Earthship Updates for August

We haven't made a huge change this month in progress. It's hot and has been a really rainy summer. But I have faith in God that we will be able to enclose this before winter to prevent any frost damage. I have to. We don't have anyone but us to build. But I know we can do it.

 Here you can see that he's filling in the backside some. We are adding some mud to the back in order to add the vapor barrier so we can backfill it. This will give us solid footing to continue to build upwards.

 
This was a little bit of a trial and error area. We wanted to make the area flat enough to add some insulation and then some of the backfilled dirt. However, we are going to just use vapor barrier here and insulate the inside a little more.

 Here's me. I lost 40 lbs and don't mind my hubby taking pictures of me now, LOL! See that little space above my shorts? Now I know why I burn there all the time!

 We are 6 rows high now. Not too too bad. We will be building to 10 rows for a 8'4" ceiling.

 So we continue on and on. More to come folks!

What Does It Mean to Be a Homesteader?

We have been contacted by a local magazine and will be interviewed this week about homesteading. I guess I never really thought of us as true homesteaders- but then again, I don't see how we couldn't be. It is a little strange to hear though. We started as suburban homesteaders just trying to learn how to do anything we could for ourselves just to save some money. It became a sort of addiction from there.

 It started with a few berry bushes, a few chickens, and a dream of being able to do everything ourselves. We wouldn't have to depend on anyone. We could grow our own food, make our own cleaners, soaps, and buy the very few things that wouldn't make sense for us to make/grow. We started on 2/10 of an acre. We transformed our lawn to edibles, planted some fruit trees, and looked for any ways we could do more. It hasn't stopped since.

Now we are upgrading to 10 acres. Not much, but definitely enough for us. We have 17 wooded acres about an hour south of here, so we can travel to the site for wood and for some berries and other foraged foods. It didn't make sense to build there because it is very secluded and the town we are renting in is where the kids and I have come to love. So the neighbor across the street offered to sell 10 acres of his land. He has become like a 2nd father to hubby and I, offering advise regardless of whether we really want it. But we love it. And I think I could pretty much set up shop anywhere. The people of this town make it our home though.

We have since learned allot more skills and made even more mistakes. As I contemplated what someone would think when they pulled up, I thought about cleaning up a bit because our yard is a bit messy. I think that's part of who we are now though. To me, being a homesteader is using what you have. Maybe that wood is used for one project this year and next year we may disassemble it and make something else. We save feed bags, pallets, and boxes "just in case." Never know when you're going to want to build something like a chicken tractor. We built one last year with a lot (and I mean A LOT) of flaws, but we have managed to fix and replace some of the parts that weren't designed well. But that's ok. Being a homesteader means making a lot of mistakes. And learning from them. And then making some more. We have become accustomed to them and know that we wouldn't get better unless we did.

Homesteading has become our new normal. I used to have a clean house and a manicured lawn. Now we are borderline hoarders and have a cluttered, kinda dirty house. I think "The Clampits" when I walk through our garage and back yard. I homeschool. I have 5 or more bushels of apples in my kitchen that need to be canned. I have fruit flies everywhere and they are making me crazy. I have canning jars all over the place. I know now that this is my home. When we move into our new home it will hold the same cluttery mess. I will have school books all over. Blankets thrown across the couch. A few dog hairballs floating across the floor. I can only do SO much while keeping a full time job. Id love to stay home with my husband and farm for the rest of our lives. It is very possible that that day may come too. I dream about selling my garden extras, eggs, soaps, lotions and whatever other crafts we may learn, and making just enough to quit my job or even just go part time. Even if that day never comes, I know that we are doing all we can for ourselves and will continue to learn new things on a daily basis.

What are some things you have learned for yourself? How do you homestead? I think homesteading can happen in a small apartment or a small urban homestead. There is a family in California that have 0.10 of an acre and make all their own food and even sell some to the local restaurants. How awesome is that!  If they can do it, so can we. So think about all the wonderful things you have learned to do for yourself and brag about it! Tell me 1, 2 or 10 skills you have learned and maybe we can trade some secrets! Thanks for reading and blessings to you all!

Building Our Earthship; July Updates

July has brought us less rain and more work, which is exactly what we needed. The earthship is coming along fairly well now, although we will be lucky to get this one room enclosed before winter. This is the kitchen; we started here because we feel like it is the most important room in the house. It is the epicenter of all that happens on our home. It is super important to get this right.

We were delayed with permits in June, but the department of transportation permit finally came. We are a few rows up in the tire pounding process and are close to starting the backfill process. There is a ditch dug around the back of the tire wall that will have drainage tile, gravel, and then a vapor barrier that will be back filled into the wall. The dirt will continue to be backfilled as the wall goes up. This will also help give us something to stand on when we are pounding tires.

We have found that at a brisk pace, with Dan pounding while I shovel the dirt, that we can fill a tire in about 20 minutes. One would think, therefore, that we could fill many in one day. Wrong!! It is so labor intensive that we can only fill 3-6 per day. We are also trying to keep up a large garden, as well as the house we are currently renting. There is always so much work to do that even when we are up early, we still end up finishing our day around 10 pm. This makes for a long day but no one has complained of insomnia lately.

As you can see from the above pictures, we have the rounded "U" taking shape. Where the tires stop closest to where I was taking the pictures will be a entryway into the living room. The two filled tires that stand alone will be built up into a small partial wall in the kitchen where we will put the wood cook stove. We had some issues while filling the 3rd row because the tires didn't seem to want to level correctly. Dan was becoming very frustrated and I don't know if he was over filling the tires and maybe that was causing the issues. He has been trying to find that balance as he continues that row. 

This is the view from above. The kids have been doing very well to help with all the various jobs that have to be done, but we have had some really warm days that has made the job a bit harder for them. This week has actually been very mild, with the highs being in the 60s and 70s. We are enjoying some rain, as well, as it gives us a break from the tire pounding. Pounding tires has got to be the hardest work I have ever done. Not that I'm old, or have ever had a job involving laborous work. But we are only able to do a few tires per day on most days. There was one day last week that we managed 8 tires in one day, which made us extremely tired and cranky the following day. We figured out that we need to pound 3 tires per day in order to be finished by frost. I'm hoping that when Dan figured that out that he included the time for roofing and enclosing in the room. 

I like this picture but I can't help but laugh at my shadow taking the picture. 

Quick update: 6 Days after the porcupine attack

So far so good- Nanook seems to be doing fine. We have pulled a couple more quills out of his face, but can't seem to find anymore. He doesn't show any signs of infection; these include restlessness, fever, drainage, lethargy and irritability. Also not eating or drinking would be the first sign of an issue. We are keeping our fingers crossed!!

HOW TO PULL PORCUPINE QUILLS OUT OF YOUR DOG

Our dog Nanook, is a 2 year-old Siberian husky that we adopted two years ago from the local shelter. We felt pretty happy that we were the special ones chosen for him, although we already had 2 dogs and a cat. Why did we need 3? Because he was so cute and I had a connection with him before I even met him.

                     

Well, the answer simply, is that I wanted him. I really really wanted him and thought he would be the perfect addition to a homestead in Northern Maine. And he definitely has been. Not without minor tribulations. First it was eating the furniture when we were out of the house. Then it was the running away, although he has always come back. Then we installed a higher fence and a dog run so he had 2 methods to keep him from running. NOPE!! Last year he encountered a skunk and our house, bedding, and well everything smelled like it for months even though we did the Dawn soap and hydrogen peroxide bath. It helped but he stank for a few months I would say.

He has always been a free-spirit. He reminds me of the classic book “Call of the Wild.” Every couple months, he hears that call of the wild and has to go. But when he comes back, he’s gotten into some sort of trouble. 

                     This time he encountered a porcupine and the experience was definitely not pleasant for both Nanook and our family. We had some minor sedatives that our vet had given us to use when our black lab gets super scared during thunderstorms. So we checked dosages (consulted the on call vet on the phone) and gave it to him. After about 45 minutes to 1 hr, it kicked in enough that I could pull most of the without him trying to eat me. I had my husband hold his head softly but firmly and I had my son hold his  back end. He kept trying to scoot out from under us when we wasn’t trying to eat our hands for being so mean and pulling out those quills! Poor baby

He had somewhere around the range of 703 ( I COUNTED) quills throughout his face and paws. I am still pulling them out here and there. The local emergency veterinarian would have taken him right away but wanted somewhere along the lines of $600 to $800; and the worst part was that they said they wouldn’t accept payment plans of any sort. So my faithful hubby and I made a plan.

We sedated him, by weight, using a medication we had for my other large dog that has problems with thunderstorms. Maybe you have Benadryl around? Consult your vet or a trustworthy vet site that might give you a dosage. That might help keep them drowsy enough to do some of the easier quills. The medication is the key; otherwise, he will fight you and fight you until more quills are broken off inside. Apparently they have the ability to migrate because they continue to do their jobs once inserted in the flesh. Some say that if there are any near the top of the head or the chest area that they could migrate to the brain and heart. Im not sure the validity of this but that is what I was told by several people and some websites, so I have gone into worry mode.

I used a good pair of hemostats or suture clips to pull them out. You grab nearest to the base and pull. Sometimes really hard and really fast. Make sure that if any are in his eye balls or any other area of sensitivity, call the veterinarian and see if they can guide you or at least if you bring him in you will have finished everything else.

Try not to let them break because you don’t know if they’ll migrate or become infected. Some will come out very easily and some will be very difficult. There are little barbs on the end of the quills that will try to stay in his skin. My sister-in-law said to pour vinegar all over the areas, but we had already pulled out several so the vinegar on those areas was too painful to use anymore. Maybe those quils came out easier? Not really sure.

I pulled each one by one. I placed Nanook on an elevated clean table so that my back wouldn't hurt quite so bad doing this. It took about 6 hours to get them all- or what seemed like all. I picked 7 more out tonight and Im sure there will many more.

 I poured peroxide all over his nose and face and paws and let him go to sleep. The next day, we took him into the shower to get him super clean (infection!!) and poured more all over him. He dried off and looks like the same little guy. We are giving him Benadryl every 12 hours (1mg/lb dosing). That will help with the swelling and any possible itching/allergy/ issue with the sites. He is taking an antibiotic every day for one week.          

Day 2 Complete- Why Have We Gotten So Behind?

We completed day 2 of construction today. That's right. Day. Number. TWO. Between the garden, the permits, the family, and most of all, rain, we are so behind. Like 2 months behind.

We started pounded tires 2 days ago despite some mushy spots on the site from all the rain. Don't get me wrong, I'm so very thankful we are not in drought conditions. But, give me a break! We apparently moved to a rainforest in Maine. The kids have done nothing but pray for rain because then they can hang around the house, even if it means chores. We've had some ups and downs with their attitudes toward building and working. We just hope that when they grow up they will only have good memories. this is definitely hard work.

The project is starting quite slowly as we are still figuring this out. Each tire must be individually leveled and then filled with about 3 wheel-barrow full of dirt. Then we level the next tire. Those tires are leveled to each other. We just keep going from there. There are several issues that we haven't quite figured out. The next row of tires up has to be leveled as well. However, when we added a tire just to see how level it would start out, it wasn't level at all. I'm not sure if when we add the dirt if it will start leveling itself out.

This is definitely not the type of house building for everyone. It is extremely labor intensive. It's a little bit too much for me- I'm a fairly small woman. Hubby has to complete my tires once I start pounding because I can't get them packed as well as he can. This makes it very limiting for him because we don't have any help building just yet. Maybe there will be some college kids that will want to come help and learn how to do this. Or maybe I can pull a rabbit out of my hat and win the lottery. A girl can dream right?

Doesn't look like much yet. I am hoping we can have one room done by winter. This house may go from comfortably big to a tiny home real quick!!

Beginning the Journey

So... WE GOT APPROVED! If we can do this, we will be the first people in Maine to build an Earthship style home. That's a big deal. We are very excited. I am also pretty scared. I try to keep the grin going but frankly, I am freaking out. There are so many wonderful positive people out there that are giving us the high-fives. I also see the people who think we have absolutely lost our minds. I even had one person on my Facebook status comment "oh my."

Yes, I know what that means. I am not sure if that makes me more determined or if it makes me want to run screaming in the other direction. What if we fail? What if we get in over our heads?

Somehow, I think its too late to worry about it so I might as well put my big girl panties on and get on with the show. We picked up our first hundred tires yesterday. Is that why my back hurts this bad today?? Probably.

The kids have been working pretty hard. They are almost finished with this first year of homeschooling and I am getting ready to put together their portfolios. Once they are finished we will be set into high gear. We will be building a new area for the pigs, including a new home for them. We kept them last year on our previous property, but since we will be building all summer and fall, I expect to be on the land from sun-up to sundown.

We are hoping to get 3 to 4 rooms enclosed this year. Those are very high hopes for a small family of 5; 3 of those being kids. Sure, we have some friends and probably could grab a few college kids to volunteer to get a little experience. But I can't depend on them because they have lives too.

Have you ever built a home without the help of contractors and builders? If so, go on over to our Facebook page and give us a shout. I know that people HAVE built homes on their own. It used to be the only way it was done. Why am I so intimidated then?