Being that Matt loves to fish & I'm wanting to get into kayaking, we've been considering riverfront properties. We actually found a fantastic property that we would both love to buy (8 acres, $16,000, 2 other lots for sale within walking distance so Robin could buy one of those, right off the I-95, within 18 minutes of a great set of schools & downtown Old Town, and 400 feet of frontage on the Penobscot River). However, further research has shown me why this property is so affordable... the Penobscot River has astonishing amounts of mercury & other toxins that has almost killed off all the fish! There's a massive effort going on right now to clean it up, including a 10 million dollar grant from the government, but I'm still weary of the water quality in the coming years.

Then there's the ever-looming possibility of flooding. Sure, there are damns upstream, but this particular property has only a 24 foot difference in elevation from the river to the highest point on land (101 vs. 125) & that's just not enough for me to feel comfortable.

Even if we never set foot or hook into the river, the pollution would still be seeping into our soil & groundwater. Since we'll be relying on a well as our main source of water (reclaimed rain water being the other source), we just can't risk having heavy pollution. Sure, we're going to get the best home filtration system possible for our water, but we also have to think of the garden. I can't grow veggies in soil that I wouldn't want to let Sedona roll around in.

So, it's with a heavy sigh that we must turn down this beautiful property & any other riverfront properties we encounter. We're both bummed, but staying dry & free of toxins just can't be beat.

Not to be confused with my friend that's splitting the land with us, Robin is an agent with Assist2Sell. I like that company because buyers don't have to pay a fee; the sellers pay for them. Yet, according to the info on the site, they also offer buyers the full variety of representation options that traditional real estate companies offer. Nice. So after bouncing around between a few agents, we've landed on Robin. She's thoughtful & responds quickly to our emails, which is a big deal when you're looking to spend the kind of money that comes with buying acres & acres of land.

One day, I wrote her & asked a half dozen questions about some river front property. The next day, she drove about 40 minutes one way up to the property to gather the answers! Ok, so maybe that's her job & she's supposed to do that, but we don't have a written agreement yet. I've requested a copy of all the options available to us, so that we can enter a written agreement, but right now, we're just some people 865 miles away that she's hoping will result in a sale for her. She could easily leave us if she chooses, which makes me kinda nervous, but she's also down-to-earth & understands we don't want to come up to look at land until the snow melts. Come to think of it, with the country sliding into a recession & so few people looking to buy homes right now, she may be just as nervous of losing us, you know?

Ok, ok.... I'm babbling, I know. But if a girl can't babble on her own blog, where can she do it?

I've been in contact with a few real estate companies in Maine over the past few months & one of them was nice enough to send me some information on the difference between a customer & a client. Basically, if we haven't signed a contract with the real estate company, we're customers. This means they're not looking out for our best interests; they're looking out for their seller clients & trying to get the most money possible out of the buying customers (currently, us). Once we sign a contract, they would look out for our best interests & try to find us the best land possible for the lowest price possible.

Now we have to figure out which company can offer us the best client deal. I don't know what the percentages are for any of them, but I'll be finding out soon.

Recently, I was asked what I mean when I speak of hosting 'gatherings'. Simply put, they will just be people coming together on our land. One of the main reasons I created this site was to meet other natural builders & let them know that we'll be having work parties (which could also be considered free natural building workshops) up on our land. People that want to get acquainted with cob & straw bale will be welcome to come & camp out while learning a skill & helping us construct our home. I already have 1 woman in Maine that wants to help & would probably bring her girlfriend with her. We'll set up a nice outdoor kitchen area, solar showers, portable toilets, & an area for kids to safely play in-- crucial since we have a 4 year old. Visitors will be welcome to stay on our land for free for a day, a week, or all summer as long as they're helping out. Meals may be communal, if everyone chips in on the groceries, or we can all just buy our own. Not sure yet. I'll probably be the happy hostess, making sure everyone has plenty of water, preparing snacks & meals, taking lots of pictures, & watching the children. I'll be helping to build as the circumstances allow...

I'm not even sure if 600 sq. ft. is small enough. We may need to consider the 440 sq. ft. plans or possibly even cozy up to the 275 sq. ft. cottage.

We would either keep adding on to this first home or live in it while we build a larger main house. Once that is finished, the first home would then be used for friends & VIP guests at our annual hippie gatherings.

Today, I got a hold of the real estate agent in Maine & refined our search criteria a bit. We're now looking in a 20 mile radius North & West of Bangor. I found that all towns follow the Maine State Plumbing Code, which is really hard to track down for free online. I'm just finding it for $84 for people that need to study it to pass state certification programs & stuff. Hey, folks! How about just putting some of it's basics online for me, huh? Anyway...

While on the phone with the manager at the real estate company, I asked her where I'd be able to build a cob & straw bale home with a composting toilet & gray water recycling system. She told me to ask the town of where ever we buy the land. I then had to explain that we don't want to buy land until we KNOW that we'll be able to build the home of our dreams there. What good will the land do us if we can't do what we want with it? So she told me that she knows a lady that built an alternative materials home in Greenbush. She said this home was so 'out there' that there's no way Bangor's codes would have allowed it. Sounds good to me.

So I called the guys at the municipal building in Greenbush & requested a copy of the code book. No problem there. It should show up in a few days.

Yesterday I found a treasure at the Maine.gov site... an entire listing of recent building permits for the entire state. The forms I found include the actual documents submitted by the land owners (scanned in so I even saw drawings). The response letters of approval were also available, which included the various conditions they had to stick to in order to stay legal. Some towns won't allow buildings taller than 20 feet while others cap it at 35. Some permits only allowed for 700 square feet, forcing multiple stories for those wanting roomy homes.

I also saw a few referring to 'alternative waste management' & 'primitive gray water systems' that were approved, so that really eases my mind. On top of that, a great guy contacted me last night who's also in the early stages of a similar project in Maine (except he has his land). He's already given me some great tips & I hope we'll continue to share information & tips as our projects develop.

Today I found Matt's handwritten tentative list of things to look into, items to organize, & stuff to buy. Here it is, exactly as I found it...

Every day, Matt & I are working towards our goal of building our dream green homestead. Literally every single day. We're very dedicated to doing this as best we can & as soon as possible. Since we're still in the very early stages of this project, we're still collecting information to help us better decide what to include, what to avoid, & in general, what to do! There's so much to consider... a bit more than goes into building a traditional house (more on that in another blog). For now, I just wanted to let those interested know which books we've purchased so far & that we're very happy with all of them...

The more research I do into waste management for our homestead, the more I like the idea of composting toilets. Matt has been a bit resistant towards the idea of them, but yesterday I made some significant progress in convincing him they're our best option. Let's review some key aspects:

For starters, a septic system install can be time consuming. You must clear the land, use heavy machinery to dig a big hole, install the tank, & cover it up.