 The
Local Living Venture is pleased to present the Green Homestead & Garden / Farm Tours  Sachno family water-pumping windmill and Ely family perennial garden with solar PV system. Twenty years ago, in October of 1992, Local Living Venture Co-Coordinator Chelle Lindahl organized the very first tours of renewable energy homes in the North Country through the Real Goods Catalog, inspiring the very first North Country Sustainable (then called "Alternative" - my how far we've come!) Energy Fair. It's wonderful to see so many homes available to tour (more than 45 homes of all stripes are on our list these days!) ANNOUNCING: Join us for the Local Living Festival's Green Home Tours the weekend after the Festival on Saturday, May 4th Sign up for first come-first served on the twenty available slots per home! Addresses will be sent upon RSVP at the Festival. We have a limit of twenty persons at most of these homes (not all) so we will not advertise the locations to the public. You must sign up to receive the addresses and tour times. This year we've set up geographic "pods" of 2-4 homes within a reasonable distance of each other, for the most part. Starting at 1 pm (except for one at noon!) the first home would be open for 45+ minutes to tour, talk, and grok. At 2 pm the next home is open (allowing 15 minutes for transit), 3 pm the next, and so on. This way everyone gets there more or less at once -- avoiding a lot of the continuous disruption issues with folks arriving midstream during the tour, and providing a better experience for all attendees. TO SIGN UP EMAIL SustLivingProject@gmail.com for addresses of homes on tour. Please provide:
There is a suggested, free-will donation of $10 -- for just one, or up to the full afternoon of tours. The homeowners are all hosting this tour out of the goodness of their hearts and are not being asked to solicit funds for us so it will be entirely your choice to do so. We hope you will, in support of our work in the North Country. On-Grid Passive Solar / Russian Mass Heater HOME TOUR POD ONE Pyrites and Potsdam  PYRITES (10 miles from Canton): This home is "on-grid," but highly energy efficient; and a gorgeous home. Super efficient, passive solar, heated with a masonry stove. The
home is built with local, green and recycled materials and features an
earthen floor and an indoor garden. Home built by Bryan Lee. 1 pm  POTSDAM: Two homes in one tour - a new passive solar home with masonry heater, super-insulated, radiant floor heat, old world lime plaster (being finished at this time) plus a 30' year-round winterized yurt with radiant floor heating, as well as a living roof garden on a large Asian-style shed. The new home is built by Schulze Construction. 1 pm NOTE: Can combine this Pod with others - both "Pod 1" homes are currently scheduled for 1 pm,
so you can connect with another tour at 2 pm. Solar / Primitive / Off-Grid / Rocket Mass Heater HOME TOUR POD TWO North Russell to West Pierrepont (5-10 miles east of Canton)  NORTH RUSSELL (7 miles from Canton): Completely non-electric farm, Amish style, but "English" run. Many homesteading skills highlighted here. See our Facebook Page for the cover photo of these folks root cellar food storage! 2 pm WEST PIERREPONT (10 miles from Canton): Passive solar and wood heated house. Off-grid photovoltaics, "green" building materials. Full home-building business and wood-working shop, also run 100% off grid! Visitors must walk in about 1/5 mile. Home of Schulze Construction. 3 pm WEST PIERREPONT (10 miles from Canton): Primitive living, in style -- "walking" water instead of running water, beautiful composting toilet outhouse featured in TAUNY Homesteaders display, solar DC power, and a recently built rocket mass heater. Home built in part by Schulze Construction. 4 pm   Adirondack-style siding on the super-insulated home on the left; slate roofing and knotty pine paneling interior on the composting outhouse in the woods. DIY / Creative Builder Scrounging / Off-Grid (NORTH) HOME TOUR POD THREE Canton to Colton  Or, we can discuss carpentry, insulation, wiring, salvaged materials... Home built in collaboration with Bryan Lee. 2 pm  COLTON: Crazy Jerry's! A small home only 30 feet from the utility line but not connected to it. Solar panels, DIY wind generator, DIY outdoor solar shower, DIY 115 mpg motorcycle, DIY 127 mpg Urba Centurion sports car, 370 rpm Listeroid Generator, AC & DC LED lighting, Lithium Powered lawn mower, lithium powered enclosed velomobile, DIY super-insulated wood stove that cooks and provides domestic hot water, plus a fast and quiet flywheel-based renewable-electric wood-splitter, and more!!!! You won't see this on TV, folks! 3 pm DIY / Creative Builder Scrounging / Off-Grid (SOUTH) HOME TOUR POD FOUR Adams Center (slightly south of Watertown)  The Woodhenge Community of several off-grid homes in varying styles. Home to many-time Local Living Festival presenter Jim Juczak and host of the burgeoning Woodhenge Sustainability Campus, a sister organization to the Local Living Venture and our planned Homesteading College. You will not go away bored from a visit here; with so much DIY and creative building information all in one place, you will leave inspired! noon TO SIGN UP EMAIL SustLivingProject@gmail.com for addresses of homes on tour. Please provide:
There is a suggested, free-will donation of $10 -- for just one, or up to the full afternoon of tours. The homeowners are all hosting this tour out of the goodness of their hearts and are not being asked to solicit funds for us so it will be entirely your choice to do so. We hope you will, in support of our work in the North Country. Green Buildings Open House October 13, 2012 10 am to 3 pm The Local Living Venture is the North Country regional coordinator for the national & regional, renewable & energy efficient Home Tours. We are coordinating several homes in the St. Lawrence River Valley (from Potsdam in St. Lawrence County to Adams Center in Jefferson County!) for you to tour at your own pace. Be sure to get on our mailing list for event notices such as this! (write us at SustLivingProject@gmail.com) A S P E C I A L F O C U S i n 2 0 1 2 Homes with Mass Masonry Heaters and Rocket Stove Burner Technology! 10/7/2012 In the event of last minute additions, please check in to sign up for new homes to tour at least once again before Saturday, October 13th. To Sign Up and receive the address of each home you're interested in, please follow these instructions: 1) View the individual homes listed below to see if you are interested in signing up for that location. To view complete details, click on their name below to link through to the EnergySage website -- where they are listed officially for this national and northeastern U.S. regional tour, for which the Local Living Venture (LLV) is the local sponsor. Note: many more details about each home are presented on the EnergySage page you will click through to, we just list the most standard information below. 2) To officially sign up to tour a specific home: while on the page of the EnergySage website viewing the home's information, click the green button Sign up to visit this property 3) You will be prompted to Sign In and create an account. This account will be used to send you an email with the address to each home you sign up for. 4) Your Itinerary will grow as you add homes and you can access it any time you are on the EnergySage site by clicking the green button View my Intinerary 5) Feel free to Email us if you experience any difficulty. More homes being added all the time! We will update the home previews below regularly, so pleaseBookmark this page! Homes currently on the Open House Tour:
Van de Water Home Single-Family Grid-Tied Power Canton Residence Off-Grid Home with Straw bale insulation Single-Family Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Canton Timber framed structure Residence Masonry wood heater
Residence and more Soap Stone Masonry Stove, Single-Family Radiant heat/ demand Potsdam includes bake oven Residence water heater, passive solar, super insulated Single-Family Energy Efficient Home Parishville Residence Passive Solar Design Woodhenge Intentional Community Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Adams Center several homes and much more Cronk Family Earthship under construction Rammed earth and tires Adams Happy touring!
To Register for Tours
Please send an email to SustLivingProject@gmail.com or call 315.347.4223 -- be sure to note Home Tours Sign-Up in the Subject line or voice mail.
We will reply with a confirmation including answers to any questions you inquire about, an overview of the features at that homestead, the location and directions, and any (optional) "work day" project that might be featured for that visit (not applicable for October's Open House event). IMPORTANT ~ Please include: ** full name ** for each tour participant ** cell phone and ** home numbers to reach you that day or prior. Please send us complete information in order to receive the addresses of these folks who are kindly opening their homes for tours. Thank You! If you would like to add your home to our list of potential touring sites, please Email us.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ YEAR ROUND HOME TOUR EVENTS: Touring local homes that feature beautiful gardens, verdant farms, interesting home energy systems "passive" (southern orientation, day-lighting, super-insulated, solariums) "active" (photovoltaics, windmills, small-scale hydro, etc.) plus many "whole homestead" features! These Tours are a regular monthly event, January through May! We focus all of our energies in the Fall on the Green Buildings Open House events, so check our schedule for that! * Where the LLV Year-Round Tours differ from previous Tours:
PAST EVENTS Solar Home Tour / Grape Vine Planting Work Party April 21, 2012, 9 am - throughout the day, Potsdam NY Lou and Sandy Maine will be your co- hosts at their off grid solar homestead outside Parishville. Also co- hosting later in the afternoon will be Matt Whalen, Owner of High Peaks Winery, in Parishville NY. Lou
and Sandy Maine have been living off the grid since 1982 and have a
hybrid system of solar panels, diesel generator and battery storage.
They use wood heat and have a pre-heated wood-based hot water system.
They also raise chickens and pigs and have a large garden with
vegetables and storage crops. The home tour will take place at 9 am. After the tour there will be an optional Back Yard Vineyard Planting Work Party, which will begin some time after the tour. At 1 pm there will be break for a bag lunch ( bring your own lunch please) and more planting from 2-5 pm followed by a wine tasting with High Peaks Winery and a barbecue of farm-raised meat. Please bring a dish to pass if you plan to stay for supper (vegetarians welcome, despite the BBQ.) We will be planting 5 cold hearty test varieties of grapes for a total of 125 vines. If weather is inclement the workshop will be postponed until April 28th.Green Home & Garden / Farm Tours "Living Roof" & Garden Planting Party Saturday, May 28, 2011 Visit a Living Roof near Potsdam and meet with the builder/grower! Afternoon, following the... Gardening Party Event -- let's help the Cecilie Garden project of UShare in Lehman Park, Potsdam. Help plant out transplant seedlings that will be donated as fresh produce to local neighborhood center food pantries. Planting out the garden is the traditional way to spend Memorial Day weekend in the North Country! Learn from a experienced gardeners and help them make it happen. This will take place in the cooler AM hours, with the tour in the afternoon. Bring a bag lunch for noon break, gloves, water, and bug dope (check the Potsdam Co-op for all natural brands!) Green Home & Garden / Farm Tours "Crazy" Jerry's Creative Off-Grid Retrofit Home SATURDAY APRIL 23, 2011 Noon Crazy Jerry's on the tour again! His presentation will focus on a nuts-and-bolts approach to Off-Gridding your older decrepit, non-energy star home -- in this case showcasing some very unique items. See how some of the oldest technology, simply and elegantly mingles with the new to provide the domestic amenities we love in a tinkerers treasure trove of a home. By the end of the tour, you'll be hot on the trail to start your very own endeavor -- within your skills and your budget. Here's a teaser list that should get you talking: Mobile-mounted Solar Panels, Sine-Wave inverter/Chargers, Batteries, 375 rpm in-house Diesel Co-Gen, Human Power!, Staber Washer, Spin-X Dryer, Sundanzer Refrigerator, Demand Water Heater and a fire truck extension ladder windmill tower ready for deployment. You'll also take in the in-house bicycle generator setup, the North Country's only bio-diesel powered motorcycle (115+ mpg!), sine wave inverter shootout AND a 3 minute spin dryer demo. New this Spring is a hotttt yellow human-electric hybrid full-bodied tricycle dubbed "The Aurora Project" (see pic on our Green Home Tours page!) If you're a tinkerer, and even if you're not, you will never forget this tour!
Crazy Jerry says,
"Make plans to come to the Green Homes Tour -- you definitely won't see any of this on TV!" Please pre-register for Tours See instructions below. Suggested donation of $10 to $20, sliding scale, $5 student - scholarships available when you RSVP. All proceeds to benefit our Project, the tour hosts do not benefit financially. Some tours have limited attendance, so sign up early! Exact address and directions will be sent to registered attendees. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Many thanks to our Tour Hosts who donate their time to raise funds for our Project while sharing their homes, time & knowledge with you ... ...they make the North Country a great place to live!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ANNOUNCING: The Schedule for Local Living Festival H o M e T o u r s Saturday, October 2, 2011 CLICK HERE for complete descriptions If this page is outdated, please note that this series of monthly tours is regularly updated at www.SustainableLivingProject.net/Workshops & Events To Register for Future
Please send an email to SustLivingProject@gmail.com or call 315.347.4223 -- be sure to note Home Tours Sign-Up in the Subject line or voice mail.
Green Homestead & Garden / Farm Tours NOTE: The months of January through July feature a tour as often as monthly. We will reply with a confirmation including answers to any questions you inquire about, an overview of the features at that homestead, the location and directions, and any (optional) "work day" project that might be featured for that visit. IMPORTANT ~ Please include: ** full name for ** each tour participant ** cell phone and ** home numbers to reach you that day or prior. Please send us complete information in order to receive the addresses of these folks who are opening their homes for tours. Thank You!  Adirondack-style siding on the super-insulated home on the left; slate roofing and knotty pine paneling interior on the composting outhouse in the woods below. |
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Green Home & Garden TOURS |
