Setting The Scene

Setting the Scene

With a change in the direction of the blog I think it’s time to get a little more personal. Wait! Who dimmed the lights? Is that Marvin Gaye? No not THAT kind of personal.  I meant that I should tell you a little more about the specifics of life on Good Luck Green. 

First of all, where did the name come from?

Why thank you for asking imaginary, interview person. Good Luck Green is just the name that Becky and I made up when we first moved into our new house here in New Hampshire. The “Good” and the “Luck” each come from parts of each of our last names. Plus we thought it sounded nice. At the time there really was no concrete concept of what this place would turn into. We thought that we might put in a garden, but nothing like the size of the one I just finished making.  Good Luck Green went from being an idea, maybe even a fantasy, into a real place, place that is alive with the work and joys of trying to provide a new kind of life for myself and my family.

So what does the “farm” look like?

I’ll start by talking about the garden and the animals and go from there.

The garden -There are the two large beds, there is another one that is a little bit smaller that you can’t see in this picture as well.

We are part of a garden co-op. On top of growing vegetables for our own household we grow 2 different vegetables per year and contribute these to the co-op. We then get to take home a bunch of vegetables that other people have grown in their garden. In this way you don’t have to be an expert in everything and are still able to get great fresh local vegetables throughout the summer. It’s really a win-win for everybody. It also is an affordable option for people who can’t swing the cost of a CSA (community shared agriculture) share or whose local CSA’s have extensive waiting lists (which many in our area do).

Animals -We also never had any plans to own anything other than our dog. Oh but how that has changed. We currently have 8 ducks – 4 Pekin and 4 Magpies.  We get between 3-5 eggs per day from our flock.

We also have 3 goats. Two wethers (for the initiated this just means neutered boy goats in goat farming language). The boys are named Frodo and Bilbo – We are huge Lord of the Rings fans.

Just recently we acquired our first girl goat named Lady Mary. She is currently helping to provide milk for our family.  There will be more to come on this. Let’s just say that it has been an experience learning how to milk and take care of Lady. That being said, look at this photo of her with our son, Tommy.  

 

Ain’t that sweet?  So really that’s the farm for now.

Okay, so that’s it then? You are going to take this from a rural project blog to a farm blog? That’s cool I guess, but aren’t there a bunch of farm/hippie/homestead blogs out there already?

Well yes and no.

I’m not changing the blog. I’m just adding to it. I’ll continue to update and upload my woodsy rustic projects, but I wanted to give more perspective than just “Hey! Look at this! I made something!”

I wanted to give context. And I’m sure that there are other blogs out there similar but not truly like this. Because this is the story of the life of my family and it’s more than just a little hobby farm. It’s a life.

I’ve built mountain bike course in our backyard out of logs and trees from my own land. I’ve built a knife throwing target from the trunk of a pine I took down. I’ve used other wood from this same pine to help fence my goats, build a goat milking stand and am currently building a shaving horse for using my draw knife on. 

I’m going to tell the story of how we live and what we love, and hopefully others will take inspiration from this and be able to live the life that they dream of – even it is something completely different. It’s not about doing what I do, but finding out what it is that you want to do and then simply doing it. For Good Luck Green, it means living a rural life while still staying connected to the modern world.

- Chuck

Homemade Pipe

My brother heard about me making a wooden pipe for myself and he asked me if I could make him one as well. Of course I obliged. 

Designing a pipe like this is not my idea. I saw it somewhere else on the internet a few years ago. I've been making them like this for awhile now and they work really well.

Tools and supplies

1) Dried Tree limbs

2) bandsaw

3) Belt sander

4) sandpaper

4) Drill with large drill bit

5) Piece of wire.

6) Vise

I stared with a blank, basically cut out of a tree limb. This is wood that I've had lying around for at least 6 months so that I know that the wood has dried. Use your imagination here and find a piece of wood that you think has an interesting look.

Next I sanded down the bottom of the bowl. I tried to keep this rustic and not make it too even of a job. I like seeing the different layers of the bark and the unfinished wood at the bottom. I basically just used a belt sander to get the rough shape.

Now I clamp the sanded blank in my vise (careful that you don't over-tighten it) and then drill the main hole. I Work the bit around in a wide circular motion to bore out the entire bowl, trying to keep it as even as possible.

Here you can see the finished shape of the bowl. I don't worry to much about getting the inside of the bowl perfect. I just shape it until I like the way it looks.

Okay, this is the tricky part. Take another piece of limb that you want to use as your pipe stem. Take your drill and clamp the piece of wire in where you would normally use a drill bit.

Then You really just use the wire to drill out the middle of the branch. The pith in the middle of the branch is weaker than the rest of the wood and your wire should basically follow the path of the pith right through the whole branch.

This part it touchy and you may need to experiment with the right kind of wood and the right kind of wire. To stiff and it won't follow the channel of pith in the middle. Too flexible and it just won't drill through, or if it does the hole might just be too narrow for a good pipe draw. Take your time, experiment and expect to ruin a few branches.

Alright now drill a hole in the side of the bole. Try and make this hole meet at the bottom of your bowl as best as possible.

Alright, now you need to sand both sides of your stem, one side to fit into the bowl and the other so that you have a comfortable place for your mouth.

The one picture I forgot to add was slicing the stem at an angle where it goes into the bowl. Basically, you want to cut your stem so that it sits flush at the bottom of the bowl. Using an sharp x-acto knife from the end of your stem, cut a small wedge so that you are exposing a little bit of the channel in the middle of your stem. This will help with the pipe draw. It's a nice extra step but is really not necessary.

Alright, here is the finished pipe on a stand I made for my brother. He was very excited with the gift.

Later I will post up about a pipe rack that I made to hold my pipes. On this post you will be able to see a few more of the pipes I have made. I really enjoy making these because each pipe is unique in shape and feel.

Feel free to post any questions or comments that you might have.

Thanks for reading.

Taking things in a new direction

Taking Things in a New Direction

Let’s be honest, I have been less then faithful with my blog updates. In fact I’m pretty sure that I’m writing this blog right now for my one loyal reader, myself.

However I’m going to try and take this blog in a new direction. Instead of just adding projects I have been working on, I will start using this blog to share the experiences of raising a modern American family with a back-to-basics/homesteading/farming slant. 

Really I just want to share the wonderful adventures of living in the New England woods and also to help people realize that you don’t have to move ‘off grid’ to start moving toward a simpler, more self-reliant life.

I’ll still be putting up completed and step-by-step projects but I will also be including stories of our triumphs and challenges in building a little backyard farm and garden. 

Also here is a picture of Becky with a duck. Enjoy!

- Chuck

Pallet Shed Turned Duck House

Earlier this spring I started building a shed for myself out of free pallets. I'm not sure exactly how, but at some point the shed for my lawnmower turned into a duck house for some new ducks my wife brought home.

Anyway here are a couple of quick pictures of the process. As usual, the goal here was to be as frugal as possible. I think the total cost for this shed was around $40. I made everything out of free or recycled materials except for some odds and ends like screws and some strapping for the roof. 

I started by laying out my pallet floor on flat rocks and concrete blocks that I had. I screwed them together and then screwed up the initial walls. I used some old wood I had lying around to frame up the top cross beam.

You may be able to see it in this second picture, but I made the roof beams out of small tree trunks that I had cut down earlier in the year. 

After finishing the framing with the pallets adding the beams on the roof and putting strapping across it, I covered the whole thing in old political signs. These things are great. They are plastic, waterproof and best of all free. I happened to have a friend who ran for office and had a ton of left over signs, but even if you don't you can collect these from the side of the road after any election. 

Well here it is my finished below shed, for the ducks. It's been 4 months now and they are living happily in their little home.

As always, let me know if you have any questions. This is not a very detailed post, but maybe it will give you some ideas on how to create your own shed and or duck house!

Hand Hewing Timber - the quick way.

I'm planning to build a carport type structure next year for my tractor. I may even make it into an enclosed garage, but I haven't really decided yet.

My goal is to make as much of the timber out the wood around my house. I'm going to start by cutting the main beams and support beams. This is time consuming work, so I'll be starting this winter/fall and hopefully have most of the beams finished by next spring.

This quick walk-through will show you the easiest and quickest way I've found to cut the beams. For some I will be using a slightly more complex plan that actually involves measuring - Gasp! I'll post directions for these as well shortly. 

The only tools I use for this are a chainsaw and a sharp ax.

Step #1 - Find the log you want to work on.  Try and find something as straight as possible. This will minimize the amount of work that you have to do later on.

This one is relatively short, but will be used as a support beam.

Step #2 - Using my chainsaw I cut perpendicular lines down the log. I try to keep them at an even depth and as level as possible. In this picture I have already rolled the log onto it's side, but the cuts should be done as "flat" as possible and keeping the saw as level as you can. Be aware that the log itself is narrower and wider in certain spots. Take this into account with the depth of your cuts. This first set of cuts is the most important, since it will set the tone for rest of the log.

Step #3 Turn the log on it's side and using your axe start cutting out the wedges. Don't worry to much about getting everything perfect on this first pass. Once you have cut out all of the wedges you can then go back and clean up and shape the cuts.

Step # 4 Using the the finished side as a guide, start over and cut the top of the log again. Turn the log on it's side and use your axe to repeat the process and cut the beam flat. I use the first finished side as my guide for my second and third side of the beam. Basically I leave the side opposite of my first cuts till last. I find that it is easier to eyeball the shape this way and it turns out much closer to square in the end.



Here is the finished beam. All four sides cut and shaped roughly. Later I may go back with a draw knife and sander to clean up the rough ax lines, but then again I may not since this is just for a tractor shed.

Like I said, this is a pretty simple walk - through. There are really only two steps - Chainsaw cuts then Axe shaping. You just have to do the process four times. Just take your time, and trust you eyes and you will end up with some simple to make lumber that is great for any kind of rustic building work.

Cabinet Door Shelf

My wife got these two cabinet doors for free and asked me to make a set of shelves to hang on the wall.

1) I started by cutting the doors at a 45 degree angle on my table saw and gluing them together. 

2) Here you can see the backside of the shelves and the corner bracket I made for the clamps to attach too.

I cut this out of some leftover boards I had lying around

3) I then took a couple of pieces of pine and cut out the shelves. I had to use two pieces and glue them together.

4) Here are the shelves glued and nailed into the cabinet doors. you can see the first coat of stain on the shelves as well.

5) These are the left over pieces from the cutting on step one. I decided to use these to cap the front of the shelves for decoration.

6) Here is the finished shelving with the decorative pieces glued on the front.

If you have any questions please let me know. 

Cigar Box Guitar

My brother-in-law is a fantastic musician. He primarily plays guitar, but he also plays trombone and drums.

One of his favorite things to do is play home-made and strange instruments.

So i decided to make him a cigar-box guitar for his birthday.

I made everything out of recycled materials, except for the tuners and strings.

I got used cheap tuners at a local guitar shop and an old cigar box from a friend. Then I just went to work. The neck is made out of red oak, and the fretboard is made from the wood inside the cigar box. I made the frets out of wire coat hangers.

Anways, here is the finished product. Let me know what you think!