We have a fairly slow internet connection consisting of a weak wireless signal emanating from somewhere across the canyon that we're perched on the edge of. The blog photos are very slow to load, so I've started just typing the text part while the photos load. As a result, the photos could come in anywhere on this page.
The first photo shows the sauna, in the new woodshed building, in progress. We insulated the pallet walls of the sauna with a light straw clay, formed by mixing straw with a clay slip (created from clay soil mixed in a 5 gallon bucket with water), installing one foot high plywood slip forms on either side of the wall, then stuffing the wet straw-clay tightly into the pallet wall, mashing it down and against the slip forms. The forms then get moved up and the process is repeated until you reach the top. The straw-clay dries hard and solid. Next, we applied an earthen plaster inside and out (we even plastered the ceiling, which is also insulated with straw clay). You can see the earthen plaster on the lower half, and the straw clay waiting to be plastered on the upper half.
The second photo shows the size of the radishes that are coming out of the greenhouse now. They've been growing since mid-August in a horse manure and clay-silt soil mix, with lots of sun, warmth and water, so they are huge, but still taste great.
The third and fourth pics were taken from the interior of the trusty Tercel as we traveled over Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray on our way to visit friends and talk with organic farmers up in Paonia. It is one amazing road. It's not that they don't believe in guardrails in Colorado - there just isn't room for guardrails on the edge of this road. The pavement goes right to the edge of a several hundred foot drop. People on the edge side tend to hug the center line (us included!)
No comments:
Post a Comment