Stone Stairway

These flat stones came out of the microhouse foundation. They lead up to the what will be the main entrance to the microhouse. They were arranged and placed by Eli.

Black Locust Post

Here is a black locust tree I debarked with the draw knife. It's 20' long, I cut it in half to use as two posts for a future work shed.

Tank-Tent Expanded

We recently lengthened the tank-tent to allow for the long timbers to be protected once the sawmill comes. This photo gives a more realistic perspective of the size of one of the main brush piles.

West-Facing View of Tent

This photo was taken from the site of the future microhouse.

Blackberry Patch

This is the way the entire meadow was when I first started this project. I have managed to keep this piece in it's original form and plan to keep it like that. There are also some milkweed plants which the butterflies love. This will serve as important attractor for beneficial insects and a testimony to how it once was.

Chipping for Compost

I have made piles of pine chips and also piles of chips from all other trees. The pine chips are best saved for enriching the soil around blueberry bushes. I also use the pine chips for the sunny john. The humanure compost is up on the ridge and will only be used for fertilizing Black Locust trees, which are only harvested for their rot-resistant wood. I have been bringing compost from my garden in Asheville, which is rich in worms, and mixing it with straw from a neighbors farm. I also add big bags of organic juice pulp from a local juice bar. In this photo, on the left of the compost pile is the non-pine chip pile ready for mixing in with all the veggie matter.

Brush Piles = Swales and Wood Chips

This is one of several brush piles which I've been clearing, chipping the small branches for compost and sheet mulching and cutting the larger branches for either firewood or for building swales. To form temporary swales I lay the trees on contour on the uphill side of tree trunks to catch any falling debris. In the future I will dig trenches on the uphill side of those tree piles and fill the dirt in to form terraces that will catch rain water and allow it to percolate into the soil and prevent soil erosion.