The Barn

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The upper story and roof took over a month to construct.

The door to the lower story - Rachel's design. We'd surrounded the lower story in chicken wire for a large run for the chickens once the bobcat predation's begun. But Buffy and Goldie [our araconas] kept flying over and escaping. Even with their flight feathers clipped and the barn braces greased Buffy was still able to fly out to head to the coop to lay. The chickens were also too difficult to herd down to the barn, so we had to pluck them off the roost every morning and carry them down in bins - additional stress on the birds and a pain in the butt. We eventually abandoned the idea.

The temporary roost and ladder which the birds never used.

Bunny's hutch which I built for Gwen's birthday.

Where the sawdust for our composting toilets is stored to keep it dry.

We gather a season's worth of sawdust at one time in plastic bins and garbage bags at the local mill in Sunbright. The sawdust is free - there's a mountain of it behind the mill.

Looking up at the construction of the roof. The sets of rafters with crossbrace settled 1/2" once the sheathing went on, so I constructed modified beams to help take the weight in case we got a heavy snow load.

The table and chairs my parents gave me with our sprayer for watering seedlings, and one of the many bunches of onions we grew and later cured hanging in the barn.

Black walnuts gathered at Sunbright's city park, drying on the barn floor.

Acorns also drying. Most are chestnut oak acorns gathered at Pickett State Park.

Storage on the lower story. Presently trying to sell the appliances, as the cookstove, Rapid Washer, and drying clothes on the line make the gas stove, washer and dryer unnecessary.

The beer bottles will be used as an insulating layer in next year's cob oven.

The duck pool for when we first got the ducks. It only lasted a month before leaking everywhere. It was a huge job to bucket out all the duckwater for fertigation. For now the masonry tub works for us as the ducks mostly free-range. Eventually we'll dig a pond.
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