Tag Archives: sustainability

The plan according to …. sustainability and subsisting!

Sustainabilty at Tiny House Scotland.

Its a clear matter of principle for me that Tiny House Scotland is a micro business - I have no intentions of it becoming anything other than just myself and perhaps a son or two if they want to get involved!

I have already done the ambitious business scenario prior to the Banking Crash of 2009 with a factory, three shops and twenty employees…

or as per the cartoon Pinky and the Brain:

“what are we going to do today Pinky?” - “Same thing we do every day Master, plan to take over the World!!!”

Needless to say we had to ‘recut our cloth’ and change direction, but I have learnt a lot about myself and the world in the process. Since 2010 I have evolved a new philosophy which started when we moved to our smallholding and founded Shangri La Farm. Here we try to live frugally and sustainably and my main aim is to continue being creative and subsist simply.

I am not therefore trying to make a massive profit or capture the Tiny House market from every angle - just loving working with wooden buildings which I am passionate about. As with the whole Tiny House Concept - Less is MORE and brings greater happiness!!

Micro businesses ARE the way ahead for many people these days - a lot of the reason the unemployment figures have improved is because so many have had to fall back on their own entrepreneurial skills to put food on the table by ‘dodging’ around running a portfolio of tiny enterprises. In addition they may have found that they have also ‘recut their cloth’ and have phased out many of the previously so-called essentials of life and are happier, healthier and with less baggage

Now, I’ve just got to go and bake some bread…!

Cool websites

    Sustainable fuel.

    JMA_1832

     

    Before the sap rises too much it’s time for me to take one of our big poplars (18m 60′) down for next winter’s firewood. This coppicing means that the stool does regenerate and produce plenty of new poles. Also we do have over 200 of them - so at the current rate of one a year…well you get the picture!

    Now I know poplar is not the best wood to burn…according to folklore it will rot before it dries and even if it is dry, it burns too quickly! However, this has not been entirely my experience and but we do have a great drying shed and a very efficient Danish stove with precise control. As this is the fifth year I’ve done this at Shangri La…then I am allowed to say, well “it just works!”

    In you case you are interested (!) in the felling method - that was a 70 degree face cut followed by a central plunge cut, wedged, then back cut!