Living structures combine to form living communities

The integration of plants, animals, bugs, micro-flora, and people can lead to more sustainable abundance for all. Providing for decentralized freedom from outside inputs, control, and dependency. An especially important feature for all island cultures with limited resources to begin with and great costs when importing life's essentials from elsewhere.

The 'circle of Life' wastes not and thus wants not, mimicking this in our homesteads brings alignment with natural principles.

Design for ALL the living organisms in a homestead

“Why is it that when a bunch of Permaculturists get together we always end up talking about shit? That's because shit happens, and must be considered a resource not a waste product to be disposed of, removing resources off-site." Perhaps the best way to describe the dance of energies on a #homestead, rather than to 'follow the money', is to "follow the shit flow". Starting at the top of the food chain with #humanure and black-water from the showers and bidet, there are two brilliant solutions to turn this output into a resource for use elsewhere. The liquid "waste-water" feeds the #MethaneGenerator that turns the natural gas produced from the septic tank into cooking and heating fuel.

One of the most powerful solutions for sustainable living is an amazing gift from Creator that almost knows about, and it was only after 21 years of study of these topics that I even heard about it myself. I'm talking about #BlackSoldierFlies. These creatures are welcome on every continent in the world because they bring so many benefits with almost no drawbacks. While it takes #earthworms in #vermiculture 6-weeks or more to turn manure or food scraps into compost, the black soldier fly will do so in less than one week. These flies not only do not bite people or animals, it chases off other flies that do, hence the name "soldier" fly. It also does not feed on the manure or food scraps in its "fly" stage, so doesn't carry disease from the feces and transport it to the people or their food. Amazingly enough, the adult fly does not eat at all, it simply seeks to breed and lay its eggs, having eaten its fill for its lifetime when in larvae stage.

These larval worms are full of protein that can be used to feed the chickens and the fish in the stock pond and #aquaponics garden moat. And are low maintenance as they self-harvest easily and will crawl out of their manure container, which can be as simple in design as a 55-gallon drum with a short piece of gutter angled as a ramp through a small hole int the barrel. Hanging a small bucket at the top of the ramp will automate the harvesting as they mature and crawl out of the barrel, up the ramp, and into the collection bucket. Those large worms are full of their lifetime's worth of nutrients which can be used to feed the chickens and fish.

The chickens can have their nesting boxed hanging over the fish pond so that their own droppings also provide a food supply for the fish. The fish's own fecal matter then provides the fertilizer for the plants in the aquaponics system. Plants that also filter out solid matter with their root systems. Any left over solids and nutrients are collected in a sediment tank that cultivates shellfish in the form of crawfish and shrimp, yet another source of protein for the chickens, fish, and human occupants of the homestead.

The overflow from the sediment tank can be directed into a #LivingSwimmingPool for the humans, avoiding the need for filters or chlorine additives in the swimming pool. Typically these 'living pools' have an integrated spillway between the swimming area and the plant ecosystem which is not usually providing any food sources of its own, merely filtration and cleaning. The living pool in this pattern of organization would overflow instead into the stock pond and aquaponics garden moat where the fish reside to continue the cycle again. Closing the loop, recycling the water and reusing any fecal matter and skin cells shed by the humans and fish.

The edible plants cultivated in the aquaponics system then become a resource used to feed the humans, the rabbits, pigs, and chickens. With the rabbit droppings adding to the manure feeding the black soldier flies and the solid waste from the pigs rinsed out of the impermeable floor of their pen into the drain that also feeds into the methane generator to produce additional methane as natural gas for use elsewhere.

The #GreyWater from the kitchen and bathroom sinks is recycled into sub-surface wetland systems in the form of #WickingBed raised garden containers that also mimic natural systems and are extremely efficient with their water use. The overflow from those kitchen and bathroom grey-water wicking beds is directed to water the #EdibleOrchards producing even more food supplies in a low-maintenance self-watering system.

A self-sustaining castle

By applying the golden mean ratio to the arrangements of our structures by building our structures around the points of a pentagon rather than a square of rectangle, we again mimic nature and prevent the structures from blocking the light and wind from one another. Placing a central open air dining hall in the middle with vertical garden trellis as the walls for the aquaponics gardens around the perimeter and the covered arcades connecting the residential and commercial structures around the perimeter of the entire compound. The open air dining pavilion can be formed as a 3 story #icosahedron, with the middle layer used as a screened in meeting hall, yoga studio, martial arts dojo, or dormitory for short term guests for special events. With the top-most level made useful to all as a combination office and gym, that is available to all the residents whether long, medium, or short term occupants.

Designing in an intimacy gradient with an outer wall protecting the residential perimeter with a portion devoted to commercial activities available to interact with the public at large. With an internal second wall between the parking areas and between the private areas, and an aquaponics moat surrounding the garden aquarium around the central communal dining area. The pentagonal footprint even allows for vertical axis wind generators at all five points that won't have the wind blocked by the castle structures. The excess electricity generated by the solar panels and windmills can not only be stored in batteries, but also generate revenue by selling the surplus power to the neighbors in a decentralized micro-grid or directly monetized by running crypto mining rigs that fill the land trust's crypto wallets. All combine to produce a sustainable extended-family "castle" that can easily withstand any "siege" that may force total self-reliance for any extended time.

Playing 'God' by creating a super-organism

“No man is an island, and neither is a household. When designing an ecosystem, rather than shelters by themselves, we must think on a larger scale than the 'nuclear family', and even bigger than the humans alone. We do not exist in a void: plants, animals, bugs, and bacteria in the soil and water must also be considered in the design process."

Traditionally architects specialize on designing the dwelling units or on the landscape alone, but #BiophilicDesign suggests that in order to craft #LivingBuildings that form truly #LivingCommunities we must think bigger picture. We are part of nature, not separate from it. Designing our homes accordingly by considering ALL the needs of ALL the occupants of the property is necessary to create decentralized living arrangements that produce more than they consume.

True freedom comes from self-sufficiency

Combining our shelters that collect water, heat, and electricity on their roofs with a closed-loop living system of food production of both plants and animals and integrated solid and liquid waste management we can craft our homes as castles that can withstand any siege for any amount of time. It is possible, but it requires a holistic paradigm that considers all of life's essentials. And a much larger initial investment that will over time create a much larger return than financing of the roofs over our head