Glenn's Underground Cabin Update

Started by glenn kangiser, January 30, 2005, 10:24:03 PM

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glenn kangiser

Well, I looked over the gopher situation and decided I just have to diligently fight them this year.  If I bury a wire screen I will have to deal with it next year and they will likely climb over the top anyway.   I have seen them come out and walk across the ground.   If I put them in containers I likely will not do better - didn't work well last year.  

So I prepared about a 30 foot long double row... dug it up, sprayed AEM on it.. put composted wood chips and garden compost with egg shells on it, then I got the tractor out and cleaned out the cow corral......



I put a couple inches of old manure on top and sprayed it with AEM again.  I had some older AEM to use so mixed it about 20 to 1.  That should get things moving.  It fixes nitrogen and makes micro-nutrients more easily available to the plants.  I double checked and Potatoes want more acidic soil so I put the AEM on pretty heavy both times - it is acidic.  PH meter showed it to be in the perfect range so I planted the potatoes and covered them up.





Got a couple more good pix coming up the driveway tonight from town...



a better one of this flower...



and what I thought was some pretty cool looking grass by the garden....




Now the mystery plant.... It is really one of our prettiest green plants right now... Know what it is?  [noidea'



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Forgot to mention, I spread one pail of ashes over the potato bed also - that will also give it micro-nutrients as ashes contain all of the minerals of the burned plant.

Last few pix of the UCLB visit.  

We returned to town for dinner at the China Station Cafe.  Had to get a pix in the old beat up 81 Jeep... some of our kinder student visitors called it a classic... :)  They all seem to love to ride in it.





Grub was fine and I'm full as a tick..... [waiting]

We order family style and get tons of extra food.... and besides.. we are extended family anyway....

Had to get a shot with a couple more friends... :)




...and what trip would be complete without comments from the guests who were conned into staying at the Underground Complex?  Click the pix for the short commentary....






A picture of our entire group of guests from UCLB Sunday afternoon... actually looks like we missed a few - supposed to be 23 I think....sometimes we miss the final pix but it is fun to do it when we can....












"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Redoverfarm

Glenn did you lose Beefsteak.  I thought I saw him in Germany.  If not you might be able to train him.  Sign of a real good rancher.

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/05/6410491-the-cow-jumped-over-the?GT1=43001

glenn kangiser

Dang it, John.... now I'm gonna have to go and check to see if he's been snagged by some beautiful young German girl.......



"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Finally dried out enough to where I could get up the hill and check my other project as well as get the solar panels mounted for the pump.  Upon checking orientation of the existing cabin there I found it was not facing south so it would not be suitable for the solar panels.  This made it necessary to make a panel mount that faced south without breaking the budget.  I had some treated posts from a fence job and got some treated 2x4's from the lumberyard.

I set the posts about a good 3 feet deep and spaced so each post carried half of the load.  Before digging the holes I checked the location of true south with my Android compass application.  I re-calibrated it before checking. Checked it again for this photo op....   Within 15 degrees of due south will catch most of the usable sun if not using a tracker.  This set of panels is pretty close to due south.



I put 90 lb roofing isolators to be under the aluminum frames to prevent any reaction with the treated wood.  I used 1/4 inch self drilling fasteners with wings to drill the wood and anchor the panels.  I connected the panels together with one screw in the center to prevent any chance of one coming loose from the frame.



The 2x4 frame is attached to the posts with a 3/8 lag and washer each side to allow pivoting then 4 screws are installed later to prevent movement from the desired angle.  I kept it flat to install the panels.

The frames can be made to fit the panels as needed in this manner.  I cross squared to assure the panels would mount without running off of the frame.



I leveled the post tops by using a 2x4 across the tops and deepening the desired hole bottom until both were level.  Dirt and gravel was tamped into the holes around the posts with a digging bar giving a good firm mounting frame for the occasional high winds encountered here.



It will now be in a location that will receive plenty of sun all day long, winter or summer.

Looks good to me... [ouch]




"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

Nice stand.We recently got 70mph winds here.That's the strongest winds we have had since spring of 1983 when the local weather station clocked winds at 72 mph.

glenn kangiser

Thanks Ben. 

We also had high winds recently that ripped trees out in the canyon and ripped the roofing off a nearby building.  Figured I better go for two posts set deep.  [ouch]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

OK.... here's what's up....

I didn't have any Ice Cream, and I kept going back and forth to the freezer and fridge looking for something....... [waiting]

Sassy says it was an act of desperation.... [ouch]

I opened the fridge, took out the pan of cold Saffron Rice and scooped out a couple of big scoops into a bowl.....

Next I poured about 1/8 inch of Organic Turbinado Sugar over the top of it... Hey... stop laughing... I want this to be a healthy desert....  ::)

I took a spoon and cut that into the rice... you want the large granules of sugar so it crunches when you bite it....

Next I took a bottle of Organic Chocolate Syrup, popped open the cap, inverted it and squirted Chocolate all over the top of the sugar covered rice....

Over that, a nice fluffy pile of Whipped Cream....

I ate it..... [hungry]



A Rice Cream Sundae.... Not too bad....  :o


PS:  Check out the above video where Russ says I'm not crazy.....  [scared]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

As you know, Paul Wheaton at www.permies.com is our buddy and we share stuff back and forth.  

Paul shared knowledge of Sepp Holzer with us and Amazon gave me an offer to pre-order Sepp's new book about a month ago.  I ordered it and have been checking it out a little since it arrived last night.

I love his dealing with authorities section.  Much like Mike Oehler and my own philosophy.  Those who jump through all of the hoops usually don't get much done (paraphrased) - look at all other angles first... subtle changes... progressive changes... out of sight, out of mind... I like it.  Not endorsing civil inattention to authority figures and agencies of course.... [ouch]

Great book - though I am just getting started.  It is about making something out of mountain land ...exactly like mine... :)

http://www.amazon.com/Sepp-Holzers-Permaculture-Small-Scale-Gardening/dp/160358370X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302205456&sr=1-1
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Pine Cone

Your poison oak is looking very attractive right now.  Even prettier in the fall with all the nice red leaves.

I'd love to be planting more in the garden right now, but we had a good freeze last night so I'm just hoping the stuff I planted last weekend survives.  Too early for tomatoes around here.  So far it looks like another cold and wet spring.  Over 55" of rain at our cabin since the beginning of September...

MountainDon

Quote from: Pine Cone on April 07, 2011, 06:09:25 PM
Over 55" of rain at our cabin since the beginning of September...


Three years worth at our cabin and five+ years down here at home.
Just because something has been done and has not failed, doesn't mean it is good design.

glenn kangiser

I think poison Oak is one of the prettier plants we have around her, though Sassy doesn't especially care for it.

Yeah, the rain just keeps on a coming and snow again though it is not accumulating.  Amazing how tweaking the weather here and there can cause all of this rain, eh?  :)

Nice thing about it though, it will bring all of the radiation down to the ground where we can make better use of it..... [ouch]
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

OK... So I come home and Spike runs up to meet me... black streaks up and down his sides and back...

What did you get into boy?  [noidea'

The sniff test quickly tells me.  My cleaning out of the cow pen has been a complete success as far as Spike is concerned and he of course had to go do a few appreciation rolls in the nice big fertilizer pile.  I am so happy I did not do the taste test.... [waiting]



Another weather front moved through and once more gave us nice clean fresh covering of snow.  Nice, as it makes it look like I don't have that many Spring cleaning projects to do.  [scared]



This year I hope to get a few of my nice unnatural resources piles moved down the hill to some of my storage terraces.

Speaking of terraces... I have been studying over my new Sepp Holzer book and am getting lots of new ideas.  I am going to take my newest terrace area and do it more in Sepp style, building up a couple high mounds to make more growing areas that are easier to harvest and hold more moisture using less irrigation water.  He randomly spreads a seed mix to make a self sustaining varied mix of plants rather than the rows we are accustomed to.  His plants are huge.  He does this as soon as he makes the bed.



I hope to expand a lot on his methods around here.

The start of a few videos on his methods... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzRzJRiUylg
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go



glenn kangiser

Thanks, Ben.  It is sometimes a bit hard to get decent pix during the stormy weather ...and sometimes great.

I had to go look at a storm damage repair job up the road about 40 miles today.  My buddy called and told me of a neighbor who needed a contractor.  Looks like I will have some crane work and other work to do there.

Many trees came down in the big storm and fell on anything under them.

A horse died under this one.



So it looks like my Underground Complex building tools will get to do some real work again for some other purpose.

On that reliable grid power, my client said they were without electricity for 7 days.  [noidea'

On the way home through Hell's Canyon, I managed to snap a few more pix of the wildflowers.



It may not seem like much but try taking pix and keeping from plunging over the edge 1500 feet to the river below.... [ouch]



I stopped where I could for better pix, but along most of that area the road is just wide enough for a couple of vehicles and little room to park and take pix.

"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Working on improving my hugelkultur bed per Sepp's new book today.  I already have a couple feet of brush under the whole works.  Now I am gathering materials to make the steep raised garden bed per his recommendations.  He recommends 3 to 4 1/2 feet high approximately if access to a machine is available.



A log will last longer... small stuff gives back nutrients faster.  I put a mix of each.


Now I need to get some mulch on there so I can plant.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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ben2go

I really need to get out and visit the left coast one day.LOL

glenn kangiser

You are always welcome here, Ben.  We'd throw a little meat on the barbecue for you....  [bbq]
I got the brush pile covered with decomposing wood, termites and wood waste.  Cleaned up a bit around the sawmill to have something to put over the brush, then took the bush hog down to my 6 year old wood chip pile for some nice mulch for the top.  Sepp says he uses whatever he has available.

I sprayed it down with a good application of AEM to get the little critters breaking things down for us, then I threw a bunch of the appropriate seeds for the still cool weather on the pile as Sepp recommends.  

Now lets see if this works.  [waiting]

Guess I better recheck the book and see if I missed anything. :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

I have wet the pile of brush, soil and seeds down a couple times to get the seeds started sprouting as they see fit.  Hard to say when our next rain will come.  

As you can see, it is not the kind of a garden you would normally expect to plant or see, but I think it is what Sepp intended.  I put an excess amount of seeds out there so hopefully some will encounter the right conditions.



We went to a Brad Lancaster Rainwater and Greywater seminar here in town today.  A very interesting presentation.  He sold out his books at the last seminar but had a couple of copies to look at and we got on a list to order them locally.  Lots of very good info.

As with anybody in the know who gets things done, he recognized that some of the current laws need changing and recommended .... shall we say...civil disobedience.... until the laws are changed to comply with our God given rights and civil rights per common law.  California has recently improved laws so that greywater can be legally used following proper guidelines.  We have been following those guidelines for years, even before the law was changed.... though it is time to make better use of the greywater here.  [ouch]



He does recommend following proper guidelines and stated that greywater is not hazardous used properly.

For more info, his site  www.harvestingrainwater.com .
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

One of his main objectives is to get people to realize that the soil is the largest and cheapest reservoir for water.  You grow plants to retreive that water.  Using the rainwater properly - conserving it on your land then saves on the amount of water you have to pump for irrigation or landscape maintenance.

I have been working on this some already as you can see from above but more knowledge of the subject on different methods makes you see more what you can do and why you need to do it.  As I begin to better understand it I only see the need to speed it up some.

http://www.quiviracoalition.org/ is another one he referred us to.  One rock in a gully will build up sediment behind it improving water retention.  A series of them over the years will continue to build and improve water retention even more.  Explained in the Erosion Control PDF.



Free info from them  PDF's http://quiviracoalition.org/Education_and_Outreach/Publications/Field_Guides/index.htmlhttp://quiviracoalition.org/Education_and_Outreach/Publications/Field_Guides/index.html
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Brad brought up that Arizona has removed restrictions and there are no permits or fees for greywater use in AZ, again as long as guidelines are followed.  Some use 3 way valves to switch greywater from going to septic or landscape.  Greywater stubouts are mandatory at least in Tucson where he is from - in new construction.  I am not sure if it applies to the whole state.  Not req'd to be hooked up -- just to be in the walls.

He mentioned that at our latitude there is a 1 to 1.8 ratio for solar so that is how far the shadows will cast in the winter for solar placement.

http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/page/calculators/ has interesting info on resource use.. not that I'm a fanatic though.... :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Hmm - looks like Photobucket is still down this morning.  They must have really had a crash.

I have a cool picture and short video of our micro-climate illustrated by a moving low cloud this morning.  As soon as I figure out a way to get a picture up I will get it posted.  Lets try this... Click the pix for a short video.......



I got the photo posted to Picasa.  Let me know if there are problems accessing it without an account etc.

The low cloud shows the extent of the cold air moving through the valley.  The top of the cloud is exactly where it ends and above that it is too warm to form a cloud.  The air is not mixing, but rather it is stratifying with the warm air above coming to our garden.   :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

So, I went to get these trees and limbs out of the dead horses corral today for my customer.  I noted that my truck was sinking into the soft ground so pulled it ahead a few feet before starting work and put out the outriggers with a large pad on the drivers side.......



After a few hours work getting broken limbs out and falling another tree, it was time to move the truck....

Easier said than done.  After sinking to the axles trying to get out zI had to hook the front winch to a tree about a hundred feet away and pull while driving.  After seeing water coming out by the rear tire I determined I had broke the water line from the pump to the house about 18 inches down in the mud..... [ouch]

After breaking the winch line and still stuck, it was time to repair it and hook up a snatch block to the tree then the cable back to the truck giving double reduction. [noidea'

When putting clamps on a cable there are a specific number required to get full strength.  Lacking specs I like to use three.  Always put the saddle on the live side of the cable.  The U side of the clamp always goes over the dead end.  That gives the strongest connection.  Never saddle a dead horse..[deadhorse] 

How appropriate for this job.... [waiting]

Hooking a rope to the hydraulic handle, I was able to winch while driving and pulllllllled  it out sloooooowly through the mud.  Had to pull about 30 feet.

With the truck out of the mud we went to the hardware store and got fittings to fix the water line....Be sure to use primer on the PVC water lines especially when it is cold and hard........After fixing the line we set the logs to the side and called it a day.  I will bring the big Live Oaks and the section of Ponderosa Pine home for boards..  The rest will be fire wood.

On the way to work this morning I snapped a picture of an old miners clay and slate fireplace.  Another form of old alternative building.   The cabin is gone but the fireplace still  stands.



Note the old tailing and waste rock piles behind it.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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glenn kangiser

Went down to check the cows today and drop them off a little cow snack.... a few flakes of alfalfa hay to go with their nice green irradiated grass....

On the way I noticed some Lupines growing along the road and took a shot of them.  It won't be long before the summer sun will dry them up....



The cows found their snack this afternoon and while we are looking at them I thought I would mention that the limb is in the water for a purpose.  It is a critter escape route.  If a critter falls in the tub while getting a drink it simply needs to swim over to the limb and climb out.  They are required on government funded farm grant jobs, but they are then made to specifications and made of steel.  For my critters, a limb will have to do....



Bossy cow is looking more round every week...  I think Bully Boy accomplished what he came here to do.

I know we have seen it before but I always like to stop and look at the Chinese Houses... one of my favorites of the wild flowers along the driveway.



Meanwhile, back at the Underground Command Center.... Sassafras is checking out the area I think I need to build another hugelkultur bed in. I checked the area I planted a few days ago but no signs of life yet.. wonder if those pesky birds are up to their tricks already... probably just too early though - I got rid of the quail brush pile.  Last year they ate everything as soon as it came up.  



Speaking of hugelkultur, I ran into an unknown friend from the next mountain over.  I actually nearly ran into her as I was looking at the news stand and trying to read while walking.... a distant cousin got ran over by a bus that way.  [ouch]

She said she looks in here to see what is going on over the mountain every so often, was in the Brad Lancaster seminar and enjoys hugelkultur.... I am updating the hugelkultur for her... :)

I am going to try a few more of the high raised beds this year.  We will see how effective they are.  The one past Sassafras is flat with wood 2 1/2 feet deep.  I think I will raise it some also to get the ground loosening effect.  I noticed in one of my wood piles, the voles (gophers) had carried dirt about 2 feet high into it.  Hard to believe what they can do.  Sepp says just to plant extra for them to eat too.  I say ... well .. OK but only within reason.  I do have a bit of a water shortage up here yet..... [waiting]

Where I built the Terraces on the low side of the mountain to the left of the access roads, the loose clay is causing a great deal of growth in the new grass each winter.  That is just from loosening it and moving it over.  The trees are doing great after they get established.  Maybe even a few more apples this year... they are blooming nicely.  :)



That bloom is from our 4 in 1 apple.  





"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

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Whitlock

Quote from: glenn kangiser on April 13, 2011, 09:28:23 AM
Hmm - looks like Photobucket is still down this morning.  They must have really had a crash.

I have a cool picture and short video of our micro-climate illustrated by a moving low cloud this morning.  As soon as I figure out a way to get a picture up I will get it posted.  Lets try this... Click the pix for a short video.......



I got the photo posted to Picasa.  Let me know if there are problems accessing it without an account etc.

The low cloud shows the extent of the cold air moving through the valley.  The top of the cloud is exactly where it ends and above that it is too warm to form a cloud.  The air is not mixing, but rather it is stratifying with the warm air above coming to our garden.   :)

Haven't been on here in a coons age so I tought I better show up and post on your forum pages before you kicked me off.
I also see you have been stacking up your posts (looks like you are talking to your self again heh) So I'll help you out and post and end the stack.

Got the truck stuck again and you broke something or should I say somethings.
Oh well nothing new I geuss.

As for the cloud in the video it comes from the lake and raps around Mt. Bullion up Whitlock and the Gap towards you.
You should see it from here it is quite the site.
Sometimes it will come from your way but the clouds are allways higher.
I like it more when it comes from this way the clouds will settle in right at the base of my cabin making it look like I have ocean front property.This puts all ye low landers under the water.There is a down side :-\ I know this comes from the valley and you are breathing it in! I have tryed to sound a alarm so you can go undergroud before it gets there but it is all in vain as you make so much noise I don't think you can hear me?



From higher up,W
Make Peace With Your Past So It Won't Screw Up The Present