In this episode of Occupy the Land, we make major progress on the root cellar by shaping the bottom of the 20ft geodesic sphere trench. Ernie carves the reverse-dome floor for the sphere, explains the ramped access and second-level floor plan, and experiments with wetting the ultra-hard Clichy (caliche) soil to create a moldable Adobe-like […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we dive into the engineering behind our new root cellar project on the Arizona desert homestead. With the trench already underway, Ernie walks through the dome calculator on DesertDomes.com to plan a 16ft geodesic sphere (4-phase) that will be buried mostly underground for natural cooling. He breaks down […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we prioritize food security by starting the root cellar on our Arizona desert homestead! With the main home pad and guest dome progressing, we excavate a deep trench for a 16ft geodesic sphere that will be insulated with Air Crete and a pond liner to stay naturally cool […]
In this powerful, reflective episode of Occupy the Land, Ernie Hancock delivers a raw, personal recap of the journey that led to building their Arizona desert homestead. From the Ron Paul Revolution and silver education in the late 2000s, through the Love Bus Liberty tour during COVID lockdowns, to decades of street activism, lawsuits, and […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we kick off a critical food-security project on our Arizona desert homestead: digging the root cellar! With warmer weather approaching and family holidays behind us, we excavate a deep trench for a 16ft sphere (insulated with Air Crete and pond liner) that will stay naturally cool underground—perfect for […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we finally resume the guest dome build on our Arizona desert homestead with cooler weather making it easier to work! We prep and install heavy-duty hurricane straps (mule tape) between earthbag layers to cinch the future dome roof securely to the stem walls via a planned concrete bond […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we resume the guest dome build after a busy stretch of other homestead projects! With cooler weather finally here, we prep and install heavy-duty hurricane straps (mule tape-style) between earthbag layers to anchor the future dome roof securely to the stem walls via a planned concrete bond beam—over-engineered […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we walk the property to show the lasting results of an earlier flash flood that filled our sand pond with an estimated 70–90,000 gallons, proving our check dams, berms, and augered holes effectively slow runoff, create temporary lakes, and deeply saturate the clay soil. Months later, the desert […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we push forward on two key homestead projects in the mild Arizona winter weather. Ernie completes the mobile battery shed behind the shipping-container workshop, leveling the pallet platform, adding a wooden floor, and installing the full 15kW 48V battery/inverter system to deliver reliable 120/240V power for welders, plasma […]
In this episode of Occupy the Land, we finally complete the power setup for the shipping-container workshop on our Arizona desert homestead! Ernie swaps out smaller panels for four high-output 535W bifacial solar panels, delivering reliable voltage to the 48V inverter and 15kW battery bank. The mobile battery shed (built on a pallet platform) is […]
