Adding Connections to the Septic

When we bought the property, the septic tank and drain field were already in place. However, there were no connections to the tank. Luckily we had Uncle Gary's tractor to help us with digging trenches in order to stub out future connections for the tank as well as install the RV dump we can use while we are living in our little travel trailer.
Alan loved "playing" on the tractor to remove the dirt covering the tank (even in the rain!) and dig the trenches for the pipes.

We "christened" the septic system and the RV dump on 5 June 2013!

Burning Brush and last year's construction debris

Another chore to be completed this visit was to burn all of the brush from last year's tree limbing as well as old piles scattered about the property. We also were able to clean up last year's construction debris from the barn.

Planting 600+ Trees on our property

After our cruising season aboard SV Kokopelli this winter, we returned to the US earlier this year (in May) and headed up to our property in Idaho to plant trees that our forester had gotten for us. We didn't want to miss the "window" for tree planting.
Ed (the forester) has had special tools made to help make the job of planting easier and faster.
The first step is to clear away the surrounding ground of weeds and grass. We did this by kicking at it with our hiking boots as the area doesn't have to be that large.
Then, the first tool has a solid cone-shaped bit that you push into the ground while holding the long handle to form the hole for the little sapling.

After dropping the sapling into the hole, the spade like tool is pushed in adjacent to the hole--about 2-4" away--and then rocked back and forth to loosen the soil.

The final step is to remove the spade tool and stomp with your heel into the slot made by the spade to secure the tree and form a natural depression for rain water to collect and water the tree.

After moving over about 12 feet, the process starts all over again until all of the trees are planted. It took us 2 days to get about 650 trees in. Ed said that each of us should be able to plant about 1000 per day. HA!

Building the Barn

Sorry about the delay in posting, but it's been a busy summer and fall. We managed to get the barn completed up in Idaho and I thought I'd add some construction photos to the blog. Work commenced while we were in Phoenix at work. A two week trip up to Idaho in September allowed us to be onsite for the building completion--even though we continued to work remotely.

Don and his crew of Mountain View Steel Buildings did a FABULOUS job and we were very pleased with their work. We can't say enough good things about them. We hope they'll be available for our next project!!

Soon we'll be heading to Kokopelli in Panama for the winter sailing season. Follow us there at www.sailblogs.com/member/svkokopelli.

Movin' Dirt Around

Well, we've taken the first steps toward clearing and leveling the space for the barn.

 We've been meeting with proposed pole barn builders/suppliers as well as utility reps. Our nearly empty trailer serves as a makeshift office.

Alan meets with a rep from a pole barn company.

In our spare moments, we've been hard at work unloading the treasures from the trailer into the shed.

Yikes! That's a LOT of stuff in this little shed!

A Start - House Numbers and the First Building!

Our first task was to put up some numbers so that all the folks we'll be meeting with can find us!



Alan puts up the house numbers!



On Saturday, we bought a 10 x 16 Old Hickory shed to store our "stuff" in temporarily.

And today, Tuesday, June 19, 2012, we placed the first structure on the property!

Idaho -- Home of Future Dirt Dwellers

From Minneapolis, we spent one night in Billings, Montana and then on to North Idaho. Note that it is "North Idaho" and NOT "Northern Idaho". "North Idaho" is a PLACE.
 We've spent several days trying to jam several months' worth of work to organize buildings and permits into one week.
The fields are nice and green at this time of year.

View to the Northwest from the SE corner



View to the West down the driveway from the road



View to the SSE from the "front porch" (someday)

Both of the streams on our property are running! West Fork Pine Creek can be heard even from 500' up the driveway and across the road.

 

Looking upstream - West Fork Pine Creek

Looking downstream - West Fork Pine Creek



Creek flowing into the NW corner of the field

Here is a view of the (overgrown) cart road that runs into the mountains on our property and alongside the creek leading up from the NW side of the field.