Wabi-sabi has been busy building a temporary outdoor kitchen the past several weeks. Before we really get underway on the ‘for real’ kitchen construction project, we are setting up this outdoor kitchen as a place to cook and eat while we are building. Right now, we’re eating on a sort of glorified tent platform with a simple rocket stove, a filing cabinet for food storage, and a bucket with a spigot for washing dishes. This temporary outdoor kitchen will have, most importantly, walls and a roof, which the current setup does not. It will have rainwater catchment for dish washing water, a lorena-style stove, and hopefully plenty of storage for food. It will not have seating space, however.

This has been a funky construction. We’ve used entirely reclaimed lumber for the building. Lots of completely miscellaneous and (what could be considered) subpar lumber, metal, and windows. The most striking feature is definitely the recycled red truck bed cap roof. The building almost looks like it’s in motion. The structure was built around an already existing small gravel pad and trench for a project that didn’t get finished.

This project has been good practice for me, since I’m a bit of a beginner carpenter. (Yes, even after building my own house… isn’t that funny to consider?) Thomas is a skilled woodworker with a unique style, so much of his style and experience has guided this particular project. The building has been slow at times and I’ll be happy to have it done and have a place to cook out of the weather.