Jack of all trades, master of some....

So as we were looking for the new house, I've been hanging out at my friend Paul's house 1 night a week. Not only for socializing with a good friend and mentor, but to use his carpentry shop. This guy taught me a good chunk of what I know in terms of skilled trades. To be honest, a lot of what I learned was what 'not to do'. He's a great carpenter and if he didn't love the beer so much, he'd probably be retired by now or at least have a crew of minions doing his grunt work. Life Lesson #65: Everyone you meet in life will teach you something, and sometimes it's what not to do, you just have to pay attention.
 
First time I picked up a hammer to build something was in front of him 15 years ago. I lived in his basement for a few years, helped him build it in fact, and moved from there in with D when things got serious. In preparation for farm living I've built a few items which will come in handy I hope. My process to making something is simple. I do tons of research reading, youtubing etc. Get multiple examples of an item I want to make, take all the best features of each of them based on my needs, and then execute the project with intensity, sometimes even tunnel vision but we'll see examples of that later I'm sure. 

What's a garden without black gold! 

Interior Worm farm sans worms

The first project was a worm farm.
(aka vermicomposting)

A design made from:
1) 2 large Rubbermaid containers
2) Vent caps of a couple sizes 1" and 2" from Home Hardware
3) 1/8 in plastic mesh screen
4) Pantyhose.
(I can elaborate on design if anyone requests it)

They'll pay dearly to live here

So far the thing works great. We bring it inside during the winter (we've had it for over a year now) and have never once had an issue with smell or mess. Trust me, if D smelt anything it would have been dumped a long time ago. A key move I find is to freeze the food you are feeding the worms first. When you are planning to feed them, nuke it in a microwave for a few minutes, let it cool and dump it in with the worms. Pretty simple and effective for cutting down waste and adding some useful black gold to the plants we have on our patio. Anyone, even with a small condo space could do it this way and not have an issue.  
 
*Note: This completed farm bin (above) goes inside an untouched duplicate (or shorter) bin to catch any water or liquid gold which might seep out.

Feel free to be yourself, everyone else is already taken...

It's interesting when I think about people's initial reactions to news about making a move like we are. The older people all moan about the workload, wondering why you'd do such a thing. The people our age all moan about the commute or distance to the 'action' and younger people (pre 25) could care less, just shrugging with a light moan of indifference. What makes it interesting is as the time approaches, every one of them seems almost as excited as we are. No one we know lives in a situation like we're moving into, and yet I can almost tell that in some way, many of them seem to wish they were. Everyone is welcome to come by and hang out/help on the farm, but I'll assume the draw of that will wear off within a few weeks. 

When we first started dating, D and I had zero intentions on moving to farm country or starting a business based on anything to do with Mother Nature. As time passed, our discussions about food quality, EotW scenarios, the zompocalypse and other interesting pillow chat started to make us think differently. The push to move into the country and be self sufficient happened organically. Just through osmosis we one day looked at each other and agreed which direction was best for us as a family. Once we started down that path, we've never looked back. Life Lesson #343 - When it comes to your better half, always be yourself and speak your mind honestly.

So the initial plan, as it stands, is to build the farm to a stage of feeding our family, our extended families and any local neighbours who are interested in quality and sometimes unique foods. We'll do this without pesticides, hybrids or damage to our ecosystem. In the end, we don't care about what other people think or moan about. It's not just about the money obviously, it's not about the in-laws all accepting it. It's about a unified dream and as D says 'Team Us' (usually followed by a Wonder Twins fist pump)

Everyone can have their own dream but this one is taken. We have plans to start a festival for a certain veggie we feel is being neglected and perhaps a cook-off contest of some kind. But none of this can happen without us building various projects.  These are including but not restricted to the following. This blog will share them all in some capacity and if you have any questions feel free to ask, I assume no one will read this but D and I.

8 ft Patio Sunflower

• Massive Greenhouse
• Chicken Coop  (aka Cooptopia)
• Beehive(s)  (aka Buzztropolis)
• Worm Farm
• Root Cellar  (aka Root Cellar)
• Carpentry Shop
• Solar Heater
• Solar Power Unit
• Solar Dehydrator   
• Canning Station
• Composting Station
• Fruit Orchard
• Vegetable Garden
• Mushroom Farm 
• Gunsmith Station
• Herb Garden
• Water Collection Unit (grey?)