Knowledge Center
Meet Kemble Hildreth
Kemble Hildreth is a software engineer, gardener, dad, husband, homesteader, an off-grid systems researcher and an enthusiastic user of HomeBiogas 2 systems at both home and work. He is incredibly passionate about making affordable, sustainable, off-grid living systems accessible to as many people as he can.
Walking the Walk
Together with his brother Joe and a dedicated team of engineers and creatives, Kemble runs Acorn Land Labs, an outdoor land lab promoting sustainable (and attainable!) living. At the lab, the team grows local food, captures clean energy, stores fresh water, manages green sanitation, builds creative shelters and perhaps most importantly, they teach others how to do these things.
In addition to his work at Acorn Land Labs, Kemble and his wife have a small homestead in Georgia where they live with their two toddlers. They raise chickens and kune kune pigs, garden, collect rainwater, use solar power, and “love cooking on their HomeBiogas system!”
“I’m passionate about affordable, sustainable, independent, off-grid living systems that give people more time with their loved ones in nature,” Kemble explains.
The Power of the HomeBiogas Community
About a year and a half ago Kemble and Joe got their two HomeBiogas systems, one for Acorn Land Labs and the other for Kemble’s family homestead. Our team at HomeBiogas was thrilled to hear that Kemble and Joe first first learned about HomeBiogas from dedicated HomeBiogas users and tiny house enthusiasts, Jon and Fin Kernohan. They say the process of researching and purchasing the HomeBiogas systems was simple and fun and that they learned a lot from watching Jon and Fin’s online content. Kemble explained that the Kernohan Family live off-grid, about one hour away, and that they’ve learned a great deal about off-grid and tiny-house living from their work.
HomeBiogas Helps Make it Possible
Kemble was eager to find sustainable sources of energy, ways to manage waste and to reduce the amount of food scraps he and his family composted. Today, he’s crafted a system that works well for them, explaining that they feed fresh food scraps to animals, and then feed any ‘icky’ food scraps to the HomeBiogas system, black soldier flies as well as the composting piles.
“We have a use for every waste product now. HomeBiogas allows us to avoid buying propane, fertilizer and it keeps food waste out of the landfill,” Kemble shares.
On his family’s homestead, Kemble says the HomeBiogas fertilizer is fantastic for their gardens. At their educational Acorn Land Lab, they enjoy cooking with the resulting biogas and use the fertilizer on all of the market garden rows.
In a video on their website introducing the Acorn Land Lab and their commitment to furthering education around circular systems, Joe shares that one of their most exciting systems is their HomeBiogas biodigester. In the video he goes on to explain how the HomeBiogas system helps reduce food waste, keeps the food waste out of landfills and reduces dependence on non-renewable energy sources.
Showing Children How To Lead a Sustainable Life
Kemble’s family has adopted the daily habit of using food waste to feed the HomeBiogas system. He and his wife often cook breakfast with the fuel from the system and they use the fertilizer about once per week in their garden. They never waste food scraps and they are even able to use the Kune Kune pig manure (using a scooper to keep the yard tidy) to feed to the HomeBiogas system.
Kemble shared that he loves collecting eggs in the morning with his boys, picking veggies from their garden and then cooking scrambled eggs on their back deck using their HomeBiogas burner.
“The veggies are fertilized from the HomeBiogas system, and the eggs are cooked by the system. It’s like magic. Both of my toddlers can say ‘HomeBiogas’ and ‘Methane Digester,’” said Kemble, “It takes me 2-3 minutes per day to feed the digester and another 5 minutes to use the fertilizer. I spend less than 10 minutes per week keeping the system running well.”
HomeBiogas Users For Life
Kemble takes pleasure in the independence of generating his own fuel and fertilizer. He said that it was amazing seeing the first flames come from the HomeBiogas stovetop two weeks after setting up the system. He loves hearing the gurgles and sounds on a hot day, knowing that fuel is being made organically.
Kemble said that he is excited to build more off-grid systems that include HomeBiogas systems and that he hopes to install a new system for his off-grid cabin that will include the HomeBiogas Bio-Toilet.
He shows all of his family and friends the system and said that moving forward, he will always have a Home Biogas system at home. We are grateful to have Kemble, Joe and the whole Hildreth Family as HomeBiogas users for life!
Follow Acorn Land Labs on Instagram and Facebook and visit their website for more info on off-grid living innovation!
