This post is a work in progress.
The proposal is to build 21 sites all serving similar goals. Peasant agricultural education of immigrants and rehabilitating soldiers is among the goals.
Pilot site in Altai is more than 180 hectares (444+ acres), flanked by mountains. Zone 3A. Latitude is south of Moscow, similar to Samara, Tula, and Minsk, north of Voronezh. North wind is the source of winter cold. True continental climate.
As a starting point for population, each site might be minimum 50 soldiers and 10 families. Think in terms of 100 people for starting. The community will be a generalized system based on individual specialization of the members.
Role in hybrid war
Fighting a hybrid war in which society is targeted. We need to identify all known and suspected avenues of attack and counter them in the design where practical.
People’s understanding of Divine Services is a target, so the counter is education and immersion. Multilingual Russian Orthodox services (Church Slavonic and native languages of population, including Russian) and catechesis.
Inner-zone design: residences
Traditional building materials. Need to understand their limitations, and what can be built inexpensively. Can’t be more than 2 stories. Don’t want to fill zone 1 with shade. Alexandrian pattern is a cascade down on the north side so that shade isn’t wasted. This could be sheds or stables. Zone 1 gardens on the south side. Also perhaps roof gardens?
Cob with or without lime. Pole construction. Timber frame cob.
2-3 house sizes: dormitory, small house, medium house. Rocket mass heater research needed urgently so it can be applied in this project.
Dormitory
Dormitory design: 2-story with wings jutting to the south, a greenhouse integrated covering most of the south side within the wings (sheltered gardens), gardens further south for individual plots. To the north: stables, maybe chicken enclosures, workshops, outdoor room for tea etc. Further north: evergreens, mountains—obstacles to the north wind. Note that the wind could still come around the mountains in other directions.
Dorms may be rehabilitating soldiers who are experienced at teamwork. More private housing will be families and less reliably teamwork-oriented.
Further south: small or large food forests, highly diverse, focus on U-pick berries. Lots and lots of jams. Mushroom production. Also coppice willows. Honey. Possibly maple syrup from Norway maple and boxelder. Sugar storage: berries for jam, honey, sugar beets. Willows an important crop as coppice, tree hay (dried leaf fodder), baskets, pencils. Plant a variety, really emphasize this crop. Ideally varied nutrient profiles in the leaves. Maples also good for leaf fodder, pollarding.
Early potatoes, short-season grains including buckwheat. Early wheat?
Meat production is vital. Pastured chickens for eggs—near heated buildings with access to the warmth. There’s somewhat more winter light than Moscow.
Activities
One of the primary income streams is the farm, so the farms must be economically productive.
Rehabilitation of wounded soldiers. This project is connected to the legacy of the Russian Red Cross, which is celebrating its 240th anniversary this year.
Salatin-style stacking fiefdoms. Each site is a working farm and training center that gives work and training to interns, who then proceed to their choice of sites nationwide for their farming activities.
Intent is to build a prepared community centered at these sites.
Outer-zone design
We propose the addition of gabions in the canyons, which are technically outside the site. Of course we propose swales where applicable. The pilot site is in a semi-arid climate, could become an arid climate, already has drought and flood cycles. We can prevent forest fires and deforestation by design. Other anti-wildfire design components belong here.
The design must support all target activities as optimally as possible, and be as portable to other sites in different climates as is reasonable (so adhere to patterns and written constraints and principles, and exhibit the design in terms of how the patterns and constraints are applied).
General agriculture considerations
Must grow coppice fuel, self-sustaining food supply, market crops and meats, and infrastructure for value-adding activities.
Heavy emphasis on animals and berries due to cold.
Breeding hardier plants.
Need to optimize plant growth to exploit long days in summer. Season extension.
Gabriel says better citrus fruits possible with geothermal greenhouses. Need to explore financial feasibility.
Potential for shallow geothermal, using soil and passive solar. Cob with glass panels and simple metal tubes in the ground.
A great deal of experimentation is needed. It’s tricky to do much given the very short season.
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