Hey all, this is a nice informative post by Harry/Dave. When it comes to engineering and how things work, I have the attention span of a chicken. Dave understands this (loves me anyway) and puts together these informative posts so that I understand better!! – Lisa
The latest addition to our off-grid cabin. I’m SUPER happy that we finally have a decent water filter for the camp. This item has been on the “wish” list for a long time but for some very strange reason we just never followed through until now. In all likelihood it’s the upfront cost that makes it such a shocker, however [...]
Water filtration System
The UPS Dude Brought the Sun!
Harry and I are sometimes like little children. We think that when the UPS guy comes to the house, its full of Presents. We never really take into consideration that we have PURCHASED these items, we only get excited about their delivery to our doorstep! So yesterday the UPS guy brought us another goody! He actually brought it right into our garage without our knowing but thats not the point of my story. This time he brought us a SUN OVEN!!!
We knew the solar oven was coming because we bought it, but we were very excited about it being here regardless. While I was at work today, Harry [...]
I Axed Dave to Post ;)
I have been bugging Dave (the husband, aka Harry) to help come up with some ideas for this blog. Finally he has provided me a MARVELOUS piece! He has also promised me that he will be contributing to the blog in the future!!! So look for his posts!! Thanks!
It’s not very often that I post, however once in a while I get the bug when something grabs my attention or if its possibly something that others may be interested in. Several weeks ago my Wife got two amazing documentaries… One I recall seeing MANY years ago but the overall concept had not stuck… this time however [...]
Sasquatch
I realize it seems that we are constantly floundering and failing at what we are attempting right now. Its okay though, we would rather fail right now than when it counts and so this is our whole point. We are trying to learn stuff that we dont know. We are struggling to become more self sufficient and less reliant on other people for our own survival. We are trying to shrink our footprint on the planet and do things the “right way”. There is alot of good that comes out of this, and it is alot of fun too. There are also parts of it that are not fun. Growing [...]
Of Lessons Learned
I am going to tell you a story. Currently this story has no end, because its an ongoing story but I will be sure to fill you in as things move along.
I will begin my story with explaining that I am learning alot about myself in the process of becoming more “self sufficient”. One of the things I have learned is that I am pretty strong, but I am extremely stubborn. I do not necessarily jump into things but I engross myself completely in the research and when I think I “got it” then I go for it. Last weekend is an example of that.
Since beginning the chicken thing, I [...]
I live under a big black cloud
As I scroll through all of my favorite blogs, I cannot help but wonder what are we doing wrong? Everyone seems to have this fabulous garden except for us! I keep looking and then I run to find out WHERE they live, Oh it must be Alabama or Texas or somewhere that they have warm all year. I am unfortunately finding that many of the blogs I follow are in such places as Maine, New York and even Scandinavia… sigh… so much for that excuse!
We are still making our first attempt at gardening. We have out in the garden, tomato plants, bean plants, lettuce, carrots, radishes, green peppers, hot [...]
Is that a dishrag in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?
Today was a perfect day here at Shmoopywood South. After 4 days straight of cold and rain, we were all very thankful to see the sunshine that’s for sure! This morning we were greeted at zero dark thirty by a very enthusiastic Django. He had to go potty. Django has a digestive issue, he will wait like 3 days before he will go potty and then every now and then he has his emergency potty runs. If we are lucky its in teh day time and not at 3am. Poor guy! Then I got up and slid my ladybug slippery rain shoes on and off I went to do my [...]
Chickentopia and other things
Things are happening in the garden! Personally, I feel this is a huge accomplishment for me. I have never been able to grow anything. We have some starters that have met their demise due to cats or other horrible reasons (such as the great dane sweeping them right off the counter top with his tail after being excited). I am happy to say that alot of the things that we have planted are actually growing!Here is some update:
This is my very first strawberry plant ever. We now have 3 pots full of them. I decided to hang them because they are easier for us to keep safe from birds [...]
Phase II – The Great Bread Experiment
Morning
I know that this blog is primarily about building S-wood and the steps we are taking to make it off-grid and green. Part of us becoming more self-sustained is the raising of chickens and learning to do things that we would not normally do. Dave and I are very eager and excited to get back to building at S-wood but the word is the snow is 6 feet deep on the driveway. Despite the 50 degree weather yesterday, it will take a while before we can get up there and begin again. In the mean time, we need to keep ourselves busy. i have been learning to jog, and Dave… [...]
Coopy-wood
Come on, that’s funny! I can’t take the credit for the title but I still chuckle over it every time I think about it. Ah yes, the point of my story. When I posted earlier I was fretting over the possibility of the new chicken coop being 800s.f. I am here to tell you however, that this is not going to be an issue. Dave and I were discussing today all the necessities of the coop, electricity for light and possible heat, perches, nesting boxes, etc. You name it and we were talking about it. I think all this enthusiasm over raising animals stems partly from learning to take care [...]