Dream Monastery

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

BTW, thinking on a physical monastery, there is a free tool that is easy to use and very cool to visualize ideas:

Google SketchUp

I'm trying to make a model of my dream house with it.

[Swatopluk]

If you log in, in another window you can get it back by hitting the back button I think...

But usually the text will be cleaned. Happened to me when I refreshed before posting

[ivor]

Yeah, I don't know why they can't fix that.  Am I gonna have to fix that?

[Opsa]

Ya mean in the Mafia sense, boss?

[ivor]

LOL!  Yeah apparently...

[Aggie]

If you log in, in another window you can get it back by hitting the back button I think...

Sometimes it works, sometimes not.  Laptop was acting funny and backed me up a few pages, then the text disappeared when I forwarded back.

Okay, so if we had an actual monastery, what if we just started simply- made it like a camp retreat? I think Aggie has touched on this idea.

We still need land, which is the crux of it.  I have some vague plans in that direction; with a piece of land, we could start things off with a small guesthouse / B&B and build from there.  I'm thinking about moving back to BC soon, and may be able to pick up a suitable piece of land within a few years.  The key is to pick up a piece of property outside of any city or town large enough to mess you around with development permits and the like; if it's out in the boonies one would probably be free to build some funky log cabins and the like to rent out to guests.

I've talked previously about one idea I had, which is to pick up a large piece of logged-out land (too common in BC) somewhere on the West Coast, plant it to bamboo, and put in a proper commercial campground.  This would pay the cost of land out quite quickly, once developed, and one could build up the Monastery while operating the campground.  Once the Monastery got large enough that it was somewhat self-sustaining, one could let part or all of the campground grow over, cut some walking paths through the bamboo forest, and redeploy the property as a tourist attraction rather than a camping destination.  A multi-acre bamboo grove is a rare thing in Canada, and would attract a fair number of tourists, I think.  Charge a couple of bucks (cheap! but adds up!) for admission, have a gift shop at the place to sell Toadfish-made crafts and souvenirs (bamboo of course, it's a great material to build stuff with), sell a yearly crop of fresh grown-in-BC organic bamboo shoots to the Vancouver restaurant scene - naturally, I'd plant edible bamboo - and it would probably have the capacity to support a few full-time live-in Toadfish Monks at a subsistence level.   I'd definitely plan to build some bamboo huts to rent out to guests, part-time Toadfish, artists-in-residence, and to act as accommodations for organized retreats and events (theatre labs, yoga retreats, whatever else we could concoct).  I'm also itching to make charcoal, and bamboo charcoal is currently in vogue amongst the health crowd, expensive and imported, so a local sustainable product should fetch a decent price.

Problem is, I figure I'd need at least $300,000 for the land on the Coast, and about $100,000 in hand for development costs (equipment, infrastructure, basic shelter and facilities), but perhaps not all of that immediately.  Land can be had a bit more cheaply in the Interior, but I'm not sure if bamboo would grow as fast (which means buying more plants to start with - pricey!), and it'd be nice to set up in an area that didn't get snow in the winter so that some sort of crops could be harvested for the kitchens year-round.  However, something like these could suffice, albeit a bit far off the beaten path:

http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=6729275&PidKey=-188893673
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=9354982&PidKey=445653565
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=9469794&PidKey=2021776505

OOH...  I like this one, 46 acres for $189k:
http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=9618493&PidKey=-277374189

[Opsa]

Wow! I love the pond and waterfall!

I don't know what laws may be about transporting bamboo across the border, but I could get my hands on some bamboo for us. Whether or not it would be hardy in BC would need to be researched. What zone is it? I can find out what Mom's bamboo can tolerate. I know it's lived through sub freezing temperatures here. She's got more than she knows what to do with.

[Aggie]

Not sure on coast vs. interior, but I have a feeling that transporting a tonne or two of bamboo clear across the continent may be a wee bit more expensive than buying it locally, even if they'd let it across.  Thanks for the thought, though!

There's a bamboo specialist nursery near Vancouver that sells plants of various sizes - I figure one would want some large clumps originally, and should be able to divide and transplant in a few years once those were established:
http://www.bambooworld.com/bamboo%20catalogue.htm

Most of the bamboos that I'd be interested in (produce good wood and edible shoots) seem to be relatively hardy and should take interior temperatures most of the time, but they'd all be suitable for the coast.

[Aggie]

*double post*

OH, COOL!!!

Check this sucker out - great little guesthouse / greenhouse combo, DIY style:
http://www.innerexplorations.com/simpletext/green1.htm

   

Srsly - give me a little woodstove to heat the place and cook, and I'd live in that for a year or few.... 

[ivor]

That is pretty cool!  Is it just one big room?

[Aggie]

Looks like it is, but it wouldn't take much to bang up an interior wall if necessary.  I'd think one would want a pull-across curtain for privacy (between living and garden) in the bedroom area if this was for a rental cabin.

The straw-bale construction solves a niggling problem I've been wondering about with bamboo huts - how to insulate them.  This'd work with large bamboo.

[Opsa]

Tremendously cool.

The nice thing about bamboo is that it spreads like nobody's business, so you never feel bad about cutting it down. It's nice and flexible, and you can use it for floors, countertops and all kinds of things.

[Darlica]

*double post*

OH, COOL!!!

Check this sucker out - great little guesthouse / greenhouse combo, DIY style:
http://www.innerexplorations.com/simpletext/green1.htm

Srsly - give me a little woodstove to heat the place and cook, and I'd live in that for a year or few.... 

I think you might need a nice supply of blankets for the winter too or maybe a down duvet or two but then you should be golden.

Straw is a very good insulator and the house is adorable!

Now I would build it with considerable less room between the boards in the framework because unlike a brick or concrete wall, a straw-wall does not support the roof (and I'm used to weather conditions that includes snow which would easily break the construction in the photos). 
It will be hot and humid inside the house and good ventilation will be very important to avoid mould (I say you need a pro here).
Also, I would not use latex paint on the walls as it seals humidity in to the straw in the walls, which needs to breath to avoid rotting (white wash with limestone don't seal the surface entirely).

And I would cover the roof with Sedum and Sempervivum tectorum (Common Houseleek) plants.

[Griffin NoName]

Don't forget ramps and hand rails for us elderly folk !

[Aggie]

Advice noted - thanks!  

I'll admit that the 'last year's straw' thing worried me in terms of mould, and I did cast an eye to the lack of snow-worthiness (which could be a concern inland, but probably not on the coast).  I'm realistically thinking more along the lines of summer guesthouses than year-round residences, actually.  

Ventilation is certainly a big issue, as it would get pretty hot in there during the day, but nothing that a solar-powered fan system couldn't take care of, I think.

What I liked best is the hybrid use, which would make a unique place for a guest to reside, and would work as great little greenhouses in the off-season, for starting plants (could plant something ornamental during the guest season).