New Barn

This past summer was a whirlwind as they usually are. This year's big project was an 18 X 28' barn that will serve as our summer art studio. The project began with clearing some large trees and bringing in fill and crushed stone for our poured concrete slab foundation. We then opted for 2 X 6" stud walls 16" on center. The walls are 12' high with scissor trusses on top angled at a 12/12 pitch. Inside it is 24' 6" to the ridgeline. This open space feels much bigger than it actually measures in square feet because of the volume created with the open, tall ceiling or actually lack of ceiling. In other words it is open to the roof. The roof is sheeted with 1" rough sawn pine, covered in 30lbs. felt paper, 1 X 3" purlins, and then top of the line metal roofing. The snow ought to slide off this roof nicely. Next summer we will add more windows and sheetrock for a brighter space as it will serve primarily as a painting studio. We hope to add a ten foot, "bump out" addition on the back for a framing room. A solar array to power led lighting is also in the long term plans. Once the rest of the windows are in place we will finish siding the gable ends with cedar shakes.

Spring 2015

The Daffodils are up and the black flies are out, or so I am told. Friends of ours checked on the place this past weekend and took this photo. They reported that everything made it through the second extremely rough winter in a row. No damage as far as they could see. That is alway comforting. We will be arriving in June and look froward to the coming summer at Dragonwood!

Spring 2013

I thought I'd share these photos sent to me by some very dear friends who recently visited Dragonwood. They live nearby and check in on the place from time to time when we are away. They tell me that Dragonwood came through another Tug Hill winter in fine shape. Looking forward to summer in the woods!

Almost Utopia

Many readers of this blog share my interest in the lives of Helen and Scott Nearing. This book will be of interest to those same folks. Here is a review I found on the book "Almost Utopia".

Reprinted from Amazon.com

By Elaine Beckwith
Elaine Beckwith Fine Art, Jamaica, Vermont

This review is from: Almost Utopia: The Residents and Radicals of Pikes Falls, Vermont 1950 (Paperback)
The photographs contained in this volume capture a remarkable slice of time in an isolated community on the cusp of change. The pure artistry of these candid shots and the skillful ability of Rebecca Lepkoff, an outsider, to place herself and her camera so unobtrusively before her subjects were remarkable. Rebecca is not present in her photographs: only her subjects, clear, rough-hewn, and strong. These images celebrate the commonplace with freshness and authenticity, frozen in time yet profoundly alive in their moment and, through Rebecca's skill, uncannily alive in our time as well.

The accompanying essay by Nearing scholar Greg Joly places the people, the community and the photographs in historical context. Joly ties the people to place; the rugged character of the land is reflected in the character of the folks who settled in this isolated environment.

This book is interesting on many levels: the artistry of the photographs; the historic association of the "intentional communities" of radicals and others who migrated to the isolation of this Vermont valley; and recognition of the hardscrabble locals who had lived subsistence lifestyles in this rocky landscape for generations.

Could GMO's be killing the honey Bees?

I don't buy into every conspiracy theory that comes along, but this is interesting and should make us all stop and think.

A must read

http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25950

I apologize. My hyperlink functionality is still not working. You'll have to copy and paste.

Field Testing Bobbex Deer Repellent

Like most rural locations across the northeastern part of North America we have a huge white tail deer population. Seems deer love to eat Hosta. We now have hundreds of Hostas and well over forty different varieties.

In past years the deer didn't bother with our Hosta collection until fall when they were about to go dormant anyway, so we didn't care much when they browsed off the foliage. Last year they decided about the end of June to devour our collection. Luckily Hosta are very resilient and come back with out any problem the next spring. We set out to try a host of different tricks to try to keep the deer from feasting on Deb's babies. Nothing really seemed to work and this year by the middle of July half of our collection has been wiped out by these hungry critters.

On the reccomendation of a local nursery we have purchased and applied Bobbex Deer Repellent to the ones that remain untouched. The nursery claims this is a good product and I hope it is.

We will let you all know how this works and what we think of it.

We would also like to hear about any other ideas you may have. Please feel free to share your experiences good and bad with deer repellent, tricks or products.

Orange Marmalade Hosta

This is one of our favorite Hosta plants. Orange Marmalade. It seems to be doing well in it's second summer at Dragonwood.

Orange Marmalade is a mutation of Paul's Glory and is a medium size Hosta. The golden yellow/orange center turns to white later in the season. These Hosta produce a lavender flower in mid summer.

Root Cellaring

Well,.... being that it is winter and all, I tend to do a lot more reading. One of my next projects at Dragonwood is a multi purpose underground building. The primary function will be that of a root cellar, so my latest read was Root Cellaring by Mike and Nancy Bubel. This book is an excellent read, well written and interesting but also full of specific detailed information on planting and growing root cellar crops, to harvesting and winter storage. The book also informs of the history of root cellaring and covers a variety of designs and suggestions on building your own root cellar and then how best to use it. I took this book out from our local library but have decided it is a must for my own library and will refer to it as a point of reference in my own root cellaring endeavors.

I happen to have an ideal spot picked out where I will have to do minimal excavating for a 10' X 12' earthship/cordwood root cellar. My intention is to divide this into two small rooms. One that will have a dirt floor and the other a concrete floor. There are advantages to doing this for different types of storage. The back wall and two side walls will be earthship style in that I intend to recycle tires rammed with dirt. The living roof will be supported by hemlock beams from some trees I need to clear for garden expansion and the front, northeast facing wall will be cordwood masonry. This design should not only function well, but have some aesthetic appeal and the side benefit of allowing me to try out three alternative construction techniques. Earthship construction, living roof and cordwood masonry, all of which I hope to include to varying degrees in other future projects.

The root cellar will a labor intensive project but will also be a good classroom as I get first hand experience in these alternative building methods. As in all of my projects everything is subject to change and the cordwood could easily be interchanged with slip form masonry once I am to that stage of the project.

I am looking forward to this project and Root Cellaring is an invaluable guide for me in this project. If you have any interest in putting food by without the use of electricity this book is for you! Highly recommended!

Mortgage Free

I am constantly hearing from people looking to go off-grid. Everyone wants to do it, but few seem to have a plan. This book in my opinion is a must read for anyone wanting to buy property on or off grid and not be shackeled by a monthly mortgage payment.

Trust me this is for real! We did it.

Click on the image of earthwood in the sidebar to be redirected to their web site where you will find this book and many others by Mr. Roy!

Happy Reading and Good Luck!

Tug Hill

This short video gives you a glimpse of the region. In talking with people from different parts of the country I often sense that many people picture New York City when they think of New York. It is difficult for some folks to imagine vast wilderness areas and pristine forests with clean rivers and lakes.

The Tug Hill region is about the size of the state of Rhode Island and lays between Lake Ontario and the Adirondacks.

In addition to the core forest area there are many family farms, great cross country skiing and snowmobiling. The Salmon River and it's tributaries as well our many lakes and ponds make for great sport fishing. We also have a growing Amish population. Oswego county aloan now has over 300 Amish families that have moved here over the last five or six years. Wide open spaces, cheap land and an abundance of fertile soil and fresh water make this area very attractive for those who wish to live off the land.

It does take a strong spirit to endure our harsh winters. Lake effect snow piles up on average between 200" - 300" every year.

Act Now - Call Your Senator - Stop S510

Senate Bill 510, The Food Safety and Modernization Act is scheduled to go to vote this evening. Like many bills it is well intended, but like most bills there are unintended consequences and this is no exception. Do your own research. This bill sounds good to most, after all who doesn't want food safety?

"Agri biz" giants like Monsanto and others have been behind this bill for the last couple of years and it is now finally up for a vote. The bill is expected to pass. We must act now before it is too late. Do your own research.

This bill could harm if not bring about the end of small farms, especially small organic farms and farmers markets. Seed saving will no longer be legal. The Government wants to control food production and marketing at every level, but it's all in the name of safety.

I first blogged about this in May of 2009 when the bill was in committee in the House. It was known then as HR 875. I can't believe it has actually gotten this far. Then again most of Congress (both parties) receive huge contributions from the "Agri Biz" giants.

The scariest thing about this, is once open pollination seeds become illegal and are eliminated there is no turning back. We as a human race will be owned by Multi-National Corporations.

I for one will be hoarding my seeds no matter what. I guess I will be an outlaw, but I'll be damned if the government is going to tell me I can't grow food on my own property from my own seeds!

http://www.prisonplanet.com/urgent-call-for-action-last-chance-to-defeat-s-510-food-safety-modernization-act.html

http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978721405

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/paintsville-ky/TU04QDO2GRRBGG3DT

A Sign Of Things To Come

"It's beginning to look a lot like......." Well you know the rest. Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, it's that time of year and the lake effect machine will begin to crank up. The cold winds coming down from Canada over Lake Ontario will begin to dump prodigious amounts of snow on our side of the lake. Time to dust off the snow shoes and cross country skis. This morning we only had an inch or two but soon we will measure it in feet.

Mortgage Free by Rob Roy

Here is a must read for anyone who is looking to simplify their life, find that piece of land and build your own place without the burden of a large mortgage. Rob Roy is an outstanding author on a variety of "back to the land" type books. I get a lot people asking about Dragonwood and how we did it. How did we find our land? How can you own something without a mortgage unless you have a lot of money? Trust me it can be done. Until I write my book I recommend this one.

Rob Roy is the author of several excellent books and videos including Cordwood Masonry, The Cordwood Sauna,and his latest book Stoneview: How to Build an Eco- Friendly Little Guest House. Mr. Roy also runs Earthwood Buillding School near Plattsburgh, New York.

http://www.cordwoodmasonry.com/

Putting Up Wood

We heat with wood and split most of it by hand. Yesterday my buddy "Timber" Dick Dupre spent a couple of hours at Dragonwood with his splitter. Sure made easy work of a good five face cords. It would have taken us many hours of hard labor to split by hand what we were able to do in less than three hours with the machine.

Photos, Top to bottom: "Timber" Dick Dupre running the splitter, KII rolling a log for me to "buck up" with the chain saw, and the bottom photo shows me gathering kindling.

The Cabin at Dragonwood

"Rock Run"

A Good Haul! KII and I never pass an opportunity to grab some good field stones when we have the chance. We have numerous ongoing stone walls and other stone projects as well as some Andy Goldsworthy style sculptures planned for the gardens. You can't have too many rocks. We have several piles in various places around the property. These get sorted every now and then into "rounds",corners,flats, uglies, etc.. This makes it easier to find the right stone for a given need.

We plan to clear about an acre for additional gardens and some fruit trees. Pulling stumps and bulldozing should produce a bounty of choice specimens next spring.

Stone Wall Detail

I thought I would post this close up of one of the many stone walls that I have put up at Dragonwood over the years. This one is a little over 10 years old and look at the moss and lichen. It looks as though it has been there much longer. The stone work at Dragonwood is a never ending project. I hope to do some stone spirals and towers in time.

Summer at Dragonwood

One of the many butterflies and moths that we see daily during the summer. The second photo is a hummingbird moth that likes the Bee Balm or "Oswego Tea" and at the bottom is a Lobelia Cardinalis, a.k.a. Cardinal Flower that grow wild around the pond. This year we have had a real problem with Deer eating our prized Hosta collection. In the past they have browsed the Hosta in the fall at the end of the season, so we really didn't mind, but this year for some reason they started munching in June. Not good. Deb is trying a variety of concoctions to dissuade them from eating our babies. "Senator Muskie" our new resident in the pond this year is a young male muskrat. He ate all of our pickerell and I think most of the arrowhead as we have hardly any this year.

Blue Angel Hosta

Our Hosta collection is ever growing. We now have well over 30 different varieties and Deb is always looking for more. She has become obsessed, a real "Hosta Freak". I even see a series of paintings in the near future.

This Blue Angel above is one of my favorites. I especially like the blue foliage. Other favorites include Orange Marmalade, Yellow River, Dream Weaver, Sum and Substance, Katie Q, June, as well as some of the variegated varieties like Patriot, Minuteman, Whirlwind, Wide Brim and Francis William.

At some point I will photograph and document them all.