It’s a funny thing, writing these posts about our build. Next to my word processor I have a list in my sticky notes that reflects my daily jottings of the progress we made. On it, I can see Day 5,6,7, etc. All the way up to Day 87 (as of today). Yet, when writing about what we accomplished, I can honestly relive it. And it seems like just yesterday that we were putting down the subfloor in the loft. (more…)
Last weekend we performed my father’s ash ceremonies. It was a weekend that I had been dreading ever since his passing. I had picked out a simple urn for my father’s remains. It was made out of reclaimed wood, and it’s been sitting on our bookshelf since his funeral service. When it came to actually spreading the ashes, I had two ideological oppositions to it that I struggled with, and it was difficult for me to overcome. I doubt that anyone going through this same situation will stumble upon this page, but in the unlikely event that occurs, I hope that this post will explain how I was able to rise to this occasion, and my thought process thereof.
First of all, I have to clarify – Bre and I are vegetarians, so even though she saved the day I had to make the post title a meatless vegetarian option. Clear? Sunday was the nicest day we’ve had in quite some time. In fact, temperatures reached above 50 degrees which is rare for our area this time of year. We both had the day off, so we thought we’d take the puppies out to the land for a nice hike to investigate the current status of the snowpack on our building site. We had been out to the land just a few days prior and were able to drive all the way back to our building site, so we figured that since some of the snow had undoubtedly melted given the temperatures we would have no issues driving back now. We were wrong. Very wrong.
14×36 Timber Frame Greenhouse
A huge priority for us regarding the homestead is beginning crops as soon as possible so that we can start to sustain our family. Living in northern Minnesota has its drawbacks – mainly the shortened growing season. We’ve always wanted a greenhouse to prolong our growing season and perhaps allow us the opportunity to grow some crops that we otherwise wouldn’t be able to. This greenhouse I designed as a step up from the firewood shed. It measures 14×36 on a slab. We figured that we would have some raised beds inside and the slab would help to radiate the sun’s heat to maintain the temperature. The rafters are spaced 2′ on center as it is sometimes easy to find cheap glass in that width. However, the rafters can be spaced to pretty much whatever dimensions you require. The posts and beams are a bit overkill to compensate for the lack of structural roof support. Because of the larger timbers, this project is a step up from the firewood shed. If you’re looking to build a greenhouse, I hope you’ll consider supporting us by purchasing these plans. Plans come with elevation drawings and a materials list.
*Update: I have decided to discontinue sales of our plans. I hope to relist them in the future when the time is appropriate.
6×16 Timber Frame Firewood shed
I designed this shed as an easy introduction to working on timber frame structures. The municipality that I live in allows structures up to 100 square feet without a building permit. This shed measures 6’3.5″x16′ and is meant for storing firewood. The skids on the bottom are due to the fact that once built, I will have to move it in the future. It is constructed with mortise and tenon joinery. Due to the small spans, smaller lumber is used than a normal timber frame. With that in mind, it is an excellent chance to learn valuable timber framing skills.
*Update: I have decided to discontinue sales of our plans. I hope to relist them in the future when the time is appropriate.
It has been quite some time since my last post, and this one won’t be easy. I had been sick for a couple of weeks before the holidays, so that was my excuse for not writing. Things changed pretty rapidly after that, however, when my father passed away unexpectedly the day after Christmas. I have never experienced a loss like this, and it’s hard to imagine that I will ever again. My father was the most important and influential man in my life, and we were very close. I have taken a month off from work to cope, and I quit my extra jobs. In my grief I have been unable to do much for the last month, and working certainly was not high on my priorities.
I started this blog because I wanted to document our journey and experiences with creating and maintaining our homestead. I wanted to be a source of information for other like-minded people who were interested in similar things. I also wanted it to tell a story to our future children. When I was deciding whether or not I would in fact create this blog, the one deciding thought that I had was the thought of our children reading back on the stories that we encountered. I thought that would give some credence to the work and toil that we are about to undertake so that they can understand everything that we’ve gone through- and maybe learn something along the way. (more…)