workshop

Martin has started putting his workshop together. Some of the insulation is done and he is currently building lofts to store lumber, tools, materials, etc. etc.

coconut coir

 My sister-in-law gave me three packages of coconut coir bricks.

I had never used them before, but had heard of them and was considering trying them.

Since the soil at an tigin is so sandy (read here - sand not soil) that I need to do some serious soil amendment to get the plants I want to grow. 

We have started hauling manure.

I added peat moss to the hedgerow.

 But with the pines and oaks surrounding an tigin, I am worried about the acidity of the soil and peat moss is acidic. 

Anyway, the rain barrels were full to overflowing and the coconut coir is supposed to soak in ten gallons of water. We just opened up the packages and put one and a half in each of the overflow rain barrels.

Instant swamp!

I am looking forward to adding them to the front yard, the area that I am prepping for a perennial flower bed.

If you have any words of wisdom for soil amendment, I would be thrilled to hear from you.

septic tank

 Martin spread the sand and what passes for topsoil over the septic tank. Eventually, we will do the same over the leach field. Then we will add a bit of soil amendment (anything is better than what we have), spread grass seed, and hope for the best.

septic and leach field finished

The Cornish Code Officer signed off on the drainage pipes in the leach field and the septic tank.

 Martin connected the septic tank to the house.

 We covered the leach field with hay.

 Our neighbor, the one with the backhoe, was nice enough to come over and move the sand back into the leach field hole. Now we have a back yard again and less dirt to figure out how to get rid of it.

Landscaping

I've been slowly working on taking out the grass and weeds that have sprouted up in the front yard. Once I have them out, we will haul in compost and manure in preparation for putting in a perennial flower bed thus fall.  Of course this will be with the help of friends who are generously donating perennials from their gorgeous flower beds.

Progress on the septic system

When we first bought an tigin, there was an outhouse in the barn and a faucet for the kitchen sink. That was the entire plumbing for the house. We always wondered what the sink drained in to.

While digging the hole for the septic system, Martin discovered the gray water sump for the kitchen sink. It was a hole lined with bricks and filled with rocks. The water from the kitchen sink drained into it for years and the dregs that came with that water collected in the sump. We suspect that the wringer washer that was in the barn also drained into the sump.

Martin dug out 25 - 5 gallon buckets of stinky, greasy, smelly, black, viscous, disgusting material that had collected in the sump over the years.

Despite cave ins, we finally got the hole for the septic tank dug.

 Then the septic tank was delivered.

 After that, Martin dug the trench for the drainage pipe to the leach field. The drainage pipe is in place and is connected to the distribution box and covered with 2 inch solid insulation to protect it from freezing.

Next we connect the septic to the house and then fill everything back in.

dipping shingles

Since the weather has turned hot and humid and digging weeds is painful work, I've started dipping the cedar shingles we are going to side the house with. Dipping shingles gives them better coverage than painting, rollering, or spraying them once they are already in place.

 I dip a shingle in the bucket of stain, brush off excess stain, and stand them in the drying rack that Martin built. The next morning, I box up the dry shingles and start again with the next bundle. I am hoping to average at least 2 bundles a day. More would be better, but it is amazing how many things interrupt my good intentions.

Lucky deal

Martin managed to pick up hard insulation, enough for the house and most of the barn, at a local surplus and salvage place.

As Martin says the insulation comes with "concentrated sea breeze essence". We are guessing that it fell off of a container ship or was in a lumber yard that was close to the ocean and got swamped by a hurricane.

We aren't complaining though. The price was right.

Sand saved for making mortar - later

We are planning on having a wood stove in an tigin with a brick hearth and wall. We will be using the brick from the original chimney.

We need sand for making the mortar. Since we had a leach field full of sand, Martin thought it would be a good idea to store some for when we are ready to build the brick hearth and wall.

So in preparation for making mortar, we now have a bin full of sand, just waiting until we are ready to screen and use it.

forward progress on the septic system

 Once the leach field was dug out, we ordered a couple of truck loads of gravel. The gravel needed to be spread out evenly throughout the leach field and then leveled.

 Once Martin got the gravel spread and leveled, he rented a compactor to firm it up.

Then we put the drainage pipes together. Martin needed to dig out trenches in the gravel where the drainage pipes needed to be placed.

 Lastly, the distribution box was put in place.

Now we just need to have it inspected again before we can fill the hole back in and have a yard again.

 In the meantime, Martin got started on digging out the hole for the septic tank.