January 24, 2014

It has been a while since I last posted. So indeed we planted our fruit and nut trees and are continuing to add to them. We are trying to finish fencing in our growing area, as the deer are eating everything. We used 20' sections of rebar to cut into three pieces, spray painted them black, and added bird netting to protect our trees from the birds. We are almost finished with our greenhouse using a hoop bender and chain link fencing. We are also on an electricity diet to reduce our consumption to go off-grid. We managed to buy 75 used solar panels for $10 each, but are amazed at the cost of the rest of the components. We are building a solar water heater in the basement. Bought a used water heater for the tank, bought an evacuated tube collector (as it was cheaper to buy it than build our own out of copper piping), and purchased some dc circulating pumps since thermosiphoning won't work for us with the tank in the basement. My husband's favorite phrase is "we are getting there." We have met another family who are doing similar things, so we are trying to inspire each other, and the CRAFT farm tours serve as awesome inspiration. I like the solar books from the 70's, as they don't assume you need an expert to do it.