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There is damn little to update. We didn't do much at all this year. And all of that has to do with money. We got the backhoe, so there's that. Actually, that was a pre' big deal. And now the road is fixed, so we can get the backhoe out to the property.

With the backhoe, we can dig a significant hole to start the shallow well. And with next year's taxes, we'll be able to put up the pole barn. Then we'll be done, money-wise. I'm saving up to take a two-week period off, to camp in the early autumn. We'll use that time to build the hugelkulture and lasagna beds, if we haven't got to them yet. And start on the Hobbit House.

This spring, I'll be buying our first apple trees, as well as the Italian plums and paw-paws. We'll nursery them at Geriann's place. I'm going to start with eight trees: Macintosh, Honeycrisp, Daybreak Fuji, William's Pride, Calville Blanc d Hiver, Brown Crofton, Liberty, and Stayman winesap. This week I'm ordering the Williams Pride; no real reason, just what picked.

While they're in nursery, I'll chart when they bloom. I really should get two of each, to better hedge against some of them not making it. When I bought the sugar maples, white oaks, and hazelnuts, about 1/4 of them didn't make it. And we'll see how those do after this winter.
ljgeoff: (Default)
Next spring, we're going to put two garden beds in at Riverwood - a "lasagna" layer raised bed, and a hugelkulture bed. Each bed will be 8-10 feet long (3 meters or so) and we'll plant a couple of fruit trees nearby, too.

I want to see how the beds perform, and how we like them. We'll construct the beds next spring, and let them age a year before planting. We'll put them near the site where we're going to put up the pole barn, deep well, and the bath house. This is also the area that I call The Campground, and where I'd like to put in my Hobbit House. It's what Mike calls The Staging Ground.

Hügelkultur bed: Topped with low bush blueberries, and then later with with sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, onions, and squash. Because the blueberries need an acidic soil, and all of these veggies/roots are good with acidic soil, some more than others. We'll see how they do.

Lasagna layer bed: rhubarb on each end, and the middle interplanted with strawberry and asparagus.

We want the lasagna bed to have an Italian plum on each end, lending some dappled shade to the rhubarb. And we're going to put in two pawpaws west of the hugelkulture.

notes from the internet:

Plant tomatoes alongside basil and marigolds. Basil repels pests like whiteflies and hornworms, and marigolds attract beneficial insects like ladybugs that eat hornworms.

Plant cucumbers with radishes and beans to deter cucumber beetles. Nasturtiums can also be used as a trap crop to lure pests away from your cucumbers.

Plant onions with carrots, rosemary, and other beneficial plants, but keep them away from beans. Audrey had great results with the carrot cultivar New Kuroda.



To grow pawpaw, you need two different cultivars for cross pollination. I'm looking at:
Read more... )

Bathhouse

Apr. 29th, 2025 12:32 pm
ljgeoff: (Default)
1000004941.jpg

The bathhouse will be situated with the slanted roof facing south, for sun exposure on the passive solar water heating system.

This is pre' close to what I want. I like the deck base for easy access to the plumbing. It'll sit on a bed of crushed rock, and on cement pillars. I want to wrap the showers and toilets in an outer wall, but I like keeping the sink outside. And add a workbench to the sink area.

Edit: I'm getting together the plan for this.

Mike firmly doesn't want to put in a large septic system for this project. He is ok with an outhouse, but I'd like to upgrade the outhouse with a 55-gallon septic tank system with a black water and grey water drainage field. Both the black water and grey water septics can use this system, each on its own separate system.

The bathhouse needs to be located on a slight rise. A sand-point can be driven in the opposite side the the sewer pipes leave the building. Holy wah, a good hand pump costs over $1k. I think we'll settle for a cheaper cast iron one for now.

Here's a a video that shows how to pound in a sand point well, including a parts list.

The well needs to be at least 50 feet from the septic tank, so we'll need extra sewer line for that.

This is an instructable for constructing a roof top solar hot water system out of ABS pipe.

The deck for this building would be 8'x 12'; two toilets, one shower, one stainless steel sink. The deck would need to sit on piers, according to this plan, 15 piers.

this is How to Construct a Small Septic System (wiki)

parts/supplies:
two 55 gallon plastic drums
two 4" toilet flanges
ABS pipe - straight
three ABS pipe - 90 degree pieces
ABS Y-bend
leach pipe
pipe glue

My belly laugh for the day:

Question: How much water do you fill it (the first tank) with?
Community Answer: The key word is "fill." Continue to place water into the drum until the level no longer increases.

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