Fiona from Rosetta, KZN

Tell us a little about yourself!

I grew up in Zimbabwe. Much of that during the bush war and sanctions. When I was 16, we moved to South Africa where I finished my schooling followed by a move to Pietermaritzburg to do my nursing training at Greys Hospital in 1988. I haven't left KZN since, apart from travelling. Post-training and travelling I nursed for 5 years and then got involved in youth development work. This led me to studying life coaching which I still practice.

All my life I daydreamed about living in an earth house but I clearly remember seeing and falling in love with an old wattle and daub home in Imbali in my 30s. It had been painted blue at some stage, now faded and scarred, the building was slumped and way past it's best but it was beautiful, and the swallows nesting in its walls thought so too. I also daydreamed about eating apples from my own tree, that I had planted, but never thought I'd settle down enough for that.

My earnings have always gone to travelling and adventures, plus I've always worked with local NGO's and not earned a lot so I've lived in very simple accommodation. Old servants quarters and a converted garage.

How did you start doing what you are doing now? 

In 2014 I decided to buy land and build a home. My brother loaned R250 000 for the land. And I have built a home using recycled, second hand, hand-me-downs and natural materials.

Once people knew I was looking for stuff I was given lots. Some of it toss out "rubbish" lots of it useful. At the start of my project a pipeline was under construction nearby so I had many tons of soil dumped on my property. And loads of beautiful rocks were being dumped a ten minutes drive away which I collected for stem walls. Friends were tossing a 3m² wooden hut which became a "temporary" place to stay but is still my bedroom. I have used multiple methodologies, hyper Adobe, cob, wattle and daub, sun dried blocks and cordwood. Cob is probably my favourite method because I can do it by myself and it is sculptural. Cordwood I won't use again, finishing off is too fiddly and I don't love its aesthetic. I've done about 60% of the work solo, frequently frustrated by my lack of strength and skill but a steep learning curve and I've moved on a little from a 6"nail being the solution to everything. Plumbing and electrics are a bit sketchy but they work. I didn't hook up to Eskom and started with a 50amp battery, gas fridge and gas stove. I've now got up to a 5kva inverter but storage, although lithium ion, is still minimal. This runs most of my tools and fridge during the day.

During the building process I was planting trees, around 30 fruit trees and I have been eating apples from my own tree for about 3 years now. Sadly the swallows haven't nested in my buildings.

My veggie gardens haven't been fantastic, they need a lot of attention which I haven't been able to afford them. Winter growing is a non starter here with daily frosts but I'm slowly figuring a few things that will grow, like Chinese cabbage and coriander. But I'm getting there, amending the soil with all the great manure I'm harvesting. I've had laying hens all along, introduced a pregnant milking goat 4 years ago and my herd is currently sitting at 6. The two boys will go in a few months. I borrow a male annually to cover the girls. I am fortunate to be able to run the goats and chickens on my neighbours empty plot. I have recently started broilers and rabbits. The former for a micro income. The latter for dog meat. Another steep learning curve.

I follow and learn from numerous people on YouTube, Google is never far from me. And I'm part of a small local goat group and homestead group which are fantastic for help.

Buying an empty field with no clue how to build, limited ability to imagine what grown trees would look like was very overwhelming. The permaculture concepts of starting in zone 1 and moving out, using small solutions and to some extent the stacking of functions have been lifesavers.

But a friend's introduction to iterative thinking has been the most helpful advice. Every attempt, or iteration, even if flawed, is a step forward. Never a failure. My strength as a person is if I want to do something I just do it, obviously the weakness in that is I don't always plan very well. I struggle to visualise what I want and rather pursue a "feeling" or concept.

Initially when I felt totally overwhelmed by my ineptitude and lack of experience I would stop near an informal settlement in my area and remind myself that humans have been making shelters for millennia, only in the last couple of generations have we become disempowered believing that only experts can do things. The problem now is the skill gap but fortunately YouTube fills that a little.

I started out just wanting to build a house with no money but I've ended up understanding that the way I live and the things that our society uses to measure success are largely extractive and destructive and immensely selfish. I want to live an authentic and restorative life.

I am in the process of selling this 3000m2 property and starting again on a bigger piece of land. I'm so excited to make some new mistakes. This time round feels way easier, and I've got a few more tools than a hammer and 6"nail.

My advice to anyone starting out, you don't know what you can do til you've tried it. Ask for advice but really trust your gut.