Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (agriculture, culture)

[ylisa7]

Good morning everyone. Wow....that was some cold front that came through over the weekend. We got some really heavy winds and even a little bit of snow. Thankfully today the weather is back to being a beautiful Fall day


Mike and I have been busy prepping for winter and getting ready for the cold. We also just got back from visiting family in NY.


I have one main story left with pictures. The rest of the time we have spent cleaning up and cutting wood.


Back to the end of August:

We picked up 12 more five gallon buckets of sealer for the driveway. We want to finish the sealing for the paving that was done the first year. We are waiting for a good day....one that is not too hot.

Each day Mike, Niki and I go to the pond to feed the fish. What is really cool is we have trained a turtle, the one we found on the side of the road, to come up and feed. He is so cool. I tried to take a picture but he didn't come out. Sorry!!!


8/29
Mike has been working really hard on our main building to get it ready for painting. He has repaired some dents, taken care of the rust, and cleaned it up. Kind of like a really big car

Mike sanding the building.


More sanding.


And finally blowing off the building of any debris leftover from the sanding.



While he worked on the building I made 12 jars of salsa. I am trying to do anything and everything with all the tomatoes my garden has.


8/30
Today is the day. Time to paint the building. Mike is going to spray it while I hold cardboard up to protect the solar panels. Hopefully we don;t have any wind today

Mike getting the sprayer ready.



Mike starting to spray.



We decided to paint the building the same color as the house. Next Spring we plan to landscape around the building.

Almost done with one side.



The building is done....and much better than it was

and




9/1
We have been watching our driveway and new curbs to see if we will have any washout. We got a little rain about a week ago and we have a slight washout at the end of our drive. Time to fix it

Mike and I went to the Farm Supply and picked up a concrete drain box and some pipe. Now for the work.


On our way down the driveway we check out the new curbing.

Here is a spout from our drive that goes into the ditch where we ran the culvert under the driveway. This one works well



The curbs on the driveway. They came out pretty good.



To get the drain box in we have to cut a rectangle out of the pavement. Mike gives me an ax and I go to work, lol.



It's a good thing the pavement wasn't too thick at that point


We finally get the new drain box in place.



Now it's time to dig the ditch for the pipe. Ugh!! This is where it got tough. It was not easy digging. Thankfully it wasn't far.



The pipe is in and connected to the drain box.



Next we put some seed and hay on the freshly dug area.



Another job done...the new drain box is finished.



If we could just keep the cows off of it so they don;t crush the pipe. We will have to add some rocks to keep them away.




9/3
We have some rain in the forecast so Mike wants to get seed on the hill across the way. It is a very very steep hill This is the plan. We are going to take 2 buckets, one for each of us, and 100 pounds of grass seed and drive through a neighbor's property and throw the seed "down" from the top We get to the top border of our property and I carry the buckets while Mike carries one bag of seed.



This is the hill we are trying to seed.



Mike goes one way and I go the other way with our buckets of seed. Looking across at Mike.



It is very steep and very hard to walk on. I finally made it as far as I could with my bucket of seed and I froze. All I could think of was tumbling down the mountain. I had no idea how I was going to get back to meet Mike in the middle. I'm thinking "oh great Mike is going to have to call 911 to get me off this hill" I got down on all fours and started to crawl backwards with my bucket. I was finally able to get back to the middle. I told Mike "I am done with this hill". He took the last bit of seed we had left and threw it down the hill.



We did the best we could. It is not an easy hill. Next spring we will have to work some more on it. After we got back to the Jeep, we drove down and put more seed on the flat area. Whew!!!

The bank is already growing in.




We know that the rain is coming and we will have to postpone sealing the driveway. When we get back home I help Mike unload the trailer with the sealer buckets.


I am so looking forward to that job....not, lol.


Instead of hurting ourselves, we have gotten wiser Mike uses the hand truck to take the buckets back to the building.




That is all we can do for awhile. Mike and I went to NY so the sealing of the driveway will have to wait until we get back home. I hope you all enjoyed this story. Have a wonderful week

Lisa

[hiknapster]

I do want to point out that most of Tennessee doesn't get a lot of snow unless you are up in the mountains and/or in the far northeast portion of the state. Mike and Lisa are in both.

Down in Knoxville the nighttime temps have been in the 40s with the day temps in the 60s. The rest of the week it will be in the high 70s to low 80s. We haven't received any snow and it will probably be awhile before we do. There's a lot of misconceptions about weather in this state. Some of it may have to do with those musical Christmas specials back in the day with the fake snow out the "window" on a soundstage.

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by hiknapster

I do want to point out that most of Tennessee doesn't get a lot of snow unless you are up in the mountains and/or in the far northeast portion of the state. Mike and Lisa are in both.

Down in Knoxville the nighttime temps have been in the 40s with the day temps in the 60s. The rest of the week it will be in the high 70s to low 80s. We haven't received any snow and it will probably be awhile before we do. There's a lot of misconceptions about weather in this state. Some of it may have to do with those musical Christmas specials back in the day with the fake snow out the "window" on a soundstage.

So true. We really don't get "that" much snow in the winter where I am. This past weekend was an abnormal. On the plus side...my area "typically" has awesome summers

[hiknapster]

Originally Posted by younglisa7

So true. We really don't get "that" much snow in the winter where I am. This past weekend was an abnormal. On the plus side...my area "typically" has awesome summers

Nothing wrong with your weather at all. Or anyone's weather for that matter. Or your posts!

But there are a lot of people from all over that read your thread and I just want to clarify that.

I have family in MA and in FL and they think it's snowing all the time over here. The truth is the mountains get it, sometimes, but not a lot of people live up in the mountains in TN. Most of that terrain is owned by the state and federal governments or they are so far from jobs that it is not feasible.

And TN is in the South still and even in the mountains it is warmer than say, the White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Summers are awesome in Knoxville, by the way. In Florida, that is another story!

[DubbleT]

That hill looks awesome. If you get a really good snow are you planning on taking a sled out there?
Can't believe you had your first snow already, bet the trees haven't even all turned color yet! Think it's a sign we're in for a long cold winter this year? Your pup looks like she already has her favorite warm spot staked out!

[ylisa7]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

That hill looks awesome. If you get a really good snow are you planning on taking a sled out there? You first, ok?
Can't believe you had your first snow already, bet the trees haven't even all turned color yet! Think it's a sign we're in for a long cold winter this year?

No the tress haven't all changed color yet. The Farmer's Almanac is calling for a colder winter....we'll see.

Your pup looks like she already has her favorite warm spot staked out!

Yes...Niki loves the wood stove. We tell her...c'mon let's "ooh ahh" and she knows that means warmth

[CA Sweet Pea]

Once again - thank you, Lisa for sharing your lives with us.

Nikki is so cute! Love the pic her sitting in front of the stove.

[Cruzincat]

If your seed washes down during the next rain you might want to look up the companies that spray the sticky goo with seed in it along new roadways. It must work or they wouldn't do it.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by Galiac

I really don't want to hijack Lisa's thread though, so I think I'll nudge the subject back on topic. What would be the best counties in Eastern Tennessee to live this way?

)

Sevier. LOW prop taxes, discounts at Dollywood and in Pigeon Forge, short drive to Knoxville and beautiful Mtns at your finger tips. I could go on.

[leonard]

Originally Posted by Cruzincat

If your seed washes down during the next rain you might want to look up the companies that spray the sticky goo with seed in it along new roadways. It must work or they wouldn't do it.

I used to do hydro seeding. The best "sticky goo" is old cardboard as the glue in it sticks it to the ground. Many companies use shredded wood which is OK but not as good. The cardboard holds water better. If no cardboard available, ask about shredded newsprint as it is better than wood shavings.