Barn Roof v2

No work done on Wed but today the "front" of the barn roof was finished.  Crew starts the opposite side tomorrow.

Thurs, Jun 6th

Getting a new barn roof

Bill has done a lot of work on the old barn.  The garlic harvest is going in the barn this year (not the shop unlike the previous year since we doubled the planting quantity) so we are under pressure to get the foundation repaired, the building jacked up, a new roof and repairs to the barn board siding.

This week brings the new roof.

Sun, June 2nd

 

Monday, June 3rd

 

Tuesday, June 4th (roofers got rained out at midday)



2013 Garlic Crop is in

My garlic popping station

During my week of vacation from my day off-farm job, we planted next year's garlic crop.  We doubled the amount that we planted last year:  ~4800 to ~10,000.  That is 22 100 ft beds; each bed has 3 rows.  It's a lot of garlic!  And of course it rained almost all week but we planted anyway - thankful for rain gear! 

a bit hard to see, but the wooden stakes are the variety markers

The new addition to the house is moving along.

And the barn cats are doing nicely.  They are great companions while working.

Oscar on top of the straw bales

Progress

Still a work in progress but the shop (almost) has full sides and a full roof!

The windows are from Rebuilding Exchange in Chicago and the doors are repurposed from the farmhouse.

This is the view from the back. The large white covering on the right will eventually be a garage door (it's a tarp for the moment).

Progress on the farmhouse too. Both upstairs and downstairs are almost fully demo'd. We also have a building permit and Bill has done a first pass on the plans on CADD and we are in conversations with a passive house engineer and architect.

Oh, and the week of 3/12? We will become WI residents....!

Buttresses II

These were the concrete buttresses at the beginning of the day on the Sunday of Memorial Day.

Bill and I got down into the holes and pulled the nails from the top level of the forms and manually removed the braces and the top level. We tried to pull the bottom level out with the truck on a come-along but our 2000 lbs come along broke. So we went with the tractor - as was the initial plan along - we just tried to cheat by using the truck. This spring we bought a set of hayforks; what a useful tool. In this photo, you see the hayforks along side the concrete. Using a massive, heavy-duty logging/towing chain, we attach the fork to the lower form. Work it loose slowly and then heave it out.

The holes were dug narrowly because we need to minimalize soil displacement as much as possible to not diminsh the structural integrity of the current walls. Frankly, we are worried that removing more soil than this could result in further structural loss of the walls.

Top level is gone - Bill is attaching the logging chain

This photo shows how embedded this form is

Sparky pulls out the form in no time flat

(Yes, our tractor's name is Sparky)

No more forms -

of the 12 lower ones; we only have 1 that requires significant repair;

they all came out clean and ready for re-use

Me - at the end of the day. Having the time of my life.

Concrete is coming...

A neighbor at our church/house has access to a small backhoe so we've hired him to do the excavation for the new buttress supports for the barn. Bill will then build the forms. Concrete truck comes on Saturday!

At the end of 3 days of great work

There is this kinda crazy stone horse that came with the house. It is so heavy. At first we thought it was corny, but it has grown on us. :) We moved it to guard the wellhead - that is what is under the black barrel. Since we are going to have excavators, etc doing work, we thought this was a good spot. I put the purple halter on her - and I named her Sally.

My project is over. I cleaned up all of the lumber and we hauled it in the bucket of the tractor to the barn and lifted it up into the 2nd story. It is safe and will stay dry.

There used to be a little building here.

We have had so much fun!

Labor Day Weekend - means Labor.

I learned to drive the tractor. Granted I only drove 100 yards, in 1st gear and straight. Good first day.
Happy Corn Moon.

My summer project comes down!

Timber!

Flat!

The tractor to pull the building down was overkill. In hindsight, I think Bill and I could have pushed it down.

I've continued pulling out the materials - the cross beams, and any salvagable material. I'll post more pics soon.

We had an excavator come out - a guy we know - he is giving us a quote on removing this foundation, installing a new culvert in our problem area and digging a swale in our other watershed area.

And Bill announced over a New Glarus tonight - he has the solution to solving the barn problems. I knew he just needed to mull it over, then he would come up with the plan.

We continue to move forward, slowly. I feel with each passing work weekend - especially these long weekends - we turn this farm a little bit by little bit - to more of our own. It is a great feeling. We move forward into turning this into a sustainable homestead.

We got the quote on a wind turbine. $15K+. A lot of money!!! We need to consider this carefully - it is a bit of a gamble. Do we have the winds to support this expenditure? Will it pay for itself and how long will that take? Is this the right direction regardless of cost because we can supplement or provide for ourselves with burning coal. Lots to consider.