Planning, planting, playing

What an enlightening holiday period.                                                                    Jan 8, 2013

I got to travel back to Kansas and observe the climate and it changes out there. The weather was warm, warmer than it normally is. No real liquid of any form, well a bit of snow but gone by noon. The rest of the time was quite warm-up into the 50’s by the time I left this week.

We had an off grid weekend and it was fun and found on the website. Jane is really a good recorder of events and of all things going on. She happens to write pretty good too! Hahaha

I was glad to get back to the farm here in Michigan. I brought a hoop back from Kansas. It’s 35 feet long and I have another hoop so I can stretch it to 40. I am going to run this one East and West, behind the existing one. I am going to find an old furnace-hot air, and put it at the far end of the long house. On the short leg of the ‘L’ (the 40 footer) which will be about 20 feet from the end of the long leg (the 85 footer) I will put a duct under the ground, insulate it and bring it into the short house. I am thinking that I will duct the heat into the short house directly into the ground. This will go down the center of the house with 10 feet to either side. I am putting in 3 beds and two walkways. The center bed would be well heated and maybe 3 foot or so of each side bed.

Speaking of heated-the outside temp today is 34 degrees here on the farm. It is up to 73 in the HH now and the sky is only filtered sun. I am going to like this winter farming!!! I am working on a repeater for the WiFi in the house and it will reach into the barn/shed and into half of the HH. I will then get to write this from the warmth and sunlight of the outside!

My seed supplier has sent back thousands and thousands of seeds in many different varieties. I am going to be busy planning this week and then start planting next week.

I have come back to another boatload of work. I am going to find an off farm job the end of this week.

Monsanto just said their profits grew X3 over last year!!! BASTARDS!!!

Oops, just got lost there a bit—

I have some catching up to do on taking Wilma to appointments. She has new glasses to go with her new lens.

We are planning for a small addition for her. Was going to put on the NW corner of the house however the new placement is on the front SE corner. We could share a porch and also cover the current front door with the new roof. A small deck on the back that will connect to the existing one will further incorporate the new section into the old.

I am thinking that Wilma will be able to build a lot of the new addition as the planning I am doing is all going into that intention. She is 81 now and will be maybe 83 by the time we close it in. She will be fine!

I am putting a root cellar under the new addition and looking for other energy efficient items to include. I think I am going to put under floor heat in the whole place and birch wood on all the floors. We’ll buy the cabinets, go for the most efficiency and see what happens to this new part. I might be able to get some solar panels on the roof.  Maybe a skylight or two into the existing structure to enhance the natural light in both places.

I would appreciate any ideas that you might have that I can incorporate into the planning of this new addition. Materials, insulation, windows, floors, finishes for walls and windows, and anything else you might offer. I will be glad to discuss on any public forum or in a private setting. Let me know your thoughts.

Be well; peace…dan

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