Hiatus

Project Reliance will continue on Monday, May 4th. I did hope to get something done today but instead decided to help out others in their endeavors. Tomorrow I'm traveling to visit some good friends for the weekend. Tom the Tomato will be bigger then if not dead and perhaps the birds will have found the feeders. 

Also, Project Reliance is making friends. We may have a guest gardener on-site Monday!

Walls of Change 2

Ok it works now - After tilling the secret tomato garden with a fresh load of cow poo, I headed to the woods to continue with Kindling House -

Here is a picture with the walls up - I came up 8 pieces of kindling short so I need to make some more tomorrow. Here is a close up -

Not bad for firewood. The symmetry in this picture is very Leigh Freidlander-esque.

Also, after my fox experience, I decided to make a concerted effort to attract more wildlife. So I went to Benny's and in aisle 4 next to the Pez dispensers and paint scrapers I found some wild bird seed. I got some birdfeeders from an attic and hung 'em up -

Bird's eye view... I think it looks delicious but the birds have yet to notice my ornitho-culinary creation. Rest assured I will be alert with camera cocked. 

That's it for today - tired and dirrrrty...

Walls of Change

Check this out -

This is a Tomato seedling of some heirloom variety (I meant to label all of the seeds from the 10 different varieties I'm growing, but they got messed up in the mix so now I will have a grab-bag tomato garden.) This guy, in his rush to reach the sky in a sun-fueled blitz, decided to bring a piece of soil with him. No doubt it will be discarded when the leaves split. 

While watching him, I wondered where the line is where things are no longer a chain of chemical events and when they begin to be life.  Or if my assumption of a division at all is false and it's all just a continuous movement. It all just is. In any event, it's living enough for me, I named him Tom.

For some reason the image uploader is broken. Boo Blogspot. I will try to finish this later - 

Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink

As this blog is also kind of a personal notebook, I am posting some midnight ideas. 

Water - while working I sometimes become thirsty. This is because humans need water and I am constantly hauling it out there. However, if I am to be not only hydrated but clean, I'll need lots of it - I think I will design a large rain catchment system. I could use the roof of the kindling house, but I want something with a little more area. Lucky for me I came across a 50' by 100' tarpaulin used to cover a slope failure on a capped landfill. With that area, 1" of rain will yield over 3000 gallons. Filtration can be achieved through a slow bio-sand filter (like they use in Madagascar - this is overkill as it kills viruses, etc. which to the best of my knowledge don't fall from the sky - but hey, nothing wrong with overkill if it's cheap!) and storage through tanks conveniently placed up and among the trees (to create pressure). 

I am envisioning pulleys and lines, a large steel tank (which farmers are always trying to get rid of for some reason...), and a dramatic  rain-dance as the clouds begin to form and I'm hopping around checking all the rigging. 

Shower Area - With heated water, I see little downside to a year-round New England outdoor shower; if it's done well. And I intend to do it well...

The Kindling House is taking shape

I bought a battery powered jigsaw for $30 today at a local 'everything' store called Benny's. There was a running joke we had in high school about this place; Whenever there was a car-ful of guys one would always start, "Aisle 13: Fishing poles, Air filters and women's hair nets." and the next, "Aisle 6: candy bars, wigs and swiffer sweepers." and so on ad nauseum. The loser of the game I guess was the guy whose aisle inventory was lacking sufficient unique contrast to be funny. There was also a musical-chairs-esque race against what I would call the 'laughter bell curve', that is, how a hilarious joke might spark uncontrollable laughter among a group of guys that soon turns painful as the source of the laughter begins to include the fact that everyone is laughing so hard, which begins the positive feedback loop. The afforementioned un-funny guy's unusual product list would do best if told during the climax of this phenomenon and even start a descent that might leave a legitimately funny offering dead on arrival. This joke occurred often enough to warrant this depth of analysis. 

In any event, the jigsaw was a POS. I cut 3 of 14 boards when the battery ran out and ended up using the cordless sawzall of a neighboring farmer who happened discovered me mid-build. I exchanged information I had about a certain wayward cow he was looking for, including possible search vectors, for the use of this tool. Unfortunately I realized I got a bad deal when he began to comment on my construction efforts from the context of the bible. I realize there are few contexts in which what I'm doing might make sense to collective civilization but I think I could at least communicate with someone. I was unprepared to rebut biblically. As he went on I mentioned that Jesus probably lived in a similar hut at one time and he changed the subject. 

The new subject was how I would 'go mad' if alone for too long. I told him that so far I'm going happy, but I'd let him know and good luck finding the cow. I wonder if Jesus spent time alone. 

I finished the deck -

And after some more time, got some of the walls up -

At this juncture I'm not too happy with some decisions I've made and am unsure about how the rafters will fit, how I'll do windows and doors and so on. Also the floor sucks. I used OSB sheathing as a sub-floor material so I'm not too concerned, but I don't know what I'm going to put over it that will fit in the budget. This is not acceptable flooring (and probably not acceptable sub-flooring given the smell) so please some genius out there recommend a solution, or some philanthropist donate some salvaged hardwood floors. I considered sod briefly as I can get it out of the field for free - but the prospect of all of it dying and living in a mudpit changed my mind. 

I also came up with the idea of one 360 degree window. I figure that and a spinny chair would lead to hours of entertainment. I can't talk myself out of that one, and it'll make the covering easy. Just not sure how to 'close' such a window. Or how to block anything but rain the travels exactly downward.

One thing I do like is the stonehenge-esque configuration of the cinder blocks. 

A friend of PR came by yesterday to check it out and brought up the bathroom question. It will certainly be outdoors and I have some ideas floating around that might end up being an improvement on current bathroom configurations (at least in terms of character). 

Enough from me - here is the secret entrance to PR that only me and the cows know about -

PS I wish I could tell if you're all reading this - blogspot doesnt offer such a feature so leave some inspirational commentary for me please if you feel so...um ... inspired.

Spider Man

Seedlings are still green - go PR -

After a few days of being an ant - carrying my house piece by piece out to the woods - scored a tractor ride out to PR and discovered an old logging trail (though almost indistinguishable as a trail) to within 30 ft of the site. We almost flipped the tractor, a big green one, and I would have had a photo of that if I wasn't riding in the bucket. 

So I began to assemble all the pieces I had cut off-site, and much to my surprise -

It fit together! (Please ignore the stud on the left that seems out of place, it is the result of a rounding error and is a consequence of having all the others be an exact 'half-a-sheet-of-plywood apart.) As for assembly, I got all this together in two very hot and water-deprived hours -

At About 5:30 bugs start to get me. This certainly highlights the need for screens 100% of the time. Which brings me to the next point. After a meeting with a friend who owns a sail loft - we've ditched the canvas idea. First of all, it takes me way over $1000 budget and second it's not totally waterproof. The current plan is....shrink wrap. Believe it or not, it's made out of recycled material and is thermoplastic and completely recyclable. In addition, I can COMPLETELY enclose the structure first (including underneath) in one piece and then cut outand fininsh windows and doors (How I'm going to do this with some semblance of style and grace is another matter altogether as it's the kind of material that could be elegant if done well and white-trash if done any other way). It is very heavy duty and super cheap. 2 layers with reflective insulation between is the current plan (it's so cheap it's almost worth trying just to play with the blow torch.) 

Last bit - while I was creating the frame, I heard a crashing behind me - I swung around and I was being eerily stalked by a slow-moving cow. Who quickly lost interest -

Floor and walls tomorrow

First Night

I planted the germinations in a secret soil mix and am hoping for the best. I read things about how essential it is to not touch the budding root system or stem as you plant theses guys. I found this difficult. Time will tell if the seedlings survive. 

I started to clear the site for the hermitage...Yes, I was cutting down trees...however, an arborist evaluated the property and came to the conclusion that 23% of the existing trees need to be taken out in order to free up resources for the remainder. I didn't cut anything too big, and chainsaws are fun -

I observed this 'tree feature' several times throughout the forest, I wonder what causes this; if it's natural, or if some type of animal creates it -

While I was clearing the site, I realized that I may be moving a bit too fast. If this is a fundamental re-examination of a way of living, then shouldn't I be questioning all assumptions? To come upon something fundamentally different or to think outside the box, mustn't one fist question its walls? The design of the hermitage was done on a computer and in my head, while offsite. I realized that if I am to transform the immediate environment, I must first understand it. 

To examine what is absolutely necessary, I put down my tools and set up a small camp. I excercised the most ancient of architecture, perhaps that which could be found most years of homo-sapien existence; a fire outside a cave. I gathered large rocks and rolled them up the hill to create a reflective surface for the heat, and hoped that they might have the capacity to store some. I took a guess how far away the fire should be from the cave, keeping in mind smoke and proximity to warmth (Since this was an instantaneous decision, apart from a book of matches, I was ill-prepared for the 'traditional' Coleman-accessory-equipped camping experience.) I spent another hour or so collecting dead wood from around the area for the night. When the pile looked big enough, I started the fire and slept in a small cave created by an overhang in a large piece of granite -

I had never done this before, but it all seemed to make sense as I went along. As darkness fell, I became acutely aware of the sounds around me. A flock(?) of bats passed overhead, screeching like a dog whistle, and frogs were singing and there was zzzzzzs coming from some other insect. I wasn't sure if something would try to eat me so sleep became this half-state of rest and concerted attention. One convenient thing: When the fire died down, I would automatically wake up from the cold so I could restart it. 

I was woken by the sound of a red and white fox trotting by. I whistled at him and he pretended not to hear me. The sun was coming up so I decided to get started - today will be a day of construction. 

First Night at Project Reliance

Ghostwriter: I am spending my first night at Project Reliance. Details to follow.

Design and Fabrication

First of all, I would like to say thank you for everyone's compliments. I must say I was quite surprised by the response. I've never blogged before, but it is turning into a motivational tool

I took a stroll around the field this morning and contemplated the details of the design. 

I have lived in New York City for the last 5 years or so and, though I've visited remote islands and beaches, have come to realize I've spent little time alone in tranquility (in my whole life even). I've been surrounded by various noises or people, and even though I had become conditioned to accept the drone of the traffic in the city, or the television in the other room, or the people down the hall, the silence I came upon was no less profound, interrupted only by birds.

I spent the previous evening finalizing some drawings for what will be the floor. To absolutely minimize the use of lumber, I decided to frame it much like a spider would. I was able to salvage some used 2X4s out of the dumpster of a local contractor (and bought what I couldn't find) and after about an hour of pulling nails they seemed just as good. I cut all the wood to the length specified in the drawings and to my utter surprise it actually fit together!

Just 12 more of these and we have a circle!

Leonardo Da Vinci said, "Small dwellings focus the mind and large ones distract it" so I decided upon a diameter of 16'. This also leads to convenient math and lumber usage as the least expensive lumber comes in 8' lengths, perfect radial supports. (Note to aspiring woodworkers: I think the reason why the majority of buildings in the world are square, is because of the odd dimensions and measuring tricks necessary for radial construction. As simple as this design was, I would have been overwhelmed with 'back of the envelope' calculations without a CAD program and an engineering degree!)

Here is the circle, all glued together. I'll need to trim the outside smooth and figure out a way for rafters to travel from the outside edge of this, to the top of the lattice wall. Any suggestions from talented readers are welcome. 

Here is about half of the lumber necessary in the back of the truck. Now that I have the flooring and wall materials cut and ready for assembly, I thought it time to finalize the site -

I've been thinking about this for a couple years and chose a spot very close to this large boulder (Though the closest I could get to it by vehicle is about 300 paces off an old logging trail. If one of my paces is about 3 feet, and I can carry about 1/100th of requisite materials every trip, that's 18,000 feet of walking. Half of it burdened with Cargo; about 3 1/2 miles. I've been meaning to get in shape...)

The boulder sits among a small forest of young beech trees. Over time, I intend to pleach some of them and create a bower -

Or a mysterious tunnel -

    

As for gardening 'schools', there are several (among them French and English). It seems the French have developed a style in which they attempt to control a plot of land in a constant battle between the perceived order of human labor and the chaos of nature. The English seem to go with the flow more, using native species and placement concurrent with little toil and great beauty. Over time, I hope to cultivate a small area surrounding the dwelling with some interesting native specimens and perhaps some artful placement of local stones and moss. The Boulder above is perched in such a way that has created a small cave on its eastern side which will be an ideal hearth. 

That's it for today - I'm tired.

What is Project Reliance?

I've had several inquiries into what I may be doing and how I might be doing it. I've started this blog to attempt to outline exactly that.

This is me -

One unsuccessful attempt to define Project Reliance is to assume I'm 'going back to the land'. As if I ever left. Don't we all live on the land? Perhaps the simpler one lives, the more immediately his or her effects are felt. To support a more extravagant 'lifestyle' (an interesting word in itself), one must spread his impact to more land, some of it far away. In any event, we're all on the land. If consciousness of this fact were ever-present, Perhaps we would live differently. 

I will soon be inhabiting 15 acres of pure Rhode Island wilderness (this would be a spectacular cue for a photo-op but, sadly, no photos quite yet). There are a bunch of trees and some fields. I think it would be interesting to see if, one day, I could 'close-the-loop', that is, make the place completely self-sufficient, or sustainable, or green, or environmentally conscious or whatever it is people are calling the idea of living reasonably this month. What would it take? 

Well first, I need shelter. So I'm going to see what kind of a house I can build for $1000USD. Luckily I picked up some wood at an auction held by a bankrupt lumberyard for $50 -

(My dad called this a worthless pile of kindling. And, upon further inspection, it is. However, I'm sticking to it - If I can build a house out of this stuff...I'll call it...The Kindling House!)

and borrowed some design tips from ancient mongolian sheepherders -

All that and a CAD program I pirated might just lead to a solid place to hang my hat. For the last two days I have been cutting, drilling, sawing, planing, etc. I drilled 600 holes this morning I think. Here are some pieces of wood that will eventually be a very strong circle -

How? Well here is it being glued. (This took patience) -

The toolbox is very important here. Aspiring woodworkers please take note.  

In addition to habitation, one needs food and water. We'll get to the water part later, but as for food I will be taking part in the ancient tradition of gardening. In the gospel of Thomas, Jesus said: 

"Look, the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road, and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure. Anyone with two good ears had better listen!"

Whoa! Thanks Jesus! I'll keep that in mind. Here are some seeds I've recently germinated -

Now, these are fuzzy seeds. That's because instead of scattering them, I germinated them in conjunction with the spores of a mycorrhizal fungus. The mushroom mycelium (fuzzy white stuff) has formed a symbiotic relationship with the seedling and will be with its root system for life, protecting it from bacterial intruders and acting like a nutritional superhighway importing resources from beyond the plant's reach. All else equal, more resources means more vegetables. These particular seeds are an heirloom Dino-Kale variety from our good friends at the NY seed library. Kale is packed with phyto-nutrients. 

I'm also teaching myself calligraphy. Just in case there IS a revolution from the collapse of the financial system, the ornery working class electing a populist uberlord, a large-scale environmental crisis or, better yet, a radical psychological evolution of mankind, I like to think I might be called in to help draft a new Declaration. Here is a sample for the resume -

For now, that's about it. 

Project Reliance question of the day - Can anyone identify the language I'm writing in?