I recently got an Instagram post from Lisa Mudie at Mill Valley Yurts in Cornwall, U.K, along with some photos. (They rent yurts and cabins in a rural setting.) I asked her to email me, and she wrote:
“Thirteen years ago we started a rustic campsite in our beautiful Cornish Valley a few miles from the rugged Atlantic coast which has evolved over the years into a crazy mix of hobbit huts, wooden yurts, cabins, and gypsy vardos. All handmade by us using reclaimed materials and all Cornish timber. Our latest purchase is a mobile sawmill and 26 tonnes of local oak … now we can really start building!”
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Surfer’s shack built by Bruno Atkey on the “Wild Coast,” about 40 miles by north of Tofino (reachable only by sea–no roads), on the west side of Vancouver Island. We went in Bruno’s 17-foot aluminum fishing boat, with 50 HP rope-pull-starter outboard motor), stayed there a couple of nights, fished, surfed, drank whiskey, and took a driftwood-fired sauna when I was shooting photos for Builders of the Pacific Coast. Bruno was one of the first surfers on Vancouver Island.
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The Heddal stave church in Norway, is 25 meters long, 17 meters wide, and its 3 turrets are 29 meters tall. Built in the 13th century, reconstructed in 1849, then again in 1950. “An architectural masterpiece of the Middle Ages.”
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A berry good time of year. L-R, the first is a wild cut leaf blackberry; the second is a boysenberry. Third is familiar wild Himalayan blackberry. Next, in order, in our garden, are red currants, blueberries, raspberries.
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Dragonfly. Male golden-winged skimmer. At lake yesterday, no other humans, little pale blue butterflies, one orange/black butterfly I’d never seen before, many dragonflies skimming around, a Steller’s jay flying to a close-by tree branch to inspect me, I swam in the maybe 68-degree water for 20 minutes.
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Mammal-powered brush clearing.
Here are 60 pages (38% of the total pages) from our latest book:
Book available at: www.shelterpub.com/building/halfacrehomestead
Quotes from Readers
- “I just inhaled your book, reading it cover to cover in one sitting. It’s all that I hoped it would be. Now my favorite book of yours.…”
- –Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick, Wired magazine; founder, Cool Tools (kk.org)
- “Warning: Reading the book may lead to pulling up stakes and heading into the hills to claim your own half-acre homestead.”
- –Patrick Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle
- “The King of D.I.Y. Dwellings — Before cabin porn and van life were hashtags on Instagram, before tiny houses were a movement, Mr. Kahn, now 84, was the indefatigable champion of their funky, D.I.Y. antecedents.… His new book, The Half-Acre Homestead … (is) a memoir of sorts of this hard-won idyll, it is also a love letter to Ms. Creed, a skilled artisan and gardener whose glorious handiwork is vividly portrayed.”
- –Penelope Green, New York Times
- “The book is absolutely WONDERFUL … The language is modest and direct, the inspiration is down to earth and celestial … Gorgeous book, a … magnificent one-of-a-kind gift to us all.”
- –Peter Nabokov, professor of American Indian Studies and World Arts and Cultures at UCLA
Read More …
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Here is our Marcato Marga Mulino Flaker, a little Italian grinder that we use to make rolled oats from whole oat grains (called groats). For my breakfast, I use these, plus shredded coconut, some chia seeds, cooked about 10 minutes, then add maple syrup, half-and-half, a little hemp oil for flavor. This way you get the whole grain, freshly milled. Oh yeah, I usually add a little ground-up seaweed plus salt. It’s simple and delicious and inexpensive, plus you’re getting freshly milled whole grain (including the germ and bran).
There are 3 rollers on the mill, and they can be adjusted to make flour from any grains, as well as flakes. Cost: about $125.
See The Half-Acre Homestead for details on ordering these mills.
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We’re going to start doing short videos of things from The Half-Acre Homestead.
Note: We offer a 30% discount on 2 or more books, with free shipping in the USA.
From @lloyd.kahn’s Instagram
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This raccoon has been hanging around here for a few years and recently started getting some of the cat food we leave outside, so I slowly made friends and eventually got it taking the pellets from my hand. I love watching the dexterity of its paws, very human-like. I eventually quit doing this, not good to feed wild animals, as it may encourage them to trust other humans, but it was a thrill to watch its handwork for a week or so.
Makes me realize how domestic cats and dogs came about; wild felines or canines hanging around at the entrance to caves or following nomadic tribes, becoming friends, family members, then being bred into different sizes, shapes, talents.
In our overly civilized lives, it’s a thrill to experience part of the “natural world,” or like 95% of our lineage: wild foods, fishing, making stuff by hand, harmonious interaction with other forms of life. To be sought out. Refreshing for the soul.
