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Aug 04
Love1

We are South Slope Farm

By South Slope Farm, Homesteading
South Slope Farm

We finally have a name for ourselves…

After many months of head scratching and deliberating, our little piece of hillside in the Kentucky foothills finally has a name: South Slope Farm. Not only that, we’re now incorporated, too. My dream of becoming a corporation is finally coming to fruition… now, isn’t that strange to say?

Actually, South Slope Farm is not just the name of our homestead, but our small egalitarian community in the making. This is more than just a place to hunker down and grow food and plant trees and build cool stuff. April, Jacob, and I have been actively planning to cultivate a small intentional community for a couple of years now, and getting incorporated is just one of the steps towards that goal.

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Jul 23
Love1

Homesteading Realities

By Homesteading
tomatoes in the garden

Gardens + mountains in July

It is definitely high summer. The thermometer, garden, and lack of time to complete chores is a testament to this. Have you noticed this is my first update in a while? Well, needless to say, there’s been a lot going on.

This is our first summer at the new homestead. Which, by the way, we finally have a name for. In fact, getting our articles of incorporation and other paperwork in order has been another item we’ve been getting in order. I’ll save the announcement of our new farm name for the next post — that way you have something to look forward to, eh?

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Jun 07
Love1

Ziggy on The Permaculture Podcast

By Cob Building, Permaculture, Media, Timber Framing, Straw Bale Building, Homesteading
Clear Creek Road

This is Clear Creek, the valley we now call home

Last month, Scott Mann of The Permaculture Podcast came to our neighborhood to re-visit the community here on Clear Creek, the place we now call home just outside Berea, Kentucky. Last summer, he came for a visit to record a podcast and he had such a positive experience that he decided to make another trip. During his initial visit I was in Vermont attending a Permaculture Design Course, ironically enough.

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May 20
Love0

Green Roof on Straw Bale House: Alive and Kickin’

By Living Sod Roof, Straw Bale Building, Strawtron
green roof straw bale home

The Strawtron roof is lookin’ good and green these days

When we built our two story timber frame & straw bale house in 2012-13, we incorporated a green roof into the design. It was a hell of a task to pull it off, especially since we loaded all the soil onto the surface of the roof one bucket at a time. Sadly, we never stuck around long enough before moving to Kentucky to see the roof flourish with plant life. Thankfully, it’s doing pretty well these days.

Recently, I got a few photos from friends and I’m happy to report that the green roof is indeed just that — full of plant life and kickin’.

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May 07
Love0

Spring Fever

By Homesteading
South Slope Homestead

Spring at the homestead… glorious morning hours.

Spring fever has struck. Workshop planning, income work, scything the grass, baby raising, gardening, figuring out 501d non-profit organization process, getting our woodworking shop set up once and for all… the list goes on. I’ve barely had time to touch the computer the last week. It’s important once in a while to step back and take the long view — like this one, from halfway up our property. This is the reason we do the things we do, including driving ourselves half-mad on occasion!

 

Apr 19
Love0

Off The Grid Straw Bale Home: Spring Update!

By Clay Plaster, Straw Bale Building, Doors & Windows
Off the Grid Straw Bale House

This little off grid home is getting the finish work treatment this year

It’s been a while since I’ve posted any updates about the off the grid straw bale home we’ve been helping our friends build here outside Berea, Kentucky. Here’s a look at how the octagonal straw bale house is shaping up these days. It now has most of the base coat clay plaster complete, and more recently the window trim has been installed.

This is the year for finish work with the goal of moving in for the winter!

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Apr 09
Love0

Big Wood Weekend

By Carpentry, Woodworking
Red Oak Wood for Riving Shakes

One of our big wood scores this weekend… great for riving shakes

This was definitely the weekend for big wood. Big scores of big wood. First we saved some massive red oak logs from a local establishment with an eye for turning these big beautiful lengths of wood into shakes for a roof. (If we manage to save enough of the logs, we may even use the shakes on the upcoming roof of our timber frame pizza oven shelter.) And then by surprise, we found a local fellow who was advertising massively wide slabs of cedar… perfect for the kitchen counter we want to build.

Both of these are the kind of thing we may only find once or twice in our lifetime…

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Mar 23
Love0

Milk Paint: A Great Non-Toxic Paint

By Natural Remodeling
Milk Paint (Non-Toxic Paint) on Drywall

Milk paint can be used on drywall, even previously painted drywall

If there’s one particularly insidious building product, it must be paint. Conventional paint has a surprisingly high level of embodied energy, and the ill health impacts of the VOCs found in conventional latex paint are well-documented. When we decided to repaint the walls of our house this winter, we knew very early on that we wanted to go the non-toxic paint route. The prospective product had to have zero VOCs, be safe to use and dispose of, and not contribute to decreased indoor air quality. Ideally, it would be from natural materials. Thankfully, we found something that fit the bill.

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Mar 14
Love0

Photos from Around the Homestead

By Photos, Homesteading

I take a lot of photos, and living at the new homestead provides even more opportunity to do so. I try not to flood this blog with too much non-natural building related stuff, as it can easily become a bit unfocused.

However, you can still get a little insight into our lives here in Kentucky — check out our new instagram feed to see more photos from around the homestead. Expect a lot of gardening, woodworking, mushroom and wild food, craft, and other current projects there. Be sure to connect with us to get regular updates!

[instagram-feed]

 

Mar 08
Love0

Our Future Cob Stomper is Here

By Uncategorized
Baby Hazel

Our new baby boy

The day after I wrote the last blog entry, April went into labor. And on Saturday, March 5 April gave birth to our baby boy. (It was the actual due date, believe it or not). His name is Hazel Elliot and he’s a healthy 8 lbs., 2 oz. with a nice ol’ patch of dark hair. I fell immediately in love with this mushy little baby.

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