Our Tropical Location
It’s not all beaches and warm sunshine here in the tropics. If you’re going by the Australian climate zone, we’re tropical, go by the USDA climate zones, we’re 12a. Extreme temperatures, humidity, and rainfall make certain self-sufficiency/homesteading projects nigh on impossible to complete – if you’re following Pinterest projects, written for folks in colder, drier climes.
It’s hot. It’s sticky. It’s sweaty. There’s risk of tropical cyclones and flooding every year. But we do get about 3 months a year of the most beautiful weather you could hope for.
We make do with the environment we’ve got. Sure, we’d love to move to a more temperate climate with fewer extremes! We’ve got our eye on just the spot, but for now, we’re based in Cairns, Far North Queensland, and aren’t escaping it any time soon.
The lack of projects and information about homesteading and self-sufficiency in such a hot, humid climate has led me to believe that there is a noticeable gap in the literature and a lack of representation for tropical climates. I cannot pretend to be any kind of expert (in anything!), but I do feel we have something to share, what works for us. Good old Shakespeare had something to say about that:
A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.”
William Shakespeare
More Self-Reliance
Becoming self-reliant means that mastering just one skill isn’t going to keep us clothed, fed, and housed. There is a basic requirement to become competent in many skills to be able to reduce reliance on supermarkets and big business. In attempting to reduce this reliance, we’ve been relying on skills we’ve learned from previous employment, or have an interest in and have either researched and taught ourselves or have learned from others.
The Refuge
Our house is a Besser block home built in the late 80s, complete with three tiny bedrooms, hideous wallpaper friezes, original narrow bench tops, and a super-ugly Roman bath in shades of crap brown, shit brown, and ugly brown. Previous owners neglected this house, with rental maintenance limited to “emergency” maintenance when something went pear-shaped. As a collector of random quotes, “a stitch in time saves nine” comes to mind – and this is something that we are trying to practice as we restore and modernise the house actively. The shell of it is still as solid as ever – it has to be in a cyclone-prone area. Internals are dated, and the layout is not suited to a modern lifestyle, let alone our self-sufficiency goal. I doubt if a modern family would find this house easy to live in.
Long Term Issues
A truly bright spark planted trees that are far too close to the house, are completely unsuitable for the area, and let them grow to become problems, never thinking of the future. For example, someone planted a Cuban Royal palm next to the patio as part of a screening garden. This palm grows to an exceptional size. A single frond falling damaged the roof, took out the major spotlight, and contributed to the uneven paving in the back patio area. After seeing how much damage the palm was causing, the previous owners opted to remove it. No such logic applied to the other palms planted in the same area, nor the umbrella tree right beside the water meter. The location of these trees was truly a decision made by someone who had no long-term goals.
Our soil is rather sandy and does a great job at growing weeds – but not much else. We were lucky, and when we moved in over 10 years ago, there were three fruit trees in the yard. We have a mandarin, either an imperial or emperor variety, an orange of some kind that’s extremely bitter, and a grapefruit that has since died.
Motivating Ourselves
This is our abode for the time being, flawed, ugly, but comfortable, and we seek to improve it to fit our mindset and conform to the lifestyle we try to lead. The satisfaction we find in growing this, repairing that, building this, all leads to our long-term future sustainability elsewhere, away from the suburbs. We dream of a temperate climate, an orchard of fruit trees, livestock grazing, and a home that is built for our lifestyle. Follow along and learn as we do. This entire site is the record of our attempt at becoming self-sufficient in a tropical climate, and hopefully a resource for others who live in the tropics and found information lacking.
OUR TEAM OF ONE
Tash.
I don’t like what the ‘modern life’ has become. Life is disconnected from our origins. We have handed over our sovereignty piece by piece until absolutely everything comes from a corporation and without money to buy crap, we’re screwed and don’t know how to survive. That’s it. That’s my motivation. I don’t want to be that person.
I am in my 30s. I’m a business owner, I have a Bachelor of Accounting and a Bachelor of Business. I grew up in a remote tropical location where we had to do things for ourselves because there was no option otherwise. We had to be prepared for the Wet Season and isolation at the very least.
I am the kind of person who, when asked, “when did you learn thermonuclear physics?” would answer with “last night”. I deep dive into subjects. I bite in, hang on, and don’t relent until I have learned it. I’ve tried my hand at most crafts and cookery, and I believe in doing things for myself.
I’m the main creative behind Suburban Refuge. I don’t censor my words. I’m over seeing self-sufficent bullshit that only works for temperate zones. It’s time the tropics had some focus.
I live with the Mr, am down to one cat, have five chickens and a single tropical fish that needs some friends.
