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Ama and Nate Visit Factor e Farm

Nate and Ama have been visiting Factor e for the past few days after hearing about us through our WWOOF page. They are a great, very knowledgeable couple. They have been on the road visiting many other farms to find a place to settle down, and they shared their pictures and stories of travels with us. They shared their small library with us and we learned about rocket stoves and some diferent natural building techniques. They showed us a great book “Owner Built Homestead” written by Ken Kern, which we are looking into getting. If anyone wants to donate a copy you can email OpenSourceEcology at gmail.com. They contacted some of their friends including some musicians to help spread the word about OSE! They also helped build the Solar Cubicle, or Hexacube, for about $300!

Ama and Nate also designed a hay holder to help feed the goats, because the hay bale was getting trampled when put in the goat pen. Me and Ama built the goat feeder and documented some of the process.


Here’s the initial concept drawing:

They are leaving tomorrow morning, so we wish them well on their travels and hope they return someday!

7 Comments

  1. Joseph

    Great to see your face Ama. Thanks for your lovely visit…

    (P.S. Marcin and Jeremy – I have both Kern books ‘Home’ and ‘Homestead’ we’ll figure that out)

    Very nice ending to the video : “Here you go goats” – bam, right to feeder. Jeremy, you’re a natural.

    Can’t wait to do a design course in the spring. We’re DEFINITELY going to make that happen.

  2. Nathan

    That’s Fab! Simple Sweet Presentation and Editing!

  3. Ama

    it was a joy and a pleasure to meet you and to help Factor-e Farm in any way is fun, connected, and groovy…. feels like something CAN be done, if we do it togetehr, and thats the best thibng nowadays – hope into action, positive ideals into ideas into reality!

    One Love

    We’ll be BACK and build with you…
    – Bath-house w hot hot showers!!
    – more composting toilets for humanure!!
    – more of those 0-so-cool modular passive-solar retreat homes!!
    – Mr Kern’s Woodstove w Oven and meat-smoking capibilities!!
    – Melter/ Smelter for scrap metal reclamation: Factor-e Farm, cleaning up America one pound of roadside cans at a time!

  4. […] addition, plus news on the first Hexacube solar cubicle that we built in the short time that Nate and Ama were here on a visit. There is interesting information on our newly built stove – a hybrid wood/oil masonry […]

  5. Inga

    Ama,

    it was a joy watching you build that goat feeder. When I look at all the things you would like to build for the farm, I can just say: come back soon! I want to learn from you. I’m coming out to the farm around July 23rd and will stay for about one month, will you be somewhere in the area? BTW, I just love your slogan: cleaning up America one pound of roadside cans at a time!

    Stay well and hope to meet you soon,

    Inga – The Village Elder

  6. Amatul

    Dear Inga,
    oooh, I would LOVE to meet you! Maybe maybe.. let me see if I have cash to fly to FactorE in the end of July! I was thinking of being in Vermont for their annual Indiginous Elders Gathering (something that our dear Grandmother Dr Dieta Biebel of Munich attends every summer, Grandmother Dieta is a most wonderful German/Austrian sistah woman) The Gathering runs from July 20th to 26th I think…

    OneLove
    Ama
    41 years young!

  7. Inga

    Dear Ama,

    I found the website of the Elders Gathering http://www.sunray.org/elders_gathering/details.aspx
    Sounds great and I wish I could also go but I have not seen my daughter in 2 years…. So, I’ll go to Greenwich instead.

    It would be really great if you could come to the farm while I’m there. I could learn so much from you. Enjoy the gathering and all the best to you,

    Inga
    almost 71 years young!