The Law of Laziness

The Law of Laziness defined today.  The location of the rabbit hutches has simply been too far away from their food and water.  By moving them closer to the chicken coup, Freddie and I created a better way to manage their daily feedings as well as the entire manure/compost system.  Permaculture people talk about zones.  Today we narrowed the animal zone for human input efficiency.

A while back I posted about IBC composting.  Initial testing revealed that it is difficult to turn the compost in the bin because it is prohibitively heavy.  The revised plan is to empty the coop and rabbit cages into a pile that is moved by the tractor up the hill.

The pile to the left consists of several months worth of waste from the chicken coop and rabbits.

The new pile starts with the fresh hay just removed from the chicken coop.  It was interesting that the volume of freshly cleaned hay from the chicken coup was three tractor buckets, while the volume of the composted pile was two buckets despite three additional cleanings in the pile.

After the pile was moved, Freddie and I cleaned the cages and moved them one by one to their new home.  After digging a few holes and filling them with gravel, the first sits pretty level.

Two in place featuring Freddie's hunting cap.

All three in place.  This more efficient setup almost looks like it was meant to go there from the start.

"Looks good if you ask me." - Freddie

Happy rabbit inside.

Soon to be fresh compost.

Last year we grew leaps and bounds, personally and as an organization.  Thank you for your support and continued encouragement over the next year.  From all the animals and people in the Sustainable Homestead family, may the new year bring you happiness and joy beyond expectations.  

I love you all!

Merry Christmas

Around town I have seen several new barns under construction.  If they are anything like their counterparts in Bethlehem, it is a miracle that Jesus ever left the manger.  Maybe that is why no one mentions him for thirty years.

Merry Christmas.

Hunting Rabbits

Freddie and I left pretty early this morning after loading his dogs for a rabbit hunt.  We loaded up with snout meat, egg, and cheese biscuits before driving to the hunting grounds.

We did not stay until almost sunset per usual, but went for a good walk with our guns.  When the sun was out the weather was perfect, but as the sun dipped behind cloud cover for any length of time a jacket became mandatory.

The theme of today was broom straw and briars.  Freddie was standing in one patch while the dogs circled around him.  One dog came back to sit by his side and from directly next to his foot jumped a rabbit.  

Before that jumping I saw one coming right for me.  It stopped in its tracks when it saw me.  And I was startled that it stopped.  We just looked at each other for a minute.  Then I whiffed two shots and he ran away.  The second shot was really a hope and prayer as he jumped further into the high grass.  My rabbit gun of choice is a Revelation bolt action 410 shotgun from the mid 50s or 60s.  It isn't a really nice gun.  But is has character and I like it.  Something about a bolt action!

Sleeping next to the rocket stove

I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired from the past several days working on the survival shelter intended for a longer term stay.  Youssef left this morning.  I worked on several things, but mainly just wandered around.  I burned the rocket stove for most of the evening as the sun was setting.  I awoke still seated on the wooden chair and feet propped up on a cinderblock sometime later to my friend's car's headlights as he came over to return some borrowed items.  Sitting next to the rocket stove when it is burning properly is amazingly peaceful.  I think I might loose some greenhouse table space to a recliner.

Coyotes, Bobcats, & Ashmonsters, Oh My! - Happy Holidays

Well I've been here for just under four weeks, and tomorrow morning I will be heading back home for the holidays to spend time with my family and close friends. The first half of my stay has absolutely flown by, but I guess that's to be expected working on a farm all day. Before the homestead I had never done any type of construction (aside from foxholes), and in less than three weeks (accounting for rain) we've built a rocket mass heater and nearly an entire frame for a large survival shelter. The early sunset in these winter months really stagnates progress each day, but despite this the two of us have been knocking these projects out piece by piece, step by step, until we can't see or move any more. The always evolving design of the structure doesn't help, taking time to make sure our one-of-a-kind home doesn't come custom crumbling in on itself. The size is what impresses me most of all; I thought I would be living in a space no bigger than a walk in closet (yes, I once lived in a walk in closet) yet the slanted floor has been a blessed curse, giving passengers plenty of room to maneuver.

During the length of my stay I've been soaking up information from Scott on all sorts of survival techniques, do's, don'ts, warnings, tips, tricks, and meditative advice. I will transition from a backpack and minimal support from Scott (i.e. food, companionship) to an all out four letter word situation, with nothing but one, maybe two tools and Ashmonster to keep me alive. Assurances have been made coyotes and bobcats won't like me very much (not such a great audience), and I'll be in walkie range the entire time in case of an emergency. Should be fun.

Scott has been an absolutely amazing host, being very flexible and incredibly hospitable to me. I only wish these pictures and video could give you all an idea of what life is like at the institute, but as with any, justice isn't given. It's been a pleasure to be a part of the farm and help build it up for the short time I'm here, and I am eager as well as dreading the challenging part of my stay. A survival video "debris hut diary" series may even be in order. All that is to come, for now though, I'm relaxing and enjoying my last night on the farm. I'll say goodnight to the blog until 2014, refreshed and ready to go. Until then, check out this brief progress update.

raw

50%?

Happy Holidays with love,
Youssef

Longer term "survival" shelter continues - Natural Building

The beginning of the day.

The middle of the day.  Immediately after the support ring was completed a hawk flew over the campsite for seemingly several minutes.   By the time I grabbed the camera from the truck, the hawk was nowhere to be found.  The first rule of birdwatching is to watch the bird.

The end of the day.

Several steps in the process:

Planting a Post 

Felling a tree - a guided demonstration, not a tutorial

Attaching the posts using Wrap and Frap technique

Dropping Logs, locking up dogs

My middle school grade english teacher and football lineman coach said that in order to be a good blocker you had to keep your feet chopping.  That explosive force off the line he called TNT.  Today I heard John Marinacci's voice several times today while pushing over trees that were caught up in branches of other trees after being fell.

Youssef and I cut several more trees to build the frame of the "long term survival shelter" for lack of a better name currently.  It is progressing quite smoothly.  The addition of a two man cross cut saw made felling the larger trees quicker, but we were still heavily dependent on the axe for everything and hand saws for the smaller processing.  Quickly determining that I tied a support too high, we negotiated the only setback and were quickly moving towards completion.

When we came back to the house from the job site, Freddie was standing at the top of the hill watching the sunset over Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock.  I took some pictures, but they didn't do justice to the sight.  The sky was so clear that we could see the mountains behind Pilot Mountain and Hanging Rock.  In my recollection I have only seen it that clear twice since arriving on the land several years ago.  The red glow eclipsed by scatted puffy clouds made an excellent backdrop for a quick break.

Freddie helped make the final checks on the animals before bed.  Ash must have followed Freddie down, but when she noticed the leash in my hand she started walking up the hill.  After parking the car at the house, I started walking up the hill in search after the monster Pyrenees.  We played for a little bit then I put the leash on her and walked her back towards the goat pen.  It wasn't a few seconds before she was out again, so we patched the space between the bars of the gate with hardware cloth.  I think the score is me 0 : Ash 1321.  All I need is 1, and if she keeps immediately going for the exit she found previously, it will not be long until I get on the board.

Edit: 8:51pm Ash creeps past the kitchen window.

This post is dedicated to Sister Raymond Aloysius.

Time Well Spent

So have Scott and I made good use of our time the last few days? Sort of. He has been predisposed by Ashmonster, the unstoppable force, and his goat fence, the soon-to-be immovable object. She's proving to be pretty crafty in getting out of that fence, going over, under, and through any gap she thinks might be big enough. Scott is going to have the best fence in the land once this is over. She's won this round, as she has gotten out the past couple nights and while she comes around, she doesn't stay long when she knows Scott's about to put her in with the goats. Oddly, it's almost as if she knows.

As for our survival shelter, the project is progressing well. The weather and various jobs and tasks have left Scott busy, causing me to work on the house myself for most of the day, which limits speed and types of task completed. Twelve holes have been dug for our outer vertical supports, outlining the perimeter of the interior allowing me to get a very rough feel of the size. So far I'm pretty pleased and am looking forward to completion so I can begin the real portion of my stay.  Today the holes were evened out and widened, and a few more trees were sacrificed, measured, and inserted into the holes using gravel to support them and prevent dry rotting. I've also commenced the gathering of the debris. This will be most laborious, repetitive, and overall unpleasant part of construction, as well as the most high maintenance, as it will have to be kept up regularly to remain effective long term.

By the end of the day, this was the best picture I could manage from my old camera.

An earlier shot of Scott making a net from 550 paracord. It has since been completed.

We'll keep you updated on dog vs. fence '13, as well as our primitive survival shelter. With just four days until I leave for a holiday break, Scott and I will be very busy elves building a livable home over the next week. As much as I love it here, I can't wait to go home and see my family and close friends. 

Oh by the way, while I was feeding the animals a couple days ago, Scott was closing up holes in the electric fence Ashmonster may be escaping from. He inevitably was shocked and let out a scream. When he asked if I heard him, I told him he sounded just like a goat and I couldn't tell the difference. We shared a laugh, and I was glad to be on the outside of the fence.  (Scott's edit: like this but way less)

Undoubtedly,

Youssef

Terminal issues and making a longer term "survival" shelter

This morning I lucked out and happened to look out the window seconds after Ash had escaped.  Her strut exuded  satisfaction at her accomplishment of breaking out.  Her lips were arched in a smile.

After some late night planning, Youssef and I started early enthused to progress on the debris shelter designed for a longer term stay.  In route to the job site, we were distracted by the big red tractor.  Several days ago it did not want to start up when I tried to fire it.  We hooked it up to my truck for a jumpstart, nothing happened, no lights or anything.  We let it sit for a minute while I cleaned out the truck.  Still nothing.  Youssef, mechanic extraordinaire, saw that the battery terminals were corroded and might be the source of the problems.  The negative terminal's screw that clamps it together had been completely corroded through.

After replacing this bolt and brushing everything off, the tractor started right up happy as ever.

We headed back down the hill to resume putting in our upright supports for the shelter.  Youssef dug the footings.  We then filled them with gravel to keep the timber uprights off the ground and away from the sides of the holes, similar to concrete.  It is possible to do this with rocks collected from the river, if you don't have extra gravel available.

The first horizontal support hung on the timber uprights.

Youssef tests it for strength.

With the blessing of an aluminum ladder, the supports came together easily using 550 paracord and the wrap and frap technique of attaching logs.

A central triangular support adds extra strength.

End of today.  What you don't see is the harvesting of trees with an axe and small handsaw then toting them to the build site.

At some point Ash came sniffing down the trail.  I don't know if she knew we were down there or if she was just running a mock per usual.  She followed us to the top of the field.  When I got to the goat field it was apparent how she got out this morning.  She chewed through the rope that I had used to close the bottom portion of the gate to keep it from swinging.  I used a salvaged piece of chain from a former fence post hidden in the woods to patch her way out.  Tomorrow we shall see the result.

Edit 8:55pm Ash has escaped and is barking in the back field.

Where is the beef?

Youssef and I started early to pick up the half of cow I ordered last week some time from Truman Hill Farms in Franklin County, Virginia.  I stopped by a certain big box store (cough up some cash and I'll mention you by name) and picked up a cooler.  If I had known how big the 1/2 cow was going to be I would not have bothered.  When the young man at J&P Meat Processing in Wirtz, VA wheeled out the cart several shelves filled with all cuts of beef, I knew my cooler was undersized.  It ended up fitting 1/2 the ground beef.  Luckily they had some extra boxes.  The short time I was inside I was most impressed with the cleanliness of the facility, and the people that worked there seemed happy.

Youssef and I got back home and fed the animals and sat on the porch for a bit.  We put Ash in the goat field, and after the culmination of years of tweaking she seems to be staying inside.  Between the farm fence, electric top line, and some extra chain on the gate, tonight will be a good test.  If she is in there tomorrow morning, it will be a relief to me and a reward for the completion.

We eventually came back in and celebrated with two of the four filet minion cooked in pan with Richard's Seasoning created nearby in Reidsville, NC.  The grass fed beef was amazing.  It was the perfect portion, but the taste had me wanting more.  This is an unpaid endorsement.

Slowly but Surely

So the trees are cut, the holes have been dug, and Ashmonster learned while keeping me company. The post hole digger would only go down about 40 inches and still be effective, so I stopped there and went down to the creek to wait for Scott to fetch me. I can only assume he was perfecting rocket stove feeding or perhaps goat feeding. Either way, once he came down we took the remaining gravel from our rocket stove heater out of his truck and started filling the holes in. We hoisted the largest of our tree supports into the hole and began to fill it with gravel, using the tree's weight to shift and pack it down as we put it in. Pleased, we graveled up another hole and popped a tree in. We only had enough gravel to do half the support, so we called that project and went to investigate some aggressive dog barking a few hundred yards away. Nothing was up, so we burned the rocket stove for a bit, and called it a day.

 Ashmonster inspects while I take random photos

 Four holes, four trees, slowly but surely

The small creek down the hill, wonder if that'll be important

Yours,

Youssef

Tasking Multiply

The power was out and the icy rain continued from yesterday into today apparent this morning when I woke up.  The relatively local JC Penny's store is closing and they had some carts that would be really nice for the greenhouse.  After getting the tip from a friend, Youssef and I went to check it out.  All the carts were marked for sale but after talking to the manager he didn't want to deliver them until the store was closer to closing.  He was worried that they may need them especially as things need to be consulted.  I will have to check back later.

Upon returning Youssef and I split up.  He started digging holes for the central support posts of the debris palace while I fed the animals and continued to examine the rocket stove.  After dinner I returned to see it burning nicely, but it still takes a lot coaxing to keep it self feeding.

Deep Freeze

This morning I woke up to see a growing layer of moisture on the patio.  The forecast expects this icy rain mixture for the next two days, so it was not a surprise.  Shortly afterwards, the Lowe's truck delivered a freezer.  I am having a grass fed angus cow processed from a local farmer , and I need some extra storage for 1/2 of the cow.  Provided a proper power outage plan, a freezer can be a great way to save money by purchasing in bulk.

Youssef and I spent much of today organizing things into their proper piles to be taken to their respective locations and generally organizing the house.  The two largest piles are to go to the shop and the animal barn.  After several other indoor chores like changing lightbulbs and the air filter and after feeding the animals, Youssef and I got a good fire burning in the rocket stove.  We are starting to figure out how to light it efficiently after a complete failure the other day.

Four trees, three tools, two hours, one goal.

      So the frankenstove is nearly complete, and the green house is set to be mighty warm all winter burning nothing but wood. Today though, we began construction of a small house for me to sleep in for the remainder of my stay. The guest room is nice, but if I'm going to make the most of my time here I've got to take full advantage of the experience.  Luckily Scott is all but willing to help me do it. After a quick trip out to the post office, we came back, fed the animals, gathered tools, and headed to the sight to get started. After a blessing of the land we picked out some trees and started cutting.

Scott hammering away with an axe.

      The goal of this structure is to build it using exclusively natural materials, with a bit of help from 550 cord to tie it all together. We could make a natural rope, but if we're to get this done in a timely fashion, we must resort to what's easily available. After two hours and with only three tools, we had four fitting sixteen foot logs to serve as our primary supports for my debris house. More is to come as we progress through this project, I just hope it's as warm as Scott says it will be come January.

Hand axe, hand saw, and folding saw with our logs

All the best

- Youssef

Put a bolt in it - the Frakenstove is done

Today's job was to move the rocks into the frame for the rocket stove.  The thermal mass has been built and the heater is running very well.  The smoke back issue has been addressed, and I am throughly pleased with the result of the project.

The first lighting - still dialing in how much tinder in the feed chamber is necessary.  The video demonstrates too much tinder initially.

Chimney and one off custom support bracket.

Hot enough to change the color of the quarters.

Youssef approves.  Freddie thinks that it will take three days of burning for the rocks to heat up.  I think they will get hot in an afternoon.  We shall see.

Final Rocket Stove Walk Around

Frakenstove - Tangible Success

       While it's only been nine days, the construction of our rocket stove/mass heater has felt like an eternity. It's been fighting us every step of the way, and we've had to make major and minor adjustments throughout the process. For some reason it has been mentally exhausting more than anything, having one crucial part of the system continue to work poorly no matter how we (Scott mostly) manipulated it. Some nights I feel like if I wasn't there he would stay out there all night until he got it just right. Despite this, today was the first day we closed with a feeling of tangible success, and tomorrow should be even better. You're going to love our next project, Scott is actually more excited about it than I am, and I'm the one who gets to play with it. Until next time,

Youssef

Rocket Stove part N - coming down the home stretch

The past several days have been spent playing with the rocket stove.  Youssef is definitely tired of it.  I could play with it all day, but it is nice to finally have it dialed in and working correctly.

Today we started early after clearing some trees around the goat pasture that had the electric fence working improperly.  We dismantled the rocket stove and mortared in some gaps before putting the barrel back on.  Figuring out how to stack the wood in the feed chamber has been the hardest part.  The main tip is to keep the fire in the burn chamber.  Smoke back occurs when the coals make their way into the feed tube.  After some toying, the system is running efficiently.  It ran for several hours today almost unattended with very minimal smoke back.

The large wood seems to be less than optimal.  Smaller wood burns nicely and quickly brings water on top of the barrel to a boil.

Tea made using heat controlled by our rocket mass heater.

Youssef cut off the extra threaded rod that was providing support, and we began building the thermal mass with large rocks and small gravel.

The thermal mass is growing.

More gravel and large rocks tomorrow should bring the stove to completion.