Aether Breaks Ground field notes https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/ Build-in-public field notes from an AI-orchestrated house build in Cumberland County, Tennessee. AI-orchestrated, not AI-built. en-us First, find someone to read the dirt https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/finding-a-soil-consultant/ https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/finding-a-soil-consultant/ Mon, 03 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMT Before a septic permit can move, a TDEC-approved soil consultant has to read the ground. Finding one who's reachable, and who'll quote a price, turned into its own project. The woods qualified for EQIP https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/eqip-forestland-cost-share/ https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/eqip-forestland-cost-share/ Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMT Plain wooded land, no farm, can qualify for USDA conservation cost-share, with no acreage minimum. A fast yes, then a slow funding queue. Greenbelt isn't a form you file https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/greenbelt-exemption-didnt-fit/ https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/greenbelt-exemption-didnt-fit/ Wed, 03 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Tennessee's Greenbelt tax break steers a small landowner to Open Space, a class that needs a county designation or a permanent easement. Often out of reach. The owner-builder question, answered https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/pulling-my-own-building-permit/ https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/pulling-my-own-building-permit/ Tue, 02 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT Can a regular person legally act as their own general contractor in Tennessee? The county and the state both said yes, with limits worth knowing before you sign. The first real gate is the dirt https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/soil-test-first-gate/ https://aetherbreaksground.com/field-notes/soil-test-first-gate/ Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:00:00 GMT The first move on raw land isn't the floor plan, it's whether the soil will take a septic system. How that gate works, and what it took to get the test booked.