With the rafters in place, the wood framing is done, and it’s on to wrapping the frame with an insulating fabric (Typar, the gray stuff leaning on the left) and closing up the outside walls with tongue-and-groove siding. We’re working to get the space enclosed before any really cold weather and snow hit. As you can see, the inside wall of the previous Milkhouse is still intact—demolition to come.
Building & Fixing
What a difference a day makes
With the foundation in place, wood framing is surprisingly quick. In a few hours, the walls are framed up, and it’s on to the roof… Rough carpentry is interesting, you’re working not from a blueprint or even a real sketch, instead, there’s only an ongoing materials list assembled from plans in your head. Well, not my head. This is all quite new to me. Things go a little awry or something unexpected comes up, and it’s fixed on the way. So long as the basic plan is workable, you can always bang your way through the details.
Foundation
A concrete mixer pulled into the farmyard and poured a 6″ concrete pad on top of the firmed up gravel. Then we built a concrete block retaining wall against the gangway to the barn. The Milkhouse Extension’s ready for framing and well underway!
Milkhouse makeover
Autumn usually ends up being construction time. This year’s project is by far the biggest yet on the Tiny Farm, as we set out to more than double the area of the old milk collection room known as the Milkhouse. This was the only outbuilding that could be heated during the winter. After the upgrade, it’ll be a year-round multi-use space: office, seedling room in spring, overnight veggie storage in summer, the farm stand in the chilly days of late fall, maybe even the venue for the occasional, um, tea party… At this stage, it’s waiting for the concrete floor to be poured.
Opening soon!
The new farm stand, still under construction, should be open around June. It’s built mainly of rough-cut cedar from a local independent sawmill, with some old fence boards recycled as flooring.
Pond and barrel
This spring-fed pond was dug out last year from what was only a slightly soggy low end of the field. It holds around 30-40,000 gallons of water for not so rainy days. The barrel acts as a float, holding in position, suspended above the muck on the bottom, a plastic intake pipe that leads to the pump.