The kitchen garden is beginning to produce plentiful crops of potatoes and onions. I've halted the transplantation of saplings to the planned wooded area as one sapling died and two others struggled but managed to survive. I'll wait until the rest of the saplings are dormant in early spring before planting out.
Other than that, I have been making a sawhorse from old pallets and splitting logs. A maul makes a big difference. Glad I bought one. For those that don't know, a maul looks similar to an axe but has a wider wedge for a blade. It splits rather than cuts like an axe and also has a large head at the back so that it can be hit with a sledge hammer for those tought to split logs.
I received some interesting items in the post. A bag of broken photovoltaic cell pieces. They can still be used to make a solar panel so I'll get some plywood, to mount them on, at the weekend.
I also received a book on currachs (the traditional Irish hide covered boats) and intend building one in the near future though it will have a canvas hull rather than a hide one. I was at a birthday party tonight and was told that the bay is full of Mackerel so I will be fishing in my skiff tomorrow.
A day of arboriculture
My saplings are taking over the polytunnel so I have been transplanting some of them into the fields. I took a walk into the woods to see how close the trees there were growing. Even at two paces the alder trees were producing good trunks and crowns so I have planted my trees at intervals of two paces too.
All my alder seedlings died. It may been that they do not like being transplanted at an early age but I had a load of alder saplings given to me so I have been planting them out and can take cuttings from them next year.
My golden willow trees are trying to burst out through the roof of the polytunnel but an attempt to transplant one outside led to its demise. I shall just have to leave the other trees where they are and take cuttings from them next spring. When the new trees are established I can dig up and burn the trees in the tunnel. The birch seed I picked up from a nearby forest produced many seedlings and these will be planted out when they reach over a foot high.
Twigs and small branches from firewood processing is shredded in an electric shredder and used as mulch at the bases of the trees that I'm planting out. Ten years from now I want to be able to cut down a few trees each year and only use driftwood to supplement what I have rather than use it as my principle source of wood.
I shall be trying short rotation coppicing in the new year with my golden willow, grey willow and some osier that I found nearby. I shall prepare 2cm wide by 20cm long cuttings for planting next march. I must go to the hardware store and buy a mattock to prepare the ground.
Other than that I have been collecting pallet wood so that I can build a sawbuck for holding logs as I cut them with the chainsaw. Damaged palette wood is cut up into small fire starter sticks. The local adult education centre was throwing out old wood from its days as a vocational school for aspiring teenage builders. I took it and now it is ready for the stove.
I don't think I have enough wood to last the 150 or so cold days I am expecting in winter and spring. As soon as the wind and rain ceases then I shall sail out into the bay and visit a few islands for a couple more fallen trees.
All my alder seedlings died. It may been that they do not like being transplanted at an early age but I had a load of alder saplings given to me so I have been planting them out and can take cuttings from them next year.
My golden willow trees are trying to burst out through the roof of the polytunnel but an attempt to transplant one outside led to its demise. I shall just have to leave the other trees where they are and take cuttings from them next spring. When the new trees are established I can dig up and burn the trees in the tunnel. The birch seed I picked up from a nearby forest produced many seedlings and these will be planted out when they reach over a foot high.
Twigs and small branches from firewood processing is shredded in an electric shredder and used as mulch at the bases of the trees that I'm planting out. Ten years from now I want to be able to cut down a few trees each year and only use driftwood to supplement what I have rather than use it as my principle source of wood.
I shall be trying short rotation coppicing in the new year with my golden willow, grey willow and some osier that I found nearby. I shall prepare 2cm wide by 20cm long cuttings for planting next march. I must go to the hardware store and buy a mattock to prepare the ground.
Other than that I have been collecting pallet wood so that I can build a sawbuck for holding logs as I cut them with the chainsaw. Damaged palette wood is cut up into small fire starter sticks. The local adult education centre was throwing out old wood from its days as a vocational school for aspiring teenage builders. I took it and now it is ready for the stove.
I don't think I have enough wood to last the 150 or so cold days I am expecting in winter and spring. As soon as the wind and rain ceases then I shall sail out into the bay and visit a few islands for a couple more fallen trees.
Rain has returned
After two weeks of sunshine and lack of rain it has finally turned cooler with plenty of rainfall. There is less to do outside now that all the seedlings are planted, just cropping, composting, mulching and wood processing. Plenty of work to do inside though, with the insulation of the house needing to be finished before winter.
When taking a rest, I like to read Mother Earth News. This is a US self-sufficeincy magazine that puts back issues online. Starting in 1970 their index is packed full of useful information. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Future projects; inline solar water heater, photovoltaic solar panels built from cheap broken solar cells, building a trailer and harrowing the north field for short rotation coppicing next spring.
When taking a rest, I like to read Mother Earth News. This is a US self-sufficeincy magazine that puts back issues online. Starting in 1970 their index is packed full of useful information. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Future projects; inline solar water heater, photovoltaic solar panels built from cheap broken solar cells, building a trailer and harrowing the north field for short rotation coppicing next spring.
Potato crop
Dug up another two potato plants today. A nice yield considering how early they are. These are Cara variety and produce a nice floury potato when cooked. They go into our stews but also roast and fry well. We also have Golden Wonder and Sharpe's Express varieties too. I think we have far too many potatoes for this year so I will see which is our preferred variety and just get the one lot of seed potatoes for next year.
Trees for the wood
Now that we have the stove installed we had better build up our store of wood. We have three sources of wood. Off-cuts from the trees and hedgerow around the land yield mostly rhododendron and holly. A wood next door contains the same as my land with the addition of pine and goat willow (Sally Tree as the locals call it).
One corner of my land (about 0.2 acres) is set aside for all the seedlings we planted this year. We planted alder, ash, beech, birch, goat willow, golden willow, horse chestnut, oak, sycamore and walnut. Our third source of wood comes from driftwood in the sea. Some large logs can be picked up from the beaches. Mostly birch and some pine that has fallen in from various forestry concerns. How careless!
With the stove installed I'm back to insulating the roof for the onset of winter. The only reason, I can think of, why the previous owners didn't do it themselves was that they ran out of money. Plaster board fixed to the roof joists mean I have to squeeze into tight spaces and cut a piece of aeroboard specifically for each gap between the joists and feed the aeroboard. Very slow and tiresome work but it has to be done. The previous owners had electric heaters upstairs during the winter and were regularly burning 1000 kW of power a month! We get through just 100 kW in the same period of time.
One corner of my land (about 0.2 acres) is set aside for all the seedlings we planted this year. We planted alder, ash, beech, birch, goat willow, golden willow, horse chestnut, oak, sycamore and walnut. Our third source of wood comes from driftwood in the sea. Some large logs can be picked up from the beaches. Mostly birch and some pine that has fallen in from various forestry concerns. How careless!
With the stove installed I'm back to insulating the roof for the onset of winter. The only reason, I can think of, why the previous owners didn't do it themselves was that they ran out of money. Plaster board fixed to the roof joists mean I have to squeeze into tight spaces and cut a piece of aeroboard specifically for each gap between the joists and feed the aeroboard. Very slow and tiresome work but it has to be done. The previous owners had electric heaters upstairs during the winter and were regularly burning 1000 kW of power a month! We get through just 100 kW in the same period of time.
The new stove - part 3
Well, here is the completed installation. All 180 kg of it. I'm having a long rest today!
It took a while to install the stove as I couldn't get the flue components that I wanted, locally. On buying it the store keeper told me the way the locals install their stoves. A 90-degree elbow from the stove and then put your vertical flue a good few feet up the chimney and pack the outside with rock wool to keep it in place. No thank you. Chimney fires are not for me.
There is a paucity of stove information on this side of the Atlantic so I did some research on American websites and decided that I would need a 135-degree T-piece with a cap on the bottom as a soot trap and inspection hole. Then I would require a 45 degree elbow to connect the T-piece to the stove and a 6-inch diameter to 7-inch diameter adaptor to connect the T-piece to the chimney. And here it all is.
At the back of the stove we see the 45-degree elbow connecting to the 135-degree T-piece.
I made a bracket to support the weight of the T-piece so as to relieve any strain on the adaptor above. Below the bracket you can see the T-piece end cap to allow soot collection, chimney inspection and for rescuing Ed's pigeons. Two of them managed to fall down the chimney last Christmas. Looks like roast pigeon for this Christmas.
Finally, we see the adaptor. A very fine adaptor it is too. The only problem being that the original house builder didn't build the chimney with it in mind. With much fiddling and banging with grinders and drills I managed to hold it in place with screws and fire cement. Normally, the two skins of the adaptor sandwich the chimney flue between themselves. That wasn't going to happen here. So, I had to remove the top of the outer skin, screw the screws into the inside of the chimney flue and then pack around the inner skin with fire cement. A very solid connection was had and the T-piece slid onto it perfectly.
A test firing resulted in no problems. It's pretty warm outside and so the house is baking. We won't be needing the stove until October but it's good to know that it will do the job when asked.
I would like to thank Stoves Online over in the UK for their prompt and knowledgeable service. Just two days after placing the order, the exact items I required were delivered to me.
It took a while to install the stove as I couldn't get the flue components that I wanted, locally. On buying it the store keeper told me the way the locals install their stoves. A 90-degree elbow from the stove and then put your vertical flue a good few feet up the chimney and pack the outside with rock wool to keep it in place. No thank you. Chimney fires are not for me.There is a paucity of stove information on this side of the Atlantic so I did some research on American websites and decided that I would need a 135-degree T-piece with a cap on the bottom as a soot trap and inspection hole. Then I would require a 45 degree elbow to connect the T-piece to the stove and a 6-inch diameter to 7-inch diameter adaptor to connect the T-piece to the chimney. And here it all is.
At the back of the stove we see the 45-degree elbow connecting to the 135-degree T-piece.
I made a bracket to support the weight of the T-piece so as to relieve any strain on the adaptor above. Below the bracket you can see the T-piece end cap to allow soot collection, chimney inspection and for rescuing Ed's pigeons. Two of them managed to fall down the chimney last Christmas. Looks like roast pigeon for this Christmas.
Finally, we see the adaptor. A very fine adaptor it is too. The only problem being that the original house builder didn't build the chimney with it in mind. With much fiddling and banging with grinders and drills I managed to hold it in place with screws and fire cement. Normally, the two skins of the adaptor sandwich the chimney flue between themselves. That wasn't going to happen here. So, I had to remove the top of the outer skin, screw the screws into the inside of the chimney flue and then pack around the inner skin with fire cement. A very solid connection was had and the T-piece slid onto it perfectly.A test firing resulted in no problems. It's pretty warm outside and so the house is baking. We won't be needing the stove until October but it's good to know that it will do the job when asked.
I would like to thank Stoves Online over in the UK for their prompt and knowledgeable service. Just two days after placing the order, the exact items I required were delivered to me.
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