Picture Thread
 

I took a few pictures around my place this morning. I'm a terrible photographer, and I used my blackberry which doesn't take the greatest pic's. Plus it is an overcast day. It was nice and sunny yesterday.

The first pic is a chestnut tree wrapped with stucco wire to protect it from deer. I used to pound stakes to support the wire, but now just wrap the trees and let the wire stand up on the ground. The chestnut was planted last year.

The second pic is one of the gardens which is fenced in with stucco wire. I have a 1" sprinkler hose around the top which is used for watering. It's hard to tell but there is a sprinkler in the corner.

The third pic is my first riser from my pump near the river. It used to be plumb, honest! I have a water license to take water from the river.

The fourth pic is one of six sprinklers that I fabbed out of 2" stainless steel pipe. I should have wire wheeled the welds to get rid of the heat marks in the stainless to make them look prettier. I made 4 - 8 footers, and 2 - 5 footers. The 8's go in the orchards, and the 5 footers go in the garden where the perimeter sprinklers can't reach. I hate moving sprinklers...

Number 5 is a big cedar. You can see the lockblocks in the backround.

Number 6 is a small walnut with wire protection. I planted it last year after I cleared the trees in that area.

Number 7 is a picture of one of the orchards. The reason the risers lean is that I wrap the 2 " hose around the cam lock outlet, which causes the PVC to bend. I eventually should add a stiffener to keep the pipe straight..

Re: Picture Thread
 

This is my root cellar entrance. I have a side walk leading to the house. I would have attached directly to the house like Tennessee Andy, but my house is built on an engineered mound to protect it from river flooding, and there are rocks in there the size of small cars. It gave my tractor a good workout to get as far as I did.

My neighbor has a self loading logging truck and helped me place the concrete lock blocks. They are 4500 lbs each. The blocks were the most economical method for a retaining wall. They're about 80 bucks ea. They are also designed to protect the house from high water, as the house is built high enough for a 1 in 500 year flood.

When you open the door, the ceiling is an inch or two above the door. You can see the fresh air intake beside the door. This will eventually be piped to the floor of the cellar. The exhaust portion is one of the three abs pipes against the house, which exhausts the stale air from the far corner of the ceiling. The other two are the inlet/exhaust for the propane boiler.

I did the first tier myself, but had help placing the second. Since I did that work last year, shrubs and grass have a ways to catch up. The uppermost tier is still dirt on top (this is the rear of the house and still requires landscaping). Almost everything I am planting is edible.

Re: Picture Thread
 

I've got 36 blueberries to plant over the next few days. I have 12 ea of early(Duke), medium (Blue crop), and late (Brigiita) varieties. I am forming a hedge with them around part of my lockblock walls so nobody walks over the edge and falls. They are amazing cheap ($3/plant). I don't know how the growers make any money, but I buy directly from them, no middleman.

I have another 60 or so planted elsewhere as well.

Re: Picture Thread
 

Looks great! nice place.


Did you make the large patterned concrete blocks, or did you buy them?

Re: Picture Thread
 

As mentioned, I paid ~$80 bucks each. They seem to be a local product, as I haven't seen them anywhere else. The company is headquartered in Vancouver. Plain ones are cheaper. They are like lego blocks as they interlock together, hence the name lock blocks.

My place is a work in progress. I've been here 5 years, and have done a lot of work. But when spread over a large acreage it sometimes looks like there hasn't been much done. I find the hardest work is clearing forest. Did I mention there's some big trees around here? I need a root grapple attachment, as most of the work is picking off the ground the branches and roots from the trees after I remove the timber. I do that by hand currently.

Re: Picture Thread
 

Duh... you did. I completely missed it! I was looking at all the pictures! :confused_m:


I know what you mean, with acreage, it seems like the list gets longer, not shorter....

Re: Picture Thread
 

Where did you get the blueberries?

Re: Picture Thread
 

Yes, I've seen your work in progress. Your pond will be a great addition to your place. Good luck with the HOA.

Just a suggestion; If you are meeting with your HOA and there are several people, bring some donuts or other fresh baked goods and some good coffee (starbucks, etc.) and present to everyone before the meeting. My job involves some PR, and I have found that there is no better way to bring a hostile crowd to your side than to feed them:) It sure seems to smooth things out.

Cheers

Re: Picture Thread
 

yeah Skid: Your place looks awesome. I like the river and the forest and the house with the root cellar and the all the rest too. Very cool.

Good work! :ok:

Re: Picture Thread
 

I bought them locally in Abbottsford. Blueberries are one of the largest tree fruit crops in my area since there is a lot of money to be made growing them. There is so much competition from small nurseries, that they almost give the plants away. As mentioned at 3 bucks ea for 4 year old plants ready to bear, there is no way I could propogate them cheaper myself if I had the time.

What I do find hard to get are hazel nuts. There are major restrictions on moving them around due to eastern filbert blight. I'd like to add another 100 or so of them.

Re: Picture Thread
 

Not to derail your thread, but they have not announced the meeting time or place. I am wondering if it would be beneficial or not to force them to let me attend.

Re: Picture Thread
 

If were me I would attend. It'll keep em honest..

Re: Picture Thread
 

Great looking setup! I would love to live in an area like that!