Photo's......some progress

Garden Beds....Big...Little...Littler

Garden Beds

Reclaimed Pallet Garden Bed....for Squash and Zuchinni

Garden bed and Storage!

Ike and the ladies...

Oven base and Brick BBQ

I have Peas!

Spring is in the air......

.....So cousin Jess and I have been putting in the garden. We built another large bed for tomatoes and a neat raised "table bed" for squash and zucchini. The raised bed was constructed from an old pallet that we raised about 2' on sturdy legs. We wrapped 2 sides with heavy plastic to keep some of the weather out and put a layer of landscape fabric and reclaimed tin roofing as the floor of the pallet. Underneath is great storage for the chicken feed, generator and chain-saw. The chickens are doing great. I am getting 2-3 eggs a day and I have started letting them out in the evenings to forage a bit. They are beasts when it comes to scratching up hillside! I put wheels on the chicken coop but they need to be tweaked a bit to make em' more functional. Now the long coop looks like a Beverly Hillbillies Dragster with large bicycle tires on the back. Sho' has been very attentive towards the birds and while I don't fully trust her, she seems to be getting that they are friends and not chew toys. Luckily, the chickens are not skittish at all and pretty much ignore her unless she gets right up on em for some sniffing. There was a Subaru catastrophe last week as the "Goat" gave up the ghost with a broken timing belt. Next week was supposed to "awesome solar system" week but it looks like I will have to use that money for car repairs. Ces't La Vie. The Sube had already paid for itself in fuel savings driving to and from work (82 miles a day!) so it is worth putting a little more money into. I am back to driving the vandaminium for now. I put it up on craigslist for a grand and have had some interest so when the car is fixed I may be able to sell it and buy solar panels.

 projects still to come.....

• Solar System
• Finish the kitchen
• Metal roof and gutter system for rain harvesting
• Outdoor Pizza Oven
• Small storage shed for the raft

I will do a picture dump soon with some new photo's. Thanks for reading.

Chickens and garden!

...Yesterday I finished the chicken tractor and brought home three hens and a rooster. So far they seem to be great layers, already giving me 4 eggs (2 I had for breakfast!) the hens are barred rock hybrids and the rooster (Ike) is a buff orpington. They are all friendly and Sho seems to be alright with them. The tractor is done minus the wheels which I will put on this week. I also finished the garden beds and am going to plant my first crop tomorrow (peas and spinach). The beds are a nice mix of soil, cow manure and peat moss over a base of straw. Jess is going to build another large bed just for tomato production so we can can some. This summer I hope to have peas, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, spinach and peppers. Well, as usual...pics to come!

Staying busy....

The house is coming along nicely and I am getting ready for spring. I built a nice chicken tractor (pics to come) and this weekend I plan to get some birds. I am also getting the soil for the garden beds tomorrow and I might build a small greenhouse to start things a little early. I am very excited for fresh veggies and eggs....

The interior is slowly coming together. I built a counter top with the 3 burner stove and a small bar sink. Tomorrow, I am going to get the bits to plumb the sink with a faucet and a drain out to the garden. The counter is simple plywood and that came to me stained (recycled) and I still need to put a thick coat of varnish on it.

The shower has been working great except I need another propane tank for convenience. As it stands, I have to switch a propane tank between the stove an the shower when I need to bathe. Also there is a pretty serious voltage (amperage) drop when the pump runs but this will be fixed when I sort out the solar and real battery bank.

Here are some photo's of the kitchen.....

showering...

...so today I installed the shower pan and plumbed it to a soaker hose in one of my garden beds. Installation was pretty easy using a rubber feed tub from Tractor Supply, some PVC bits, a sink drain and some garden hose. The shower base is a 16 gallon feed tub that I drilled a hole in the bottom of a installed a sink drain. It is 2' in diameter and about 12" tall. It is made of a fiber impregnated rubber (thick!) and is very flexible. I chose this thinking that it would create a nice tight seal on the drain, and I was right. Connected to the bottom of the drain is a drain slip joint, a coupling collar, a screw in reducer and a screw on barbed fitting that will accommodate  garden hose. I ran the hose and then glued all the PVC bits together and connected them to the drain which was mounted in the "tub". 5 gallons of water later there were no leaks and I went to work drilling holes in the end of the hose under my garden bed. I was planning on using my Zodi Heater but my Dad got an Ecotemp shower and it is a better solution. It is  mated to a demand pump (recycled shureflo RV pump) and when the water is turned on the ecotemp ignites and voila' HOT WATER!!


Anyway....those are the big bits. Coming soon are photo's!!

Some more photo's...

The house is coming along nicely and though I am in SC, I thought that I would share an update on the work that I did before I left. I have built a few raised garden beds which will hopefully feed me this coming season. There are 3 beds. One is 3x6, one is 3x3 and another is 1x6 and runs down the side of the porch. This one will have running beans in it (and up a lattice) and act as a privacy screen for the porch. 

I also started the stair/bookshelves for getting into the loft. It is made from 2x3's and recycled oak boards (for stairs) and will hold most of my library. There are three stairs and a large 3x6 closet for clothes. The stairs are steep and a little narrow but they are bolted to the wall and seem to work fine. I still have to put the shelving in and finish the sides.

Raised garden bed....It is 3x6 and 10" deep. 

Underneath the loft. It rests on beams lag bolted into the wall studs. It is 6'x8' and there is about 3' headroom on the high side from the top of the mattress. A thinner mattress is in the near future for a little more headroom.

The beginning of the bookshelf/stairs. It is built from 2x3's and while the steps are pretty high it is not too hard to get in and out of the loft. I hope that it will hold a lot of books. i have yet to put the actual shelves in.

Steps.....books.....whoopee! The steps are made out of recycled oak from some old pallets.

The final step will be the top of my closet. It will hold hanging clothes as well as have two deep drawers for folded clothing and socks/undies. 

a photo rundown......

Here are some photo's of the house in it's new location.....

Laying out the spot and making things level...

Leveling.... 

Leveling...

I used pressure treated lumber and a railroad tie for a foundation.

And the home arrives...It actually came in on a roll-back with few problems.

setting up the porch..

Split level deck...

Coming together....

The awning is gone now, replaced with a roof made from recycled pallets.

The view from the porch....to the right.

It looks a little uneven but that's just the photo. The table is a recycled wire reel