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If you are coming here for the first time, welcome! In this article, you will learn about our abandoned farm in Spain and the Eridu Life project.
This article is a guide of sorts. It will help you not only understand what we are trying to achieve at the Finca, but it will also keep you up to date.
About Us
Before I explain more about our abandoned farm in Spain and the Eridu Life project, let me introduce ourselves.
I’ll be brief, I promise.
I’m Ricardo, the mastermind behind this project. In the photo below we are me, my wife Agnes and our beloved dog Kala.
We’re trully happy to have you here!
We bought this abandoned farm in Spain back in 2022. Our intention is to transform it into a homestead.
To learn about our history and how we got here, I recommend you read the article about us.
Be Patient
As you may know, I am the person responsible not only for publishing the contents, but I am also the person responsible for carrying out the projects at the Finca.
I’m a newbie.
Because I have no experience, there is a lot of research and study needed before executing each project.
This includes the contents. There is a lot of backlogged videos that needs to be published.
So, please be patient!
I promise I will do my best to release all the videos on youtube and blog soon.
The Eridu Life Project
The Eridu Life is a project that deals with the restoration of an abandoned land in Spain that we bought in 2022.
In addition to a 300-year-old stone house, which we will restore soon, we also have a stone cistern and a stone well.
Our intention
Transform this Spanish farm into a homesteading using permaculture principles.
Restore the 300-year-old stone house to be our permanent off-grid home in Spain.
Repair the ancient water system, to be self-sufficient with our own water source.
Astrocartography
We didn’t find this property by chance.
It was with the help of astrocartography or relocation astrology that we were able to find this piece of land.
Basically, astrocartography is a system that reveals optimal locations on Earth based on our birth chart.
It’s quite fascinating, really!
Planning and Research
As we have no experience, the key to making things going forward is planning and researching.
So, before undertaking any project at our farm, no matter how small, I spend lots of hours, if not weeks doing research.
I watch videos on YouTube, make notes and drawings of the projects, and only then I buy the necessary materials and venture to get started.
Most of the time what I plan always goes wrong.
As Winston Churchill once said, “There are no plans that survive first contact with the enemy.”
This is so true!
Our Abandoned Farm in Spain
Our abandoned fam in Spain is located in the Baix Ebre region of Catalonia, in a valley that lies between two mountains.
We are very close to the Ebro River.
The land is a little over 11,000m2 (about 3 acres).
It is formed by stone terraces due to the mountains slope.
In addition to a 300-year-old stone house that is partially in ruins, we also have a stone cistern and a stone well that need full restoration.
A Hidden Past
Due to the oval shape and cutting of stones, the cistern and well could be related to the phoenicians, as there are similiar structures on archeological sites around the Finca.
Most of these archaeological sites date back to the iberic neolithic period around 2,600 BCE, as this is the time the phoenicians was living in Spain.
Why Eridu Life?
Why did we choose Eridu Life as the name of the project? You may be wondering.
Well, we chose the name Eridu Life for our abandoned farm in Spain in honor of Enki or EA.
Enki was one of the so-called “Annunaki gods” in sumerian or assyrian mythology.
He was an architect and helped to built the first settlement on planet Earth.
This was in the Mesopotamia (today`s Iraq) which was named Eridu.
In sumerian or assyrian mythology Eridu means: A home far away from home.
The name suits our project.
How Old is the Finca?
It is difficult to estimate the exact age of our Spanish farm.
The only reference we have is the deed itself.
The document states that the farm was inherited by the son after his father death. The date recorded on the foot note is 12th of January 1887.
The document also states that, in addition to inheriting the farm, the son also inherited a quantity of ardite that were converted into 266 pesetas.
Interestingly, the currency of Catalonia from 1701 to 1808 was the ardite, and from 1808 to 1850 it was the peseta.
Hypothetically, it is possible that the stone house was built between 1701 and 1850, placing its age around 300 years old.
In the farm we have some olive trees that are well over 300 years old.
Just so you know.
Plans for the Future
Our main goal is to restore the 300-year-old stone house, together with the cistern and the well and then move permanently to the Finca.
Unfortunately in Spain we cannot do this structural part of the project ourselves, we need an architect. Luckly we found a local architect who is working on the restoration plans.
Other Projects
While the restoration plans and building licenses are not ready, we are working on the other projects that we can do ourselves:
The off grid water system;
The raintwater system;
The camp base one;
The shelter with a caravan;
The portable solar power;
The beds for planting vegetables;
The robust solar system;
The composting system;
There are other parts of the project where we decided to hire professionals, instead of doing ourselves. Such as the tractor driver who cleared the land and openned the access ramp.
The Contents
Since we started the Eridu Life project, I started documenting everything in video and photo format.
As I have no experience editing videos, I have approximately 2 years of content to be edited and posted.
Nothing about this Eridu Life project is simple and straight forward.
Everything requires a tremendous amount of research and study. And with content creation there is no difference.
Eventually I’ll be posting all the videos on Youtube and all articles on the Blog.
So, I ask you to be patient with me 🙂
On Youtube
If you watch the videos through the playlists, they are more or less in chronological order.
Somes of the playlists are season one, season two, going to off the grid, living off grid, etc.
In the Blog
If you read the articles from the oldest to the newest, this way they are in chronological order.
Also, you can read from the categories: homesteading, off grid in Spain, permaculture, etc.
I believe that organizing content into seasons like in Netflix makes it easier for you to follow.
NOTE:
Once I’m done editing and posting all the videos from each playlist or season, I’ll create a really long video of everything we did in that particular playlist or season.
Questions and Answers
As there are hundreds of comments and questions on Yotube videos and in the blog articles, from time to time I will make some “Q&A” or “Questions & Answers” videos and articles, like this one.
This way I will be able to answer most of your questions and also share updates on the Eridu Life project. What you think?
Other Topics
There are other topics that I consider important but I don’t talk about them as much in the videos.
In the future I will record videos or write articles on each of these other topics, as I consider them very important:
Astrocartography;
Iberian Neolithic Period;
Living Off the Grid in Spain;
Rainwater Collection;
Starlink for Off Grid Living;
How to Find Good Land;
Permaculture Farming;
Solar System for Beginners;
Buying a Used Caravan;
Project Updates
In this section I will be posting the Eridu Life project updates.
February 2024
We have made the decision to move permanently to Spain. This way we can spend more time taking care of the projects at the Finca;
May 2024
We finally decided on the design of the 300-year-old stone house, we applied for the building permit, now we have to wait for approval;
July 2024
After a lot of work setting up the IBC totes for the water system at the Finca, we were finally able to make the first water delivery;
December 2024
After a century of dry spell, the autumn rains brought water to the well. This was so significant that we decided to start the well restoration;
These is more project updates to come… So, stay tuned!
Conclusion
I hope this article has helped you understand more about our abandoned farm in Spain and the Eridu Life project.
If you follow the content as I recommend, it will be easier for you to understand what we are trying to achieve at Finca.
That’s it for this article. Did you like it?
Leave your comment or suggestion below. I love responding to all comments and I always do it personally.
Talk to you soon 🙂
P.S. If you would like to help us build our dream home, you can do it here. Or if you would like to help us continue recording videos, you can do it here. Either way, your support is very much appreciated.
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I’ve been following your project for some time. I’m also looking to go live off grid in Spain. I live in the Netherlands. Kind regards, Matheus
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Hello Mathews. There is a lot of dutch people living in Baix Ebre region. Best of luck on your search. Thank you for following our journey 🙂
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My wife and I are planning to embark on this type of project and way of living. We live in Germany and Spain has always been a country we visit and really like. We have friends who live in the Baix Ebre region, they are probably your neighbors. Great article.
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I am very to hear that you guys are looking to embark into the off grid living adventure. Baix Ebre is a fantastic region. Lots of Germans here. Thank you for following our journey 🙂
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Hi Ricardo. What an interesting project. I was reading the article about the Phoenicians and the possibility that the buildings were connected to this forgotten past. I also didn’t know the history of the Annunnaki or Enki. I’ll research more about it. Anyway, I want to wish you good luck in this endeavor.
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Hello Roger. No many people knows about this forgotten past. It is worth to learn about it. Thank you for your comment 🙂
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Hi Ricardo, Agnes and little Kala.
I was fascinated to read about the reason for the name ‘Eridu’ Life. I’m nowhere near as educated as you are about such things, but far from being what they call ‘mythology’ I wonder if the experts aren’t starting to find that stories about the most ancient of ‘civilised’ peoples on earth are fundamentally true, and that it is quite possible these people did not come from this planet.
You may well have seen the Youtube videos of Ben Van Kerkwyk on ‘UnchartedX’, showing items that were made by beings which modern man would very much struggle to do. The superb granite containers, made of the hardest rock on earth; the 100 tonne stones cut precisely and removed from the ground intact (to cut the stone would have required a 7m dia. diamond-bladed cutting wheel driven by a very powerful motor), the superb sarcophagi so perfectly and precisely engineered that they leave modern archaeologists scratching their heads raw, the list is very long and the dates can only be speculated upon – 10,000 years ago, 15,000 years? They just don’t know. The Pyramids may well be Annunaki technology, as may the astonishing underground use of water from the Nile. The Pyramids could be part of a sophisticated means of harvesting electricity from above us of the sort discussed by Nicola Tesla. Quite obviously something very sophisticated was happening around the modern Iraq region that modern man has not managed to figure out yet. The well on your beautiful finca seems to date back into pre-history, and it must be very inspiring to be sat next to such extraordinary archaeology. I’m so envious!
Your homeland has similarly astonishing archaology, with stone cutting that baffles modern masons. I’m sure you know of many examples of the work of your ancestors.
I believe your respect for the ancient history of your finca will stand you in very good stead – the local officials could well be similarly interested in this subject, and will be extra helpful to people with such profound respect for a place within their professional district. My dad was an environmental health officer around Winchester, Hampshire, and loved working with the city archaeologist when dealing with ancient, protected buildings in his district. It was what made him really come alive, and he would come across things that archaeologists would love to when investigating ancient buildings around Winchester and into the countryside.
Your permaculture philosophy and desire to work alongside nature will win you many friends amongst the locals, and will be the subject of many related discussions, I feel sure.
Sorry this is such a long message!
All the very best to you as you progress with your wonderful project there in your little paradise. Dave, UK.
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Hello David. I have spent many years studying the Anunnaki and the origin of mankind according to the Sumerian tablets. A fascinating story, and yes, the name “Eridu Life” was given in honor of lord Enki “EA”. Unfortunately, main stream archaeologists and scholars will never recognize the stories of the Sumerian tablets as more than myths. Thanks for visiting the blog. All the best