We have considerable rain catchment – something around 20 blue barrels that collect rainwater from the house eaves. Last year got really dry, and we ended up taking some of the blue barrels down to a creek to refill them, using our herring skiff, then pumping the water back up the slope to more blue barrels by the house. A bit of a long process, but it saved our garden. This year, we’ve decided to put in two 1100 gallon water reservoir tanks up by our catchment pond. We are not heavy consumers of water (no dishwasher or big washing machine), but our garden is large, and does require watering after the beginning of May if the weather is hot.
Category: Homesteading
Our Adventures
To Have a Hot Shower …
We started our homesteading project back in June 2015 … and finally, nearly 4 years later, we have hot running water in the cabin, and can take a hot shower!
Animals on a Woodland Homestead
I’ve been doing a bit of research on the next step in our homesteading … bringing in animals.
Our Homestead through Time
I was messing around on the Google Earth Engine the other day, and discovered that their Timelapse site finally had satellite images available for our region. So here is our homestead from 1984 to 2016 …
Chimney Fire
Wow! Things got a little scary here! Just recovered from a chimney fire. Thankfully, the cabin (and the two of us) survived!
The Fall Scramble
Mabon is past and Samhain is on its way, and as usual, we find ourselves engaged in the fall scramble as we try to get through our list of tasks that must be completed before the fall rains set in.
What a Beautiful World We Live In
I’m not going to write much in this post – just let the photos tell our story. The summer has been busy, but we are beginning to see the results of our hard work.
PS Keep tuned in for some upcoming artwork that is connected with my writing projects.
Terracing the Garden
Coming from Prince Rupert, I’ve always been concerned about getting my garden to drain adequately. We used raised beds in our gardens there, largely to keep the beds from becoming bogs. I never thought you could have too much of a good thing when it came to drainage …
The Beginnings of an Orchard
This year, we decided it was finally time to begin planting trees on our site – the start of an orchard. So, early this spring, we began the project by clearing nearly an acre of our land. This involved cutting lots of salmonberry and rose bush, brush burning, and root pulling. A very good way to get into shape!
Birds, Birds, Birds …
We love our birds … they are, after all, what gives our land its voice, makes us the “tir ceòlmhor” – the singing land. However, sometimes there are conflicts …