Building separatism

So she brings me this plastic bag and I instantly know it's not oat flakes but happily take it anyway. Any food is a great gift.

I inspect it at home and it's a badly made cereal mix, they jokingly wrote 'muesli' on the packaging. I understood immediately why she couldn't eat them. They filled the box with wheat flakes, which are disgusting in a cereal. Even I won't tolerate that.

But I knew exactly what to do with it. I poured it on the counter to sort it out.

I thought it would take mostly an hour, but then realized it had both wheat AND oat flakes. And I wanted to separate that. So it took 5,5 hours. I had time. I can't be outside anyway. And at this point I was curious about how much they lied on the packaging. They jokingly implied it's mostly oat flakes.

These are the results:

We have the big majority of disgusting wheat flakes, unbroken oats, raisins, corn flakes, unrecognizable dried fruit, dried banana bits, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and tiny bits of some nut (packaging implies peanut. Doesn't taste like it.)

I think this is a great stash of stuff! Actually more valuable than oat flakes, if they didn't involve the wheat flakes it would be a great tasting breakfast cereal mix.

Okay so raisins and all other dried fruits, I'm saving in little jars to use as candy during winter. Maybe in cookies too. Flax and sunflower seeds I can plant in spring to multiply by thousands. Oats, I don't like to eat in this whole form so I will save them to try and see if I can make oat milk from them, using mortar and pestle. Maybe oat flour would be easier to make? Wheat flakes I'll save and use in bean/soy patties, once they're smushed, seasoned and fried they'll be good. Corn flakes, and little nut pieces, I'll have for breakfast.

I then looked around in realization. I had not seen a single bee on my property.

I had a bunch of wild flowers, but they all had very tiny flower heads and it seemed that bees weren't into those. My neighbours? Grew no flowers. Next to my property? A swamp. No flowers.

I would not have time to grow flowers to invite the bees over, and also I think wasps and hornets like to scare the bees away. And I have lots of those.

I walked around to check on all the flowers. I spotted only a single bee. I asked if she would pollinate my zuc- she flew away before I finished.

You pick a star and fix your gaze on it while spinning around for like thirty seconds, then have a friend shine a flashlight at you + try to walk/run towards it. You will stumble and look goofy.

Just sharing in case you've never tried it before- it's one of my favorite summer nighttime activities

They both look very healthy and similar in size. I tried to give them wood chips but couldn't break them small enough so they got wood pieces. They look like I built them a nest.

I also planted the two smaller zuchinni, one is also full sun and has this water-like texture on her so I called her Raindrop. The other I planted directly in the ruins, underneath the nettle. Should be shielded from the sun late afternoon. Just to see what happens. Her seed was the only one labeled 'green zuchini' so her name is Virescens, meaning green in latin.

So I posted before about the theory, now let me tell you what I'm doing about it in practice. In theory you collect human waste in a big bucket filled and covered with organic material, so there's no smell. This is functionally your toilet, you can put a toilet seat on it. Then you empty it in the big composter you built to keep it compact, warm, and safe from animals.

I had brought one big white bucket specifically for this purpose. I also collected a big bag of dry leaves from the forest as the organic material. I put both in my shed since that's a private space hidden from view.

Now the author of the "Humanure handbook" says, you don't have to separate urine because it's good for the compost pile and adds nitrogen and moisture. Well I disagree!

As someone who has many time peed in a plastic container, I can tell you this: Once you pee in a plastic container you have 60 seconds to wash and rinse that out or the container will stink. Forever.

The author later in the book admits that after some use the bucket will start to stink and leaves very uncertain ideas on whether it can be cleaned. He says buy 6 buckets. That's because plastic soaks up smells! You can't be peeing in a plastic bucket even if it is filled with organic matter. Yes the smell will be concealed by the leaves on top but the plastic will still suck forever. None of that for me.

So I am separating the urine. I can use it immediately anyway. I have a separate smaller container where I dillute it and water my garden with it (same plant needs 2 weeks before being fertilized like that again) and also the trees that I want to grow faster. It's full of nitrogen, the plants love it. I can use it to support grass too. And then I rinse and wash it instantly. No stink.

The collecting bucket is only for firm waste, and the bottom is covered in dry leaves, every next poop is also covered in leaves, so it doesn't even touch the bucket. It's all suspended and untouched by anything but the leaves. The bucket doesn't stink at all. It just looks like a bucket of leaves. It doesn't even look suspicious. It's convenient. The edges can be wrapped in a soft material. I'm no longer interested in toilets.

Now in order to get that actually composted you need to put it in the composter, which I hadn't exactly built bc I'm busy and its 39 degrees all day. After a month of ignoring this issue the bucket actually got full and I realized I have to build something very quickly. I also don't have any nails to do carpentry.

In the past I had built composters by just stabbing 4 sticks into the ground, then piling wooden material on the sides so they lean on those sticks as I fill the inside. But the ground is tough like rock so that won't work.

I had half an hour this morning to figure something out. I dragged old barn half-doors from the ruins. Already built, already big enough. Put them behind the house where I wanted the composter to be. Got 2 extra boards. And just leaned the doors on the boards so they stand up. It sounds bad but the doors are so heavy. Unmovable. Nothing is gonna lower them.

The back of it is the wall, to the front I just leaned a wide board. I'm gonna cover it with a thing of chicken wire.

Minimal effort. Shamefully badly made. But. Is it big enough and will it hold the compost? Yep. Good enough for now. I will do better later. When I can be out 16 hours a day.

I then went to a forest to collect large bags of leaves; the bottom of the composter is covered with dry leaves first. Then I can empty the bucket in it, clean it if necessary. Then I add the kitchen scraps, potato peels, apple pits. Water it. Then grass clippings and hay. Cover with chicken wire.

And then thats it. All is covered and made uninteresting to animals. Looks like a normal compost pile. Inside all bacteria and worms can accumulate and heat it to high temperatures. Though it shouldn't happen soon, only after several buckets are added.

I need to leave that to compost and cure for 2 years after filling it up. And then collect humus. I wanna say 'ideally collect humus' but people do this for a job, there are places composting human waste on a large scale and selling the results so it's working. Even composting kitchen scraps and weeds makes great soil so this will too.

I've only used this for a month but I find it very easy. No waste of water, no septic tank. No plumbing. The only resource it needs are dry leaves which are super available. Bugs are not interested in it, they can't smell anything either. It feels clean and sanitary. The biggest effort is building the composter but I only have to do it once. If I build a two-chamber it can be used forever.

Their children do talk to them and visit, though not super often, maybe every other month. I don't know what the normal amount is? They also have young kids so not much time to visit.

I do kinda gently tell them that I wanna do things my way and if I fail it's good experience! They don't like to hear that and usually stare at me judgmentally.

having said that, i don’t think you have to deal with them if you don’t want to. i don’t live in the same city as my older relatives, but i maintain my relationships with them by smiling, nodding, and thanking them for their advice even when i plan to ignore it. since i personally wasn’t there to observe your neighbors, i can’t say for certain, but i do think their concern for you means that they like you. i think you could still be on good terms with them even with grey rocking them and gifting them fruits and vegetables if you want.

That's an interesting view! It is possible they have no other way of interacting and think they're being useful. I feel they might like me because every time I venture into a forest, they're super worried I'll get lost. So they don't want to lose me.

I lived in a village (pretty small one i can say???) for a while, and I understand that maintaining good relationships is very important. But it seems to me as a bad sign that their words are starting to upset you :(

There is a certain type of person (it is not about being a villager or about age, but though the older generation seems to have more of them) who prioritizes their personal experience above all else, acting as if they were experts in five different fields at once, even when the thing you are talking about isnt so serious. And as rule they also radically pessimistic. The Worst Combo.

I don't think your house is going to collapse or that everything will go wrong. They’re simply setting priorities based on their personal preferences and believe they’re stating some kind of objective truth. When it is not even their business(!!!).

I’m a huge fan of how you handle things! Your oven is wonderful. I think you'll be fine. You have passion and that's all what matter. Plus, you don't live in total isolation, so you're unlikely to be left alone if something very bad happens ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But whether they’re doing it on purpose or not, it is absolutely NOT normal that theit behaviour upsets you or feeds your anxious thoughts. You don't owe them any progress.

And btw you're right about the sun! Take care of yourself. Dont work too much. Wear something on your head, like a cap or a headscarf / bandana, if you aren't doing so already. You could even tie a spare shirt or T-shirt around your head... or whatever you have.

P.S. Sorry for asking, but you don't eat any animal protein at all, including eggs, right? In that case, you need plenty of plant-based protein. Eat well pls.

P.P.S. sorry for any possible mistakes, still in process of improving my english

Your english is incredible anon, you sound like a professional! The structure of your sentences creates a great storytelling style.

What you describe does sound exactly like my neighbours, they do decide things based on personal experiences and consider it an objective truth. Leaving no space for other possibilities. And it is always pessimistic. I think you read them right!

I always wear something on my head because my ears are sick! I had a white headscarf wrapped around my head at the time of sun stroke, it didn't save me. I have a full bag of hats so I can choose.

I haven't spent much time outside during the night, I saw some stars when I woke up at 3 but nothing spectacular.

Last night I needed the toilet at 10, and I keep it outside so I went out. I looked at the sky. Blurry lights. I ran back in for my glasses. Put them on. And gasped.

The entire Milky Way was staring back at me. I didn't just see stars, I could see the brighter and darker sections of the sky. Thousands of stars littering every inch of the sky. I have never seen that in my life. I'm up in the elevated mountain territory so I'm closer to the sky than ever before, and we barely have any street lamps. No light pollution.

I'm still tearing up remembering the view. It was breathtaking.

Nights however, come with a hidden advantage; it gets significantly colder from 4-7am. I have to assume this is due to higher altitude, because down in the city nights were just as bad. And the neighbours here act like this is normal.

This advantage happens to be all I need. I wake up around 5, open all the windows, front doors and everything, and go outside. I have to wear a warm long sleeved shirt from how cold it is. The cold draught cools down the walls of my house, I close it up at 8, and for the rest of the day it's like a big fridge. It's not hot even with the 39 celsius out. I'm cozy and comfortable.