Kia ora! I’m just another solarpunk in Aotearoa looking for other like-minded friends, inspiration, and advice on other ways I can green up my life.

I live in an off-grid tiny home I built with my partner in 2016 out of wood and second-hand windows/doors/appliances. We run off solar power, rain water, a composting toilet, and try to repair, mend, make, borrow, and buy 2nd hand or local. Our meat is all hunted, which here in Aotearoa is a huge help for our environment as our only native mammals are seals and bats. Everything else is a pest. We also grow a lot of our own fruit and veggies, but the garden is still a work in progress.

I’m looking at irrigating the garden and automating the process. I saw something about https://www.home-assistant.io/ online but would love any advice you might have. I’d like to automate and chart my watering as well as integrate moisture monitors and a weather monitoring system.

I have an electric bike and an old 1996 honda crv. I’d like to switch to an electric vehicle, something like a Pickman 4x4 or another small farm vehicle, as I only need to get to the village bus stop, neighbouring farms, and the occasional trip into town via back roads.

Clothes are me-made with 2nd hand materials, mostly from the dump shop. I’ve helped start a collection point for alternative recycling like bottle lids and tetrapaks, a library of things, and a community workshop. We are working towards a bike repair hub and time bank but it might be a couple years before they are operational.

Please share all your inspiration, book recommendations, and thoughts around other ways I can make an impact in my community 😊

  • Fliegenpilzgünni@slrpnk.net
    2·
    8 days ago

    Fucking awesome! Thanks for your story!

    Question: I want to live the same as you, or at least similar.

    How much of your time do you spend for gathering food (farming, hunting), repairing, building, and other stuff?

    Do you have a (company) job too?

    How high are the costs of living for you compared to normal citizens?

    Regarding plant automation stuff: maybe take a look at my post and consider !hydroponics@slrpnk.net. I made a post there introducing my semi-automated setup.

    https://photon.slrpnk.net/post/14274316

    If you are using soil, you can still learn something from it.

    But as one other commentator mentioned, nobody else excels more in knowledge and automation than either stoners, or hydro guys, or in my case both ;)

    I think setting up Home Assistant and full automation isn’t necessary.
    I actually already have HA installed on my home server, but never planned using it for my balcony gardening, because hydro (and some soil pots with tray) is just set and forget, except maybe checking the EC and pH once a week or so.

    The soil mainly dries up when full sun is blasting on it, and over night it stays moist. Maybe you can use companion plants, moss or mulch, that reduces the surface evaporation A LOT.

    Just having a few micro drippers, plugged into a rain collection system, and powered by a small cheap solar panel and USB pump is enough I believe.

    By having constant small drips, you can save a lot of water! Even in open soil, not only pots!

    If you want something commercial, there’s a pre-made microdrip system made from Gardena, but I don’t know if that’s available for you, and I find it a bit too expensive for my taste. https://www.gardena.com/int/products/watering/micro-drip-system
    And it’s mainly made for tap water…

    Maybe even simpler would be the usage of a so called Olla, which is a teracotta pot that slowly releases water and was used for thousands of years in central America.

    • Wigglet@beehaw.orgOP
      2·
      3 days ago

      Kia ora 😊 My partner goes hunting a couple time a week but mostly to feed families in our village and help our forests stay past free. I spend a few hours a day in the garden or with the birds, but most of my time is spent with my daughter or working on various community projects. I don’t have a paying job at the moment but I’m looking to take some apple sorting shifts this season while the emergency communications for vulnerable people start-up I’m a part of sorts funding.

      Our cost of living is much lower. No utility bills. The rate on our property is lower. Our mortgage is lower. We have no meat or eggs to buy and most our veggies are sorted as well. We do have higher start up costs like sorting a solar set up and rainwater system. It takes money or connections for naterials to get started

      The hydro soil system sounds ideal! I really like data which is why I’m hoping for a system with some reporting features but maybe i start simple and add as I go.

      I do have ollas in my berry patch, but as the raised beds are made of stacked stone, they’ve been losing water way too quickly. This year, I’m going to unstack and line the beds to hold a bit more moisture.

      Thanks so much for your help!