank canvas, 2012...
...and same view in 2016
It has been just a wee bit challenging at times... old static caravans like this one have almost no insulation and lots of single glazed windows. This one even has two single glazed doors as well, so the first winter we struggled with the cold, damp and condensation, ending up using lots of electricity to run heaters and a de-humidifier to back up the log-burning stove. It's taken a few years, but last winter was much better thanks to all the work we have put in making a second roof and doing lots of insulation. We've managed to do this without spending much by using waste plastic from the farm as insulation and using poles from the nearby woods and reclaimed materials to make the roof.

Starting the frame to take insulation on the outside of the Cabavan

Bargain basement bubblewrap double glazing 

The yurt I made in the garden down by Brighton in use at last

Reclaimed and woodland roof...

...even some palettes made into purlins...

The Log Cabavan appears





Thursday 4 August 2016

So What's Sustainable Living Like?

That's the question I asked myself ten years ago in 2006 and I've had a fascinating time looking for answers since, travelling from a terraced house on the seafront road outside Brighton to our present home on a hill farm in the backwoods of Shropshire, our timber-clad, waste-plastic-insulated ancient static caravan, aka The Amazing Log Cabavan.

Looking out over the Shropshire Plain from the Cabavan verandah
 
I've been blogging about my adventures, challenges and triumphs since then first on "ian's eco blog" then on...