Shed Platform is complete For those of you that have been following this saga, you might notice the lack of water tanks. As Sarah and I began to plot the platform design, we thought how great it would be to have the entire shed space for working and storing. She recomended that we add another section in the future when we are ready to farm fish. More building is always a good idea and more covered space is as well. There is also the difficulty in my initial plan to work around the tanks. The final nail in that coffin is that one of our two tanks is way too delapidated which I did not realize until I began the crack repair. Rough measurements for shed walls Above is my rough measurements for the walls. Yesterday I spent the day milling wood and today I managed to erect three walls almost entirely on my own. The third wall is 76 1/4in of White Oak. I managed to get it standing up, but as I wiggled it into position, I could not control it. I managed to get it jammed up against wall 2 and then called Colt to run to the rescue. Colt is under the weather and I was attempting to let him rest today. Here is our first wall erected and pinned. This is at the sliding door and measures 7 feet tall. Once the building is framed, we will plot out where we will add windows. I expect this wall will remain solid as we do not want sunlight beating on the electrical equipment. Wall 2 (below), at 49 inches, was easy to get into place and secured. Wall 2 in place The initial plan, in my head was to make these first two walls 7ft 4in to accommodate the platform resting on the outer boards of the hallway platform. I did not do this. I cut them at 7 foot, which is going to work out better for the roof. We do not want the two rooves at the same height. If we had the walls at 7'4", with the top plate, we would be starting the roof too tall for the greenhouse. With these first two walls having 7ft studs, the rest of the walls will measure 4 inches shorter. The platform joists are 12 inches on center. The walls are standard 16in on center. Given that our lumber is rough sawn, their actual measurements are 2" x 4" instead of 1 1/2 x 3 1/2. This does lessen the distance between studs and add Wall 3 in place and secure quite a bit of load bearing capacity. I expect to have the last two walls up at the beginning of the week. I am certain I will need to mill more 2x4's. I believe we had made thirty yesterday and I used 18 today. I estimate 22 2x4's to build the last two walls. I imagine next build day I will get one wall done then go back to the mill. After the studs, we need to make siding.

Water barrel heat sink Progress is great! We have gotten a great deal done since our last post. Here is the to-do list from our last post: Cut chimney pipe hole Build 55 gallon barrel stove and run chimney pipe out back wall or through roof Build back shed Install vent fan Wire in a few outlets and lights Cut hole for wind turbine mounting pipe Install wind turbine and all its components turbine control board inverter batteries/charge control We have completed only the barrel stove on this list. But I did say we made progress. Unfortunately I knew that list was incomplete and it seemed that most of what we have completed is not in the list. Lets create a new list. The water barrel wall is the first task we have completed. As you see in the picture above, we have built the barrel wall, filled the barrels, and painted them black (mostly) to collect sun heat. Harper's favorite color is purple and we had a quarter can of purple so I thought the stripe would look good and make her happy. I was correct on both points. They have been painted and filled for about a week now and they are not warm. I fear they will require the super heat of summer to get warm and carry that heat through the winter. The other possibility is that the whole wall of water is just a stupid idea that will not effect temperatures at all. Time will tell. Vapor locked tanks We had discussed the rain collection system in depth in the last post. If you look closely at the picture to the right, you will see the bottom tank is within 8 inches of being full. The top tank has about 6 inches of water hanging out there. At first I thought that the pipe was clogged. I took it apart and found it clear. Initially I was concerned about sealing the system water tight. It would appear I have sealed it air tight. What is happening is there is nowhere for the air to be displaced. I hypothesized that air would bubble through the pipe from the lower tank to the upper tank as the water flows in. This is not the case. Out of curiosity, after reattaching the pipe, I cracked the union and air began to flow out and the water began to flow again. This could not stay cracked as it leaks water as well as air. Still this did solve the problem of vapor lock. Now how can we get the air to flow without water leaking out. The answer is a snorkel. A snorkel is just a long hose extending from a spot in the system and it terminates above the top tank. Snorkel rendition In the photo here, you can see the snorkel hose running from the 2 inch PVC pipe heading up to the ceiling. I have the hose going up to one of the king beam supports where it is held by a u-clamp pipe clamp. There is a hose clamp on the bare end of the tube so it will not slip out of the u-clamp when it fills partially with water. To connect the snorkel to the PVC, I tapped a 3/8in pipe thread into the pipe and used a 3/8in barb fitting. Our rain storm today proves our system is working well with no leaks. One of the items not on the list from the last post that we discussed, is auto filling paddock water troughs. We have completed two water troughs with mechanical float valves. Once again, I did not get a picture of the trough so I have created a rendition of the setup. For our trough to the west of the greenhouse, we dug a trench from the greenhouse to the trough and buried the hose. At this time, it is not turning off. I have the valve running over the top of the tank and into the water. We need to get it about 2 inches lower. At this time, when the trough is full, it continues trickling because the float cannot seal completely. At some point I will drill a hole to accept the hose about 1.5in below the rim so the float will be lower in the tank. We are turning off the hose valve at the IBC tank for now, and openning it whenever we need to fill the trough. The trough to the south has the hose running through the 4 inch drain pipe we have for greenhouse drainage at the Southwest corner. Water distribution Above we have our outflow valve. The green hose exits just below the west door. The black hose runs out the drainage pipe to the south paddock. Hanging over it, also running out the west wall is a 2inch pump suction hose. During garden season, we water the garden off of the IBC tank through a generac water pump. Without the pump, there is not enough pressure to activate the sprinkler. With the pump humming we get full garden coverage. I have mixed feelings about the generac pump. Ultimately this is our second. The first one had a terrible throttle control that failed and there are no replacement parts available. The carburetor also failed with no replacements available. They updated the pump from 1 inch to 1.5 inches and no throttle control at all. Now it is all or nothing. We added a swing valve to the outflow port to regulate how much water goes to the sprinkler. Weatherstripping: Here is one example of Sarah's work. Every gap, every joint now has foam filling it or weatherstripping covering it. Future hallway to the back shed We have also began the back shed. Eventually the back shed will hold two 500 gallon tanks and they will be filled with fish. For now, we are going to get the tanks in the ground and backfill around them. We will then build the shed around it. We are also going to make a false floor and use the shed as tool storage for the time being. At least until I can build the Barn. The girls need some space. This winter we are going to build Harper a separate playroom in the basement. She doesn't sleep much and keeps her sister and grandmother awake. She will have a small space to be loud and awake at night. That means we need a place for my tools . What we have pictured above is the floor for the back hall. We will have the electrical components mounted on the walls in the hallway. I made the platform 5 feet wide to ensure we have enough room for walking and the equipment. We have also completed the site work. I filled in around the greenhouse and graded the ground around the east, west, and south sides. I have also graded the driveway and the path up to the greenhouse. The path needs gravel. Today I drove my truck up with pig food in a rainstorm, and I was sliding all over the trail in 4 low. When I graded to crown, I pushed detritus into the tire tracks. The rain saturated it and made a slick mess. The driveway however is fantastic. Last year we had a nightmare clearing snow and ice from the deep ruts. Initially we planned to bring in a couple triaxles of pavement millings or a 3/4 in riprap. Given I can make anything but money, purchasing delivered material is out of reach. I started at the bottom and scraped off the crown. I then went back and forth with the box tines ripping it up and moving the material. I then back bladed it to get it nice and smooth and pitched it by five-ish degrees with hopes water will travel along the edge instead of down the tire tracks. I also filled in the pothole at the end of the driveway. That pothole has been a constant and painful annoyance. Back to the greenhouse. East door latch We had mounted the east door several weeks back. We kept the glass out and left it for the colder days when the door was needed. Now the glass is in and the door is reinforced with L-brackets at all four corners. When I went back to finish the door, I realized that the inside door handle was broken. The action still worked so I welded a piece of scrap metal onto the action and chiseled a slot out of the framing at the door. Since taking this photo, I have added a handle to this catch. We are pleased with our progress and have a good chance of getting the back shed completed before christmas. Once the shed is dried in, we will get all my toolboxes up there. Two days ago, we took a break from the greenhouse and went out to the knife shed. We had all the toolboxes and footlockers of knives stacked on top of each other with all of the display cases Grandpa Chris had purchased for his flea market knife sales. He only went to two flea markets. I have moved all the empty display cases out to the lifetime shed and stacked them up out of the way. We then made shelves the full width of the back wall. During this cleanout, I realized there are still about ten cases of knives I have not touched. They were buried under the empty cases and hunting gear. On the door side of the shed, we built more shelves but terminated them 2 feet from the door so we can, you know, use the door. All of the camping gear is now out of the basement and in plastic storage boxes. Everyone has their own tote with their camping gear inside. This has cleared up two storage racks in the basement. We will begin room construction once we have cleared out enough stuff to actually put up walls. The other greenhouse related task that we have completed was back at the mill. We have milled 20 2x4's out of white oak for the studs, and 2x6 white pine for the shed rafters. I am fairly confidant that we have enough rafters, however we will need tons more 2x4's. Super Intelligence ( I don't want to be the enemy) says a rough estimate is 72 2x4's to frame the walls and floor. Another 52 studs will be needed to frame the playroom in the basement. At this time we will also need 425 board feet of planks for the walls of the playroom and another 300 board feet for the three exposed sides of the shed. We will be spending many hours pushing the mill back and forth.

Pallet Firewood shed built into a hill Last summer, we built a pallet firewood shed in the backyard. It is 8ft x 8ft x 8ft. This holds about 4 cord of wood. I believe we have it stocked with about 3.5 cord. Given we burned close to five last year, we had to go and get wood from the Abby of Regina Laudis or beg acquaintances to deliver wood mid winter. This led to hastle and stress during the winter. One minor example was having about a day's worth of dry wood remaining on the farm, we had to get more and the Abby was the only place that had some...remember last winter we had several weeks straight of sub-zero temperatures. So their plow truck was broke and my truck was sporting all american notreads. What a nightmare it was to get into their wood field. The most painful part was we had logs and limbs ready to burn spread all over the farm. With three feet of snow on all of it, there was no hope of finding and geting that wood cut up...we just had to buy it. This year will be different. Colt spent a great deal of time filling the old shed and the new shed. He has also centralized the uncut wood so we can get to it during the winter. The north side of our house is a hill; about a 20 degree grade. We wanted to create a wood shed close to the house but not noticeable. Given there was nothing else we can do with this space, we decided to make a stepped pallet shed for our firewood. This shed is 16 feet long and about 6.5 ft tall. With these dimentions, we can house another 3 cord of wood which should see us through the winter. The one caveat to this is that we have a wood stove going into the greenhouse that will consume an unknown amount of wood this winter. Scrap wood keeps the chickens out. As we built the structure, our chickens were flocking under it. Egg laying is a constant concern with freerange hens. Every once-in-a-while, they find some nice new laying spot and we have to go searching and often cannot get to them. We had to add lattice to block the crawlspace under the back porch for instance. Here we took the scrap wood and filled every space they were able to get through. Colt has filled this shed. A large part of the wood in here are mill and building scraps 2 inches thick. We also have about a cord of one inch slab cuts that we have cut down to the 28in length of our wood stove. I expect these will burn fairly fast, but they will burn hot. Given this is a large part of what fills this new shed, we aren't certain that it will be enough for the winter, however, we will have a very large pile of wood ready to get hacked into burnable sized logs. We also have 20 logs stacked out back for the mill. This year I will start cutting up the less desireable logs in the mill pile if we need more than the two sheds and current cut pile can provide...wish us luck! One more observation on the topic of firewood: All the wood we purchased last year was rather small. I can only assume they are using multi-split wood splitters. With our Allnighter stove accepting 30 inch logs, the average size of the log at 12 inches does not fill the stove and burns much faster than a giant log. Also, we would have to load in about a dozen logs to fill the stove for the night. With the large logs colt split this summer, we should be able to add three and have it burn into mid-morning instead of 6am. And just one more: Chimney cleaning. Clean your chimney monthly. Ok maybe you buy your wood from a great vendor. He has all hard wood and it seasons, covered for three years before they will even consider selling it. You also have an appropriate, new, and efficient stove. In this case, feel free to go 6 weeks to 2 months at the most. In general, the hardest part of cleaning the chimney is getting up on the roof. Many wood burners take this into account and have some sort of scaffolding/platform atop the roof to provide a safe spot to scrub from. Our ranch has a very gentle roof so I have not had issues. We keep the ladder in place on the back porch. We also have other considerations: For one, our stove is too big for our house. It is rated for a 3500 square foot house. We were originally planning to add a second story which would have hit that footage, however, we have now decided against the addition. Most days, we do not need to get the stove raging, which creates more creosote...some days alot more. If you were not aware, keeping your chimney at 300-475 degrees. We often run ours closer to 250 when the ambient temperature is above 35 degrees. A few times last year we burned wet wood (that was purchased in desperation. The vendor had warned me) and I had to clean the chimney twice a month. How do I know it is time? Draft. When the chimney is clear, a small initial fire will begin to draft immediately. As it narrows, we get more smoke rolling out of the stove into the house. When it hits a precipace of creosote, the stove pipe joints will begin to weep smoke. There were signs prior, but "it will be fine one more day." Many chimney fires have been based on the at thought. One time, years ago, we (as part of the fire department with two firetrucks monitoring the burn) were burning a brush pile for a member of our community. As the pile was raging. You know there is no bigger pyro than a firefighter. Well, as the pile was ragining, the neighbor from three doors down b-lined for us and began sharing his extreme distaste for how big a fire we had going. My Captain kurtly advised this man of our care for his concerns sending this concerned citizen storming off. A few weeks later, that man had to call 911 for the chimney fire that had extended into the wall. Of course we saved the house and most of that wall. That same captain was on that scene and he was sure to point out that cleaning his chimney that day three weeks ago would have been a much more valuable use of that time.

Welcome to Farm Life Farm. Find handmade signs and soaps here. Eggs, Lamb, Pork, Poultry, and rabbits. Let us feed you and teach you to feed yourself! With our sawmill, we can mill your timber and build your outbuildings together HOME Phoebe's Page Shop Farm Education & Training Medical Education & Training Woodwork Tractor Work Saw Mill Rabbits Sheep Pigs & Lard-based Soaps Birds Horses About Blog Search our Site Rabbits will be ready September 19. Pigs are ready for slaughter. Call to order now. Offering whole, half, or quarter. Eggs are always available in our Farm Life Farmstand. Roasters will be ready in Mid October. WELCOME Welcome to Farm Life Farm Established 2024 We are a family owned and operated livestock farm in Connecticut's Northwest corner. Address 91 Prospect Mountain Rd Bantam CT 06750-1410 Phone 860-209-1590 Email farmlifefarmllc@gmail.com Connect

Laying Hens, Eggs, Chicks, Chickens, Turkeys, Poults, Ducks, Ducklings, and Duck eggs are all available at Farm Life Farm HOME Phoebe's Page Shop Farm Education & Training Medical Education & Training Woodwork Tractor Work Saw Mill Rabbits Sheep Pigs & Lard-based Soaps Birds Horses About Blog Search our Site Birds Our Chicken Breeds Orpington Rooster Isa Brown Hens New Hampshire Red Hens Barter White Hens We Hatch our birds on the farm. We also free range our flock. All of our hatchlings are Hybrid mixed breed Our Turkey Breed Dindon Porcelaine Turkeys (Heritage Breed) Turkeys not currently available Our Duck Breeds American Pekins Khaki Campbell Mallard Inquiries eggs chicks laying hens meat birds Contact us now ducks Ducks are a wonderful addition to any property. Ducks provide a wealth of benefits Eggs Duck eggs are large and delicious. They are great for baking as the large yolks make for a rich confection. Protein Duck is a wonderful addition to your freezer High protein content useful nutritious and delicious fat Stress & anxiety reduction Few things provide more stress relief than watching ducks play and quack Turkeys Farm Life Farm has a breading pair of Dindon Porcelaine Turkeys This is a Heritage Breed and are very similar to the Native Turkey found throughout the United States Why Turkeys Food Turkey is an excellent Protein source Turkeys take 14-30 weeks to grow to harvest size. Turkeys will provide 12-30 pounds of meat Turkey eggs are as good as duck eggs Easy to maintain and raise Turkeys are currently out of stock. Check back next year Inquiries eggs chicks laying hens meat birds Contact us now

CPR training, First Aid Training, Stop the Bleed, Safe Sitter, and EMS continuing education. Basic and advanced medical training available from Farm Life Farm Education & Training Medical training HOME Phoebe's Page Shop Farm Education & Training Medical Education & Training Woodwork Tractor Work Saw Mill Rabbits Sheep Pigs & Lard-based Soaps Birds Horses About Blog Search our Site Many people are beginning to see the importance of being more self-reliant. Leading a more self-sustaining existence comes with inherent risk. A basic knowledge of first aid and medical care is paramount to success. Both Sarah and Troy have over 20 years of experience in Emergency Medical Services. Sarah is a certified Instructor in: CPR Safe Sitter/Safe at home Stop the Bleed Troy is a Certified Instructor in: CT Emergency Medical Services CPR Inquiries CPR First Aid Stop the Blead Safe Sitter Safe at Home Contact us now CPR & FIRST AID Training We offer in person & Hybrid training for Individuals Families Groups Companies Certifications Available BLS Level CPR Heartsaver (Layperson) CPR (Infant, Child, Adult) AED Use Choking First Aid First Aid Training Stop the Bleed Bloodborne Pathogens Training Airborne Pathogens Training Continuing Medical Education Programs Additional instruction Offered Wilderness First Aid Basic Survival Techniques Safe Sitter® Essentials, Essentials with CPR Safe Sitter® is designed to prepare students in grades 6-8 to be safe when they’re home alone, watching younger siblings, or babysitting. The Instructor-led class is filled with fun games and role-playing exercises. S afety Skills Students learn how to prevent unsafe situations and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies. Child Care Skills Students learn tips to manage behavior that will help them stay in control of themselves and the children in their care. Students also learn the ages and stages of child development, as well as practice diapering. First Aid & Rescue Skills Learning skills such as choking rescue and CPR is often students’ favorite part of the class. Students also learn a system to help them assess and respond to injuries and illnesses. (CPR included in Safe Sitter® Essentials with CPR and Safe Sitter® Expanded.) Life & Business Skills The ability to screen jobs, discuss fees, and greet employers will set students up for success now and in the future. Students practice these skills through various role plays. Safe@Home Safe@Home by Safe Sitter® is a 90-minute program designed for students in grades 4-6 to prepare them to be safe when they are home alone. Students learn how to practice safe habits, how to prevent unsafe situations, and what to do when faced with dangers such as power failures or weather emergencies. Students are also introduced to the Safe Sitter® First Aid Chart and learn a system to help them assess and respond to injuries and illnesses. The program is designed to prepare students for their first steps towards independence. Grandparents: Getting Started Many things have changed since the participants in Grandparents: Getting Started raised their children. It is important for grandparents to learn the new recommendations for care based on research from doctors and scientists studying the physical and emotional development of infants and children. Taught by certified Safe Sitter® Instructors, participants will learn how to provide the best and safest care for their grandchildren. They will also learn the latest information on how to safely care for infants and children and how to manage the behavior of children of all ages, in addition to life-saving skills such as choking rescue, first aid, and injury management. Learning tips on creating a good relationship from the start as well as learning to respond to too many requests to babysit will help grandparents enhance their relationship with their children and create lasting memories with their grandchildren. Through our STOP THE BLEED® course, you’ll gain the ability to recognize life-threatening bleeding and intervene effectively. STOP THE BLEED®. Save a Life! You can, too! The American College of Surgeons STOP THE BLEED® program has prepared nearly 4 million people worldwide on how to stop bleeding in a severely injured person. Add to Schedule of fees BLS Initial: $65 BLS Refresher: $50 Heartsaver: $65 1st Aid w/CPR: $95 Refreshers EMR: $150 EMT: $250 Each Class: $25 Essentials: $85 Safe @Home: $55 Grandparents: $65 CPR Safe Sitter Classes Initial EMR: $850 EMT: $1,000 Bridge $650 Inquiries CPR First Aid Stop the Blead Safe Sitter Safe at Home Contact us now