Making your own tools

Putting a wonderful day to good use

We are learning that there are a few special tools required for our build. Tools that we can make ourselves. We made our own tampers and bag holders awhile back and that was fun. The newest handmade tool, although no proper name can be given, is to hold down the barbed wire between the rows of bags while working on the walls. It is basically a brick with a string attached and a clip to keep the string in place. 

We had a few bricks from the house which we took when we moved knowing these tools were to be made. We purchased 2000 feet of nylon twine and had wire clothes hangers that could be used to make the clips. With all this in hand we set out to make 30+ of these. 

First the hangers had to be cut. If you have ever tried to cut a hanger it's not all that difficult but in this  case each hanger had to be cut in three places. Starting out doing so with a hand held set of, not too sharp, wire cutters, 90 odd times, was not something to look forward to but we could fix that. You see we were doing this at our very good friend's house and he has a couple of massive garages that contain just about anything you are looking for and can makeshift anything. So we took a rather large set of bolt cutters put them in the vise and in less than 5 minutes had the wires cut. The twisting and bending of the wire into clips took quite a bit more time but the vise again was utilized. We had already cut the 2000 feet of twine into lengths that were double the width of his deck, our approximation of 50 feet, and were ready to start putting the pieces together.
 

We sat at the front of one of the garages in the full sunshine of a lovely Easter Sunday evening affixing the clips to the twine, using the knot used to tie fishing line to a hook, the twine was then wrapped around the brick and clipped so it all stays together until ready for use for the building of our walls. We had quite a production line going and actually the time passed quickly as the sun set. 

It was both an extremely pleasant and productive day.

Weekends away will become a thing of the past.

We'll enjoy them while we can.

We have been warned by many who have experienced a self sustaining lifestyle - you will not be able to just pick up and leave for days at a time. We have been educated. Animals require daily care and your 'friends' are not going to come over twice a day to milk your goats or feed your chickens. This is what we are being told and are in no position to be argumentative. But we don't have animals, yet. In fact we have not even begun our build so this past weekend we took off. A last ditch get away and an educational one to boot.

As we had mentioned on the Northern Dirtbags Facebook page we had arranged a consultation with Cam and Michelle Mather. If you have not yet checked out their blog,  we highly recommend you do so. There is a wealth of information available there at your fingertips and hopefully you will see the enormous educational opportunities offered by partaking in a consultation or one of the bi-annual workshops offered. If distance is an issue be sure to check out their books and DVDs.

The Mathers live about 3 1/2 hours away from our current location and the route to them takes us right through Toronto traffic. We've lived with that reality for most of our lives so we know, just leave early. That meant a 4:30 am alarm. An early start is a wonderful beginning to a day and this was no exception. We had good weather for the drive. 

Arriving at Sunflower Farm we were welcomed by Jasper, the wonder dog, and Cam, offered our choice of hot beverage and Michelle's homemade muffins. We chatted, Cam asked us a few questions and then took us outside to go through his solar system. Cam can explain his system in a language that is easily understood and always had a good response to our questions. We were shown their hot water system which as explained has been an evolution. The gardens also have evolved with the start of their CSA a few years ago which they now share with 40-50 members. We had a wonderful lunch provided and then chatted more about their journey as well as what we believe ours will look like. The gorgeous weather allowed us to go outside without coats and soak up the sunshine ever if there was still snow on the ground. We talked about such a variety of topics, from appliances through to raising chickens. The 15 years worth of experience means there are no stupid questions. The Mathers have gone through the learning curve and openly share that experience.

We ended the day after another 4 1/2 hour drive to Bala and the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen (if you were in Ontario on April 10th I am sure you remember the amazing shades of purple and pink). We spent a couple of days with dear friends that we do not get to see often enough. Ed was able to go over the plans with our friend who is a builder by trade. We left confident that we are building a sound structure. 

We may not again have this kind of freedom to come and go but we will have so much more joy in staying put. 

PS This blog post was delayed as we awaited the birth of our first grandchild. Welcome Daniel Robert James born during the lunar eclipse this morning to Kristina and James. All are doing well.

Building Our Dirtbag Dream

The Learning Experience

The internet is an irreplaceable technological advancement. Through it we have been able to be in contact with other like-minded people and also find sources of information that, prior to the internet, would likely have been unavailable. Books, videos, how-to's all at our fingertips. While the ability to access a seemingly unlimited source of information has it's benefits, there are also drawbacks. Having so much information available can make for difficult decision making. One source says one thing, another source has different suggestions.  What does a person do? 

We spent many years researching options with the help of the internet. In our vision to build a self sustaining homestead we also looked at gardening as well as animal farming (both to be done on a very small scale) methods. We found books and blogs and read them, found videos, movies and television and watched them, and we found like-minded people and asked them questions. Each time that we added new information we would reassess our plans. Was there an option that worked better? Was there a less costly means to accomplish a task? What had others tried?

Today we're sharing some of the documentaries and tv series that we found over the years.

The godfather of North American sustainable building without a doubt is Mike Reynolds. His documentary Garbage Warrior is available online. It is from this documentary that most of our build ideas were initially formed.

And if you want to see that there are no limits to building an earthship check out the video of the one built for Dennis Weaver. The quality is not the best as it's from the 80's.

 

Some of the most interesting and inspiring tv shows were found on UK television.  

The farm series done on BBC which you can find online or through your local PBS station is wonderful for those who are planning to work with less technology. We found them both educational and entertaining.

Tales from Green Valley

Victorian Farm

Edwardian Farm

Wartime Farm

Tudor Monastery Farm

Another very educational show on farming is  A Farmer's Life For Me. This was a reality series where the winners were given a farm for a year. Great series if you can find it.

Also a couple of shows done by Kevin McCloud are terrific. Check out Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home as well as the series he been doing for years, Grand Designs. 

There have been a couple of seasons done of George Clarke's Amazing Spaces and there is some unbelievable work seen on those episodes. 

Recently we found another documentary series called Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild that made us feel a little less crazy. ;-)

Having a dream and pushing through all the obstacles has shown us what is truly possible. We hope that sharing will be the same inspiration for you.

Have you watched any of these shows? Share your reviews in the comments.