Factor e Farm
Contents
Faculty House
Aquaponic Greenhouse
The Factor e Farm Experiment
Factor e Farm is a 30 acre parcel of land 1 hour away from the Kansas City International Airport in Missouri. In 2006, Open Source Ecology purchased this land - a blank slate that was a soybean field. Since then, we have been busy building infrastructure, using as much open source, libre processes and hardware as possible.
We are much more than a farm. At Factor e Farm, we grow ideas, and put them into practice. The name derives as a play on words - we are not a factory farm - we are Factor e Farm - e stands for the natural logarithm (exponential transcendence). And it is an irrational number - irrational or unreasonable. As George Bernard Shaw said - “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
Factor e Farm (FeF) is a socio-technical experiment. It aims to take what civilization has learned about what it means to thrive, and determine whether it is feasible to use abundant local resources to create industrial civilization, up to semiconductor and metal production - on the scale of a parcel of land - at 2 hours of work per day - using local resources - regeneratively - achieving a modern standard of living. This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal, but its achievement has huge implications on solving Wicked Problems.
A Test Bed for Systems-Level Innovation
Factor e Farm is an experiment on many levels: natural ecology, industrial production, experimental research and development, immersion education, and a transformative lifestyle. Factor e Farm combines a lifestyle immersion in the world of open source hardware, and a goal of creating the open source economy.
We are experimenting with what it would look like if a small group of people were able to achieve a full resilient lifestyle, by tapping solar power (direct and indirect) and appropriate industrial technology - to master infrastructure maintenance at no more than a few hours per year - to attain raw industrial productivity with appropriate, heirloom and modern technology - to ascertain production of food, housing, energy, and technology from local feedstocks. This implies significant technology, productivity and efficiency levels - essentially removing waste from the unstable model of centralized industrial production, and converting to a more congruent and ethical open source economy.
Data Point for a New Civilization
The Factor e Farm experiments can be observed from many perspectives. One perspective is that of material security - feasible on first-principle calculations of solar energy energy income - that transcends the artificial material scarcity of the mainstream economy. To this end, we are testing whether it is possible to attain individual mastery of a few tens of kilowatts of multipurpose industrial power to allow prosperity with modern comforts and cultural advancements without the necessity of warfare. The key to this is open source technology and open knowhow - a construction set of modular, multipurpose tools - a civilization-in-a-box that can be a model of regenerative, information-age, industrial power.
The intended outcome is mastery of individual productive power towards evolving as humans - where absolute material security allows for uncompromised pursuit of personal autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
Natural History
- Started 2022:
2014 Infrastructure Upgrades
Starting from raw land in 2006, the 2014 infrastructure plan is:
Name
The e in Factor e Farm is Euler's number, a transcendental number - implying the disruptive nature of Open Source Ecology's work. We are not a factory farm. At Factor e Farm, we are growing ideas. We are creating technology for ecology.
Those coming for Dedicated Project Visits are advised of the Factor e Farm General Guidelines.
Infrastructure
- Shelter
- HabLab
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Bedrooms
- SolarCubes
- Hexayurts
- Earthbag hut
- Cordwood hut
- Tents
- HabLab
- Workshops
- Main Workshop
- Greenhouse
- Utilities
- Water
- Well Pump and Rainwater catchment
- 1000 Gallon tank reservoir
- 2nd water pump brings water from the reservoir tanks to habLab kitchen and bath.
- Water
- Sanitation
- HabLab has a septic system (please limit/don't use antibacterial soaps!)
- flush toilets and composting toilets
- 3 compost bins for cooking scraps
- Recycling system has outdoor segregated storage for plastics, metals, and paper products, which are brought to local recycling center.
- Sanitation
- Heating/Cooling
- Wood stoves
- Thermal mass earth roofs.
- cross-ventilation
- Heating/Cooling
- Kitchen
- Stove
- Sink
- Kitchen
- Communications
- Very low cellphone reception
- DSL internet with wifi
- Communications
- Food
- 400 tree fruit, nut, and berry orchard (still growing)
- We try to eat together
- Food
Learning
- We are a learning community, and we are all expected to help each other grow in practical, mental, emotional, and spiritual techniques.
- Highly value Education
Tools
Location
NOTE: It is NOT ok to visit Factor e Farm without an invitation. Please see Visit Factor e Farm.
Natural History
Near Blank Slate, 2009:
2014:
See 2014 Concept Infrastructure Budget
Site Boundaries
OpenStreetMap View
NOTE: It is NOT ok to visit Factor e Farm without an invitation. Please see Visit Factor e Farm.
Climate
Links
- Democratic Decline - Factor e Farm was started in response to the democratic decline of 2006.
- First Year at Factor e Farm - the beginnings. Start with chickens and eggs and polyethylene, like any hippie would.
- Site Management
- Factor e Farm Site Plan
- Distillations
- History
- Blog Presentation:
- See the blog for the latest updates.
- You can view videos from Factor e Farm on our Youtube Channel.
- Pictures from Factor e Farm.
