Thursday

Yesterday was pleasant with sun most of the day. Unfortunately Tuesday night it had stormed so the ground was too muddy for us to spread gravel. David Musser and I made the most of the day by consolidating items from 3 storage units into 2. Some building material that I had collected over the last 24 months could now be kept on site if covered by tarps.

We had hoped for a similar weather pattern today, but it has been raining off and on all day, so the site is a major mudhole. Our area forecast indicates more rain through tomorrow, with a possible break for Saturday through next Tuesday. I had to postpone laying the drains & water lines in the gravel until we can get it spread and leveded. Pouring the slab is on hold until that's all done and the weather stays sunny for a few days to dry out the ground.

Getting the slab poured is a major milestone that both Alexis and I would like to have behind us!

On a more upbeat note, Alexis has been reading several books on gardening, including a book on 'Square Foot Gardening" and the Organic 4 Season garden. Of course, she can't begin to 'break ground' on a traditional garden until the house is much farther along, if not finished, since machinery needs to come and go around the house site for some time. She's researching options for containers, planters (we have 2 'Earthboxes') and other non-traditional methods for raising vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers. So far, lots of good ideas, but as with building, she can't do a lot until the weather drys up for a few days. Some things we can do include planting some blackberry and blueberry bushes in various spots in the lower woods area, and she's rethinking the area near where we've stacked about 5 cords of wood from last summer. We hope to split and stack about that much this summer as well, which may give us 4 years of good wood for the woodstove.