New Purpose
I have decided to salvage this old blog and re-purpose it into a running commentary on projects I am doing around the house. A lot of this will be just plain old boring stuff to most of you. But if you are a do-it-yourself'er, then maybe you'll get a kick out of seeing me do things right or especially if I do it wrong. And if I am doing something wrong, let me know. All I ask is that you be polite about it. After all, I'm just a do-it-yourself'er wanna be at this point so I will take all the help I can get. I will be mixing old ways with new, hand tools and power tools, purists methods with heresy, but I plan to learn through it all.
Why am I doing this? There are multiple answers, but the most comprehensive answer is this: I'm sick of living in a "throw away" society that is becoming more detached from the land, that can't take care of itself, and that has no idea how things were done by our ancestors. I'm sick of living in a society that relies on somebody else to do it rather than doing it yourself and that teaches our kids to do the same.
I grew up in a house that had virtually no tools in it. There was a small drawer that housed a hammer, cross-tip and flat-tip screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, and an adjustable wrench. That's all. Not even a roll of duct tape. Everything that broke was fixed by a repairman. My dad grew up the same way because he lived in a mill-village and the mill owned the houses so the mill workers repaired everything. That goes back to the early 1900's when the family left the farm for mill work. But they did garden to supplement their diet, mostly out of necessity.
The big projects I am planning for in 2014 are mostly garden related. My wife has always enjoyed the fresh produce of a garden, but our normal 50x150 ft row style plot always became unmanageable, even with help from her father. Last year we didn't even give one a try.
So this year project #1 is a raised bed or square foot garden in a new location on the property. Naturally, there is some preparation necessary and feeder tasks that need to be accomplished if the square foot garden is to be a reality, namely, the greenhouse and fence. I'll be posting on those as well.
I'll also throw in commentary on tasks that get me side tracked or unplanned projects that pop up. We all know how fun those can be.
Why am I doing this? There are multiple answers, but the most comprehensive answer is this: I'm sick of living in a "throw away" society that is becoming more detached from the land, that can't take care of itself, and that has no idea how things were done by our ancestors. I'm sick of living in a society that relies on somebody else to do it rather than doing it yourself and that teaches our kids to do the same.
I grew up in a house that had virtually no tools in it. There was a small drawer that housed a hammer, cross-tip and flat-tip screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, and an adjustable wrench. That's all. Not even a roll of duct tape. Everything that broke was fixed by a repairman. My dad grew up the same way because he lived in a mill-village and the mill owned the houses so the mill workers repaired everything. That goes back to the early 1900's when the family left the farm for mill work. But they did garden to supplement their diet, mostly out of necessity.
The big projects I am planning for in 2014 are mostly garden related. My wife has always enjoyed the fresh produce of a garden, but our normal 50x150 ft row style plot always became unmanageable, even with help from her father. Last year we didn't even give one a try.
So this year project #1 is a raised bed or square foot garden in a new location on the property. Naturally, there is some preparation necessary and feeder tasks that need to be accomplished if the square foot garden is to be a reality, namely, the greenhouse and fence. I'll be posting on those as well.
I'll also throw in commentary on tasks that get me side tracked or unplanned projects that pop up. We all know how fun those can be.
posted by Cove Rebel at
7:18 AM
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