Spring Break Update
Progress on "The Plan"
If you’ve been following along, you know my family has a plan to escape C@pItali$m and build a regenerative lifestyle. We just had our Spring Break, so I wanted to update on our progress.
Winter
Winter is wrapping up. We have continued to make progress selling off “stuff” that no longer serves us, and donating what we can to local community spaces. Our debts are slowly fading, but not quite enough to have a surplus to purchase the larger Domesteading Supplies.
As usual, I was a bit too optimistic with my goal-setting. I was really hoping to have the rainwater collection, biogas, and PV solar system up by Spring Break so that we could be moving in at that time. But reality hit, and time/money had to go towards other things (like Victoria breaking a toe, and needing an engine repair on our family van).
So, we were not yet ready to move out of our grid-locked rental house, and have had to adjust that goal for the summer once the kids have wrapped up their school year. That gives us a couple more months to finish slimming down our possessions, paying off debts, and squeezing in work on the circular systems out at the Domestead.
Spring
Even though we weren’t moving in, we were still able to make use of Spring Break and get everyone out to camp and get some work done. Between the weather, Jessica’s Archery State Championships, and still having to pay the bills, we were able to spend 2 nights out at the Domestead. The days were beautiful and great for getting work done. The nights got pretty cold, but sleeping bags in the RV kept us comfortable enough to rest.
It was a good experience to feel what it is like to have all of us out there at once. The RV definitely gets crowded with 6 people. But that’s okay with me, as it encourages us to spend more time outside. We made enough progress on the treehouse that Gabe spent a night sleeping in it. My primary objective was to complete our first rainwater collection system. And that, we did.
We used mostly recycled and re-claimed materials, so there was plenty of learning and adapting required. I took the principles I learned from BioVeda’s Water Course and applied them to the materials we were able to source locally and cheaply. We made a few mistakes along the way, but ended up with something I am happy with. We were gifted with some rain since finishing the build, and I was able to confirm that it is working!
You can see the finished build on our TikTok. If you want to know more about the build process, let me know in the comments, and I would be happy to elaborate in a separate post.
OpenSource Projects
Since publishing “The Plan” — I have continued to network and work on OpenSource solutions that build towards a Federated Network of OpenSource Communities. I haven’t found any monetary support for that yet, and still have bills to pay. So my OpenSource work is still very much a “hobby” for now.
I created a new OpenSource project around BioRegional data. It is an important step towards building OpenEcoBuilder.
I also met a few more projects where I would love to be able to pour some time and energy once I cut down living expenses and/or find support for OpenSource work.
Simon Grant’s RegenMatch project
Steve Melville’s MAP project
Years to Come
We are still on the path towards building a network of Regenerative OpenSource Communities.
We have a lot to learn on the way there. I am so thankful there are others working towards an aligned future, and sharing what they’re learning. Here are a few related Substack publications that are incredibly resonant with our long-term goals:
If you like what we’re doing and want to support our journey, we’re accepting support here on SubStack, GitHub, GoFundMe, and with Domesteading Supplies.
Thanks for reading! Here’s to co-creating the beautiful Regenerative SolarPunk world we see in our dreams!