A year later

The first picture was taken just before easter weekend last year, Since then some landscaping and rock work has been done, a garden put in, and a garden expanded!

Making a shack a home

Making the loft into a bedroom, Fall 2012

What is a power ONAGE?

When it comes out in conversation that we are a bunch of kids living in the woods with no electricity, you can't help but feel people are judging you. Then storm season rolls around and everyone is dreary eyed, hungry, and stressed out, hell we didn't even know the power went out!

Although I love the warm glow of candle light, and although my LED latern has never let me down, I can't deny, as it starts to get dark around 5, A little electricity would be nice. I have been toying with a couple ideas, solar panels, waterwheel, 12 volt house, 24 volt converted to 110 house, what do I do? This weekend I hit the car battery jackpot!

A couple weeks ago I was working at the bike shop when I was asked if I wanted to be part of "energy action day" a day of presentations and workshops at the school with topics ranging from insulating your home, to selling electricity back to the grid. My job was to offer free bike tune ups to promote people to cycle more, needless to say, on a cold, windy, rainy day, I didn't do many tune-ups. What I did end up doing, was spending six hours conversing with the group on pender informally known as "the off grid eco hippies" say what you will about them, They sure had a lot of good information for me.

Not only did I receive two offers of help to build an effective water wheel, I was given a great deal on a big solar panel, and someone offered to come wire my house so I don't do something stupid (oh I also got a part time leather working apprenticeship out of the deal). Digging out a couple of old deep cycle boat batteries I got from the free store, I am not starting the plans to wire up my house.

Being a tiny space I only need four or five things, Lights, for reading, cooking, and doing dishes, A power plug for my computer, and maybe if I am feeling extra deserving, I'll get a car stereo installed and blast the shit out of my favorite punk songs.

Short Days, Long Nights

This post is dedicated to my Grandma, the biggest fan of this blog.

Fall is upon us, no more Teva Sandals, No more sleeping in, and no more saying "it's ok I can do it tomorrow". Every day I don't accomplish something is another day my cabin is cold, wet, breezy etc.

The biggest dilema I face every fall is whether or not to work, and how much I want to do it. It's hard to get things done without money, but it's even harder to get things done when your at work until it gets dark. After a few 6 day work weeks, things are leveling off and I have found the perfect medium that is part time work. I have time and motivation to get things done, and I can even afford them. I found a job at a tool rental shop, allowing me a free rental or two when I need one, and oh do I tell you, a battery powered skill saw is so much more fun than hand sawing everything. The house is now entirely sided, boards and battons. The only place with no siding is a small gap where the roof of the extension will attach. Mid summer we got given a propane stove, with four burners and an oven, which was a huge step up over the one burner we have had for the last year or so. a couple of fitting were broken on it, but a local friend of ours happened to be able to fix it. Bring on the cakes!

In other news I put up gutters I got from the free store, combined with some down-pipe and rain barrels, We have a decent water supply. Now I just need to hook it up to the sink inside.
Two days ago I insulated the rest of my loft, and when I woke up I didn't feel like I was sleeping outside in november!

Summer Recap

The last few days I have been working on a printable "Zine" version of this blog, this post being the last in it. I guess that officially means we are moving into the next phase of the property. Winterizing.
Between shifting the focus to winter, and reading all the goals we had for this summer, has made me realize all the things we accomplished, and all the ways we came up short.

My cabin is in somewhat better shape than it was in june. The loft is twice the size, turning a sleeping pad, into a mini living room. though most of it still needs siding and insulation, I finished a space large enough to build myself a desk, thus my cabin finally has a place for me to sit down and work on shit. A winter necessity.

The kitchen is showing a lot of promise, though not completed yet. The propane stove I got for free off of the community board broke, and potentially almost exploded my house. I got a new one, and built it into the counter, however it has a broken pipe and is not safe to use yet. as soon as I get 50 bucks to spare our local propane tech is going to fix it, and we will be baking cakes like a reality tv show. We had a rainwater system hooked up to the sink, but the filtration wasn't the best, and it kept clogging the pipes (which were half made of bicycle tubes) luckily we dug a 6 foot deep mini well, which has provided us with enough water to water the gardens, aswell as wash dishes. As for drinking water we are still sneaking into campsites and behind buildings to fill up where we can.

As for electicity being hooked up, the siding being finished, or any of those other things I said i would have done in july...... I'm still working on it. I blame a fractured ankle, and way to many awesome travelers coming to stay with us. Plus working three days a week took up some time.

Around the property is where you can see the most improvements. Where in february there were piles of rocky, clay filled dirt, there are three and a half gardens. Soon to be merged into one very large garden. The motorhome we got donated last year is now in its permanent location with a deck built off of it. The newest addition to the yard is a trail we started that circumnavigates the property. Its going to act as a jogging trail, mountain bike trail, and when it gets a little more advanced, we will turn it into a network of trails on which we will host games of capture the flag, with bow and arrows.

The garden taught us lots this year. Our apple tree died from the onslaught of tent caterpillars in early summer, the plum tree was near producing fruit mid august, until deer bent the fence, and ate half the tree. They will pay.......  My dad always says deer wait until the day your ready to harvest before they break in and eat everything, and that has proved true more than once this summer. We have only suffered minimal casualties, but deer fence reinforcement is necessary for next year. Most of our leafy greens came in with complete success, we have had tons of kale, lettuce, peas, and all  the easy things to grow. Whereas our root vegetables arent doing so well, mostly because we didn't thin them out enough. Our squashes seem to form, then die, buut that might be due to over-watering. we will find out soon. Also the tomato greenhouse I made might have been too hot, as those plants never grew, and turned a little purple, whereas the tomatoes in the ground turned into crazy jungle tomatoes.

Booya

Got a trampoline from the free store.
Shit yeah!
Goodbye productivity, hello back injuries!

Give and you shall recieve!

One of my favorite parts of summer is  having guests over all the time. Between all the friends we know from traveling cross country multiple times, aswell as the guests we get from Couchsurfing, we are always in good company.


In June we had guests from Ireland, one of which had gone to school for furniture building. Not only did we have an awesome time all weekend, but he built us a new chair our of tree branches and rope!

If you have not seen the couchsurfing website, Make sure to check it out!

July Pictures

Due to a pole dancing injury in June, I have been rather inactive both on the property, and on the blog. Though we have managed to start on the second garden, do another rock wall, move a trailer, and build a deck. Here some picture updates.

View from Cabin July 12th

Start of new garden

Gate to Main Garden.

Maps and Herbs

Aerial View

Deer proof herb garden plans

Herb Garden

Tent catipillars

In recent news, all of our island is at war against an invading army of tent catipillars. You cannot sit for thirty seconds before finding six or so on your person, and the trunks of trees are highways with literally thousands of fuzzy vehicles stuck in rush hour traffic.

 Though not a typical garden pest, the catipillars have eaten 90% of the decidious trees on island, and have now resorted to our strawberries, cabbage, and a few other unfortunate veggies. Despite countless capture-and-smash-with-rock missions, the catipillars still managed to strip our infant apple tree of everything but it's bark. The plum tree has lost about half it's leaves, but still lives, and the tiny plums on it are still growing. Rumour has it, the catipillars are only going to be around for another 2 weeks, hopefully we can pull through

Moving In

Last month marked one year of living on Island, and I realized, its time to get back in the cabin. Earlier this month I extended the loft, and suddenly it feels like a whole other room, and I moved a big window (which is actually a skylight, used sideways as a window, and horribly unwaterproof) from one side of the loft to the other, which now instead of facing nothing, faces the garden, and the sunlight. Suddenly the loft is the nicest room to be in in the house. Followed closely by the only other room, the everythingelsebutbarleyanything room.

Starting to put beams across for the loft extension

So anyways, June 1st is the date to move back  into the cabin. The insulation and siding should all be done, The kitchen is almost set up, and by July I hope to have the Car battery electrical system in. Many Pictures will follow.

Clay is BAD soil?

There are three types of ground on our properties, the first is swamp. lots of swamp.
The second, is endless mounds of blackberries, which I do consider ground because there
is seemingly no bottom to it, and if there is a bottom to it, it is probably a rusty car,
and the third.... Clay

Pallet Greenhouse. Tomoato Paradise!

Kristi and I tried a garden  last year, but we were out east for the month of may, which
is pretty crucial gardening time. This year we got started in mid April; Germinating seeds,
buying bags of soil when we had spare change, and tilling up the garden area Thom and I levelled
 out last fall. We started with a few raised beds, lots of pots, and a mini greenhouse I built
from a pallet. at the beginning of may, we got some deer fencing from the free store and made a
200 sq foot garden. We got a truckload of topsoil from Victoria, and combined with peat moss and
mushroom manure, we have something that resembles a garden!

Fencing in the garden

Rock Walls and fire Pits

View from Cabin, March 15th

A fews weeks ago, Kristi and I cleared out the bushes you see to the left of the white car. You can notice through the bushes on the left, a glimpse of a black honda civic, and a red pickup truck.

Clearing Bush and Leveling Ground

Derek joined me for the easter weekend, and we cleared area for a new garden, ditched a bit, built a rock wall, added some stairs, and moved the fire pit to its permanent location. Hell yeah!

Added rock walls, a flowerbox, and a new firepit
 

Same view as first picture. 

Cabin Plans

When I first laid out a design for the cabin, I didn't think I would ever want to permanently live there. It was designed as an eight foot, by twelve foot cabin. Between the main floor, deck and a loft, I thought the cabin would be enough room for me to be comfortable.

Sink, Bench, Desk

    The original plans consisted of the main floor being a kitchen sink, a bench, desk, and a bar for a dining room. The first problem to arise with the cabin was that there was really nowhere to sit inside. The one bench was fine, but if anyone wanted to hang out on a rainy day, we would find ourselves sitting beside each other facing the rest of the cabin. It felt like awkward conversations made at a bus stop. Another problem was that there was no place to cook inside, I had a countertop propane stove but to bring it inside would clutter up the desk. We did all our cooking in Thom's trailer,  but that left him with little privacy, and lots of mess. It was clear that moving forward we need to cook in our own spaces, or build another place entirely for cooking. The biggest problem moving into winter, was that there was nowhere to put a woodstove. I would have to sacrifice the bar, or desk, and I was already too cramped.

    The simple answer to the problem. Double the size of the cabin!

Kitchen Plans

    The current cabin will essentially become a full functioning kitchen. The bench will be turned into a counter for the stove, and the desk will become a counter and shelves for food. The bar, which never got built, will still be built, but I am going to put in new windows, which will open to a new (covered) deck, the bar will be mirrored on the outside, and will prove a place for a few people to eat together.




    The current deck is accessed by a large wall, that folds out and becomes a roof for the deck. Its basically a deathtrap, but it looks kinda cool. Anyways, the lift up wall will be removed, and provide an opening into the extension, built onto the existing deck. The extension will function as a living room, maybe a small futon, for guests, and a circular nook. Because nooks kick ass. There will also be space for the woodstove, which I acquired from some dude driving by yelling "hey do you need a woodstove?" The living room will have sliding glass doors onto the future deck, which will have one of those awesome wavy almost clear plastic roofs, and trellis walls covered in grapes. plus a little bridge into the garden.

Original design

New plans

Loft addition

     The loft as it stands covers half the cabin, when designing it, I figured leaving it half open, would give me the illusion of a bigger space. Now I realize it just makes less space, and I want a bigger bedroom. The loft will continue across the house, and will provide room for a desk upstairs (is upladder a term too?) With bedroom and kitchen covered, I just need a living room.










    Now it's just a matter of finding the materials, and being really, really sneaky.