Vertical Grow Tower

Posted on May 11, 2019 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

It’s good to be back after a long hiatus. The new book manuscript and pictures are in the publisher’s hands and we can now focus on our normal routine. As you know, we’ve been gardening for a long time. Not only for the enjoyment and satisfaction of watching a seed germinate into something edible, but for us, food production is an integral part of being self-reliant. A vertical grow tower is something new for us.

Vertically Growing Strawberries

Vertically Growing Strawberries

There are many ways to grow a garden, but providing a seed a proper growing medium with adequate nutrition and water is as basic as it gets. How one goes about that is as variable as each of us are. Conventional till, no till, raised beds, vertical growing, greenhouses, hay/straw bales, container gardening, you get the idea. And for each of those methods, we all might try a tweak or refinement to improve the outcome as a variation.

Vertical Grow Tower

We’ve done a lot of this stuff and vertical growing has been a part of our annual growing techniques. We’ve always grown peas for example vertically on chicken wire fence run along the row for the peas to climb. Not only does it use space much more efficiently, but it makes picking a whole lot easier. I would argue that keeping the plants off of the ground keeps the plants healthier and allows air flow to help prevent diseases and mildews as well. Continue reading →

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Fall 2018 Nova Scotia Off Grid Homestead Building Update

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

So!… Some might surmise we spent summer swimming, snorkeling; surely somewhat slouched semi-supine sipping sweet seven eleven slurpees by the seashore. Seriously? No way! We have been maxed out since we last wrote. Where do I even begin? Let’s give you the fall 2018 Nova Scotia off grid homestead building update.

Finished Exterior

Finished Exterior

Orchard and Garden

You know we planted the orchard and garden this past spring and most things did pretty well. We lost a couple orchard trees and plants but the majority are doing quite well. The everbearing varieties of strawberries, much to our surprise, gave us lots of berries and they’ve taken over the berry patch. I would normally pinch runners off and control them, but there’s another patch I want to establish so next spring, I’ll dig and transplant runners with the result being we’ll have 2 large beds going. That should be at least 150 plants. Continue reading →

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Drainage Tile and Foundation Membrane

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

One item I haven’t written about is waterproofing our foundation walls and preventing water problems in the basement. As a kid growing up, we lived in a house with a basement that became a shallow pond at one end during prolonged rains. The only thing missing was the stocked trout. It was a nightmare! For our current project we used drainage tile and foundation membrane to waterproof our off grid ICF home.

Johanna Working Around the Foundation

Johanna Working Around the Foundation

Continue reading →

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Wiring Our ICF Off-Grid Home

Posted on August 17, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

The first thing I have to say is please don’t attempt to do any wiring of any kind unless you understand electricity and the proper way to install electrical boxes and circuits.

Mounted Outlet and Wire Grooves

Mounted Outlet and Wire Grooves

I don’t want to hear about any shiny red fire engines with lights flashing and siren blaring that needed to be called when the 12 VDC gizmo was wired to 120VAC and showed its’ displeasure by going full flame on. I’m not going to get into how to wire the house. But I will pass on some helpful tips on wiring our ICF off-grid home. Continue reading →

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The Real Dirt on Garden Soil

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Gardens with the vegetables and fruits they provide are an integral part of our self-sufficiency plan. We derive a great deal of satisfaction in providing the majority of our fruits and vegetables. In order to get the best results, we put a lot of time and effort into making our soil the best that it can be. Let me give you the real dirt on garden soil.

July 19 2018 Garden

July 19 2018 Garden

Dirt versus Soil

I haven’t looked up the proper definitions of dirt versus topsoil since in my mind, they are two very different subjects. For this conversation, dirt can be any layer of earth that may or may not support minimal plant growth. Whereas soil is a prime medium teaming with life and nutrients just waiting to give a seed a new lease on life. Continue reading →

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Spring 2018 Update On Our Off Grid Homestead

Posted on June 15, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

It’s been quite some time since we gave everybody an update on our progress or lack thereof. Let me give you the spring 2018 update on our off grid homestead.

New House in Nova Scotia

New House in Nova Scotia

We made it through the winter in the tent just fine. We lived with hat and coat on. While sitting on the sofa in the tent, we utilized 60+ year old wool blankets that were from my grandparents.

Finally, Into The House!

We made the move into the house mid–March and nothing has changed. We still live with our hats and coats on. It’s been a chilly spring and early summer. Even though I hooked up our wood cook stove, because the ceiling is uninsulated, we lose a lot of our generated heat through the ceiling. Add in the fact that when we moved into the house, the mass of concrete in the walls and the basement floor was frozen which didn’t help. Continue reading →

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Forest Fires and How We Survived Them – Part 2

Posted on June 2, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore
Chopper View of Sprinklers Running

Chopper View of Sprinklers Running

Imagine if you will, being outdoors and hearing a chugging sound in the distance and realizing that chugging is not a choo choo train coming. When you run down to the lake’s shoreline, four miles in the distance, you fix your gaze on a wall of intense undulating orange/red flames well above tree top level. Talk about getting instant dry mouth. By the end of the night, most of the surrounding countryside will be nothing but blackened, burned trees and ash; a heartbreaking sight! Let’s finish our series on forest fires and how we survived them.
 Continue reading →

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Forest Fires and How We Survived Them – Part 1

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

You never want to look out your window or step outdoors and see a column of black/gray smoke rising from the nearby forest. That happened several times to us when we lived out in the Saskatchewan wilderness. Those experiences give new meaning to the word “fear”. Let’s talk about forest fires and how we survived them.

Surprise! Never Good to Walk Outside to See This

Surprise! Never Good to Walk Outside to See This

 

Fires are becoming a problem even in areas that rarely experience a forest fire. Climate change as well as the way forests have been managed in the past have some bearing on this. It is heartbreaking to hear on the news of lives lost and homes burned to the ground when some forethought may have been the key to surviving. Continue reading →

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Roof Trusses and Exterior Roofing on Our New Off-Grid ICF Home

Posted on April 2, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore
Metal Roof with Chimney

Metal Roof with Chimney

We’ve worked hard to build our new home’s foundation, walls, and floor and we need to cap this all off with a roof to protect our investment of time and money. Our homesteads in Maine and Saskatchewan had a standard gable roof and the roof rafters were cut and installed onsite. Along with the new experience we are having building with ICF, we decided to go with a hip roof all the way around and have it pre-engineered with structural wood members. Let’s delve into roof trusses and exterior roofing for a hip roof on our new off grid home. Continue reading →

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ICF Floor System

Posted on February 21, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Floor systems is the topic of today’s post. It’s actually more complicated than it would appear. In a standard stick frame home, floor joists are laid down on a knee wall or a wall top plate, sheathing is put down and voila! A person has their floor in place. But it’s not quite so simple when the walls are concrete. After considerable research and thought, I settled on one method of ICF floor system for our off-grid home.

First, let me explain the dilemma we faced. We planned on having a reinforced concrete wall right up to the roof with a total height of 15 feet. Within that height of 15 feet, we needed to have a first floor set somewhere in the middle. How does one attach a floor to a concrete wall? Continue reading →

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Order Now For Spring Planting

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Building a new homestead from scratch means establishing new gardens.

Seed Catalogs

Seed Catalogs

Not just a vegetable garden but an herb garden as well as an orchard. Now is the time of the year to get seed and nursery stock on order whether you are getting started for the first time, you already have gardens established or you are starting over as we are. A good use of these drab winter days is perusing seed and nursery catalogs – order now for spring planting.

Some companies may offer a discount as an incentive to order early and avoid the last minute rush. Ordering early also ensures availability is not an issue due to shortages or outages of stock or seeds. Frustration is studying the catalogs, making selections, then placing the order only to discover said choice is sold out. Ordering early minimizes the chances of that happening. Continue reading →

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Off Grid Refrigeration

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Update January 2019… We lugged the refrigerator to the local repairman who confirmed it is leaking refrigerant. He traced it to the refrigerator compartment that is inaccessible. It can’t be fixed and we were told to take our extremely expensive 1 year old C4P refrigerator to the dump. Inexcusable that there is an obvious defect and the engineering is such that the area cannot be accessed for repairs. It’s a total loss for us and a bad lesson in supporting an off grid product manufacturer. If the roles were reversed it would be unconscionable for me not to do right by the customer. I speak only of our personal experience.

Update October 2018… We recently noticed our one year old C4P refrigerator will not shut off and the refrigerator is not keeping our food cold unless we run the unit most of the day and night. The unit is out of warranty by roughly 12 days but I would argue, it has been gradually failing for awhile and we just noticed it. I was not allowed to talk with C4P repair techs or engineers but the local repair shop feels it is leaking refrigerant or the compressor is going. I won’t get into the hassles I’ve had with the company but suffice it to say, we will have nothing to do with C4P products ever again. C4P did not support us or the dealer.

This is a topic that is a key component to being self-reliant. How to keep food cold so it doesn’t spoil. A typical homeowner simply runs to an appliance store, selects a shiny new refrigerator from the vast display of models, arranges for delivery and when delivered, plugs in the new gadget and their food storage problems are solved. Little thought goes into the energy efficiency of the unit or whether it’s appropriate for an off-grid home. Let me tell you what choices we’ve made through the years to solve the off grid refrigeration problem.

Volt Ray 11.1 CF Refrigerator

Volt Ray 11.1 CF Refrigerator

Continue reading →

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Final Wrap Up on the Basics of ICF Construction

Posted on January 12, 2018 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

This is the final wrap up on the basics of ICF construction we used on our new off grid home.

In my last post, I shared a ha ha sign “Somewhat Precise Home Builders” which is my tongue in cheek name for the contractor who has built our home, namely Johanna and me.

Top Plate Perfectly Level

Top Plate Perfectly Level

But the carpenter’s level that I have resting on the very top course (double top plate,10th course, 15 feet up) angled across a corner, tells a different story. That bubble is dead on between the lines. It’s visual proof that if we start level, take our time as we work off that base to finish the top course, we remain level. In a previous post, I conveyed to you just how important the foundation was for everything being built upon it and here’s proof of that. I’ve put the level on top of all sides and on the floor in different locations. If we aren’t dead on level, the bubble is still within the lines. That’s as good as I can possibly hope to get. Continue reading →

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Christmas Update on Our Nova Scotia Homestead

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

With the approach of Christmas and Holidays, I figured I’d give everybody a quick update and then resume normal posts after the first of the year. Here’s our Christmas update on our Nova Scotia homestead.

Somewhat Precise Homebuilders Sign

Somewhat Precise Homebuilders Sign

We made a valiant effort but fell short of being able to get into the house by Christmas. Although the weather had been warmer than normal, that warmth came with copious quantities of rain. Several 2 inch drenchings in December and then the cold finally arrived.

Temperatures have gone down to about 10F (-12C) and highs are in the teens and 20’s Fahrenheit. This has definitely slowed us down. Cold temperatures in conjunction with the shortest days of the year and our progress is painfully slow. Continue reading →

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Let’s Talk ICF For New Off-Grid Home- Part 2

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

In my last post “Let’s talk ICF For Our New Off-Grid Home- Part 1”, we discussed what this ICF material was about and how easy it was to build with. Although ICF is an easy, straight forward method of building, there’s a lot to it if one is going to do it properly. We had 6 courses of forms up at the time of my last post so let’s continue on with the building process. Winter is coming and we are longing to move out of the tent. Let’s talk ICF For New Off-Grid Home- Part 2

Roof Trusses Delivery

Roof Trusses Delivery

We Utilized a Detailed Floor Plan

A detailed floor plan is a must in order to properly lay out the house. We knew we wanted a couple of doors and lots of windows. Some windows may have some leeway in location while others will need to be located dead on. The kitchen window is an example where a window location needs to be dead on. Johanna has a kitchen cabinet that will be hung on one side of the window and a refrigerator on the other side. We had to know exactly where that window would be placed before cutting any block or pouring concrete. Continue reading →

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Let’s Talk ICF For Our New Off-Grid Home – Part 1

Posted on October 27, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

There are any number of construction materials and methods a person can use to build their new home. The traditional method is stick frame using conventional framing lumber. That’s the method we chose for our last 2 off-grid homes. As many of you already know, we opted for a different method this time. Let’s talk ICF for our new off-grid home.

Lugging Buckets of Rocks Out

Lugging Buckets of Rocks Out

ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms)

ICF is short for Insulated Concrete Forms. Although the concept is not new, it has taken some time for this construction method to really catch on. I knew absolutely nothing about ICF until someone mentioned it in passing. It sounded interesting but working with concrete is not one of my strong points. I’ve done very little with it other than mix some stuff by hand a few times. Continue reading →

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Nova Scotia Fall Update

Posted on October 11, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

As expected, Nova Scotia weather is like the tropics compared to where we once lived. It’s all relative of course. We would generally have our first dusting of snow around this time of year back in northern Saskatchewan. (In fact, it was snowing on Monday, October 9th when I checked the weather while we, here in Nova Scotia, were at 74F, 23C.) And temperatures would certainly be on the brisk side. The last remnants of the garden would be going down to the root cellar; buckets of potatoes and carrots. Johanna would have transplanted cabbage, Brussel sprouts, leeks and celery into a cold frame in our greenhouse for the best storage and we’d be getting ready for the long winter ahead. Any warm days would be relished and we’d consider them a bonus. By contrast, Nova Scotia certainly has a more moderate climate. Here’s a Nova Scotia fall update on our off-grid home building efforts and other fun stuff.

A Somewhat Bountiful Harvest

A Somewhat Bountiful Harvest

I unfairly characterized our garden as pathetic in an earlier summer post. I have to take that back. Although Johanna would chime in that she is responsible for the success of our first garden out here, she doesn’t realize the role I play as “plant whisperer.” We have gotten far more out of this garden than we ever expected. It is by far better than our first garden in Saskatchewan. As you recall, we converted forest land to garden in both locations. It is obvious we have much better soil fertility here in Nova Scotia. And the climate is more favorable for a garden. Nevertheless, we will still use our bag of tricks to extend the season in both spring and fall. A greenhouse is a year or more out though. Continue reading →

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Campfire Cooking

Posted on September 21, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Living in a wall tent as a temporary residence presents many challenges, one of which is meal preparation.

Apple Crisp in Dutch Oven

Apple Crisp in Dutch Oven

Yet anyone who thinks camp meals are limited to burgers and hot dogs is in for a surprise. The possibilities are endless, limited only by the cook’s imagination, initiative and time. Campfire cooking can be as simple as a one pot meal or as elaborate as a full course dinner. If Ron’s lucky, I might even bake him a pan of Brownies in my Dutch Oven.

Cooking Over a Campfire

I have 2 options when it comes to how I will cook meals. One is an outdoor campfire, which I try to use as much as possible, and the other is an old Coleman camp stove powered by pressurized gas. The camp stove is certainly the easiest, fastest and the most similar to cooking on a household range, but the camp stove has its limitations. Fuel is expensive for one thing. And roasting that Thanksgiving turkey would be quite the chore. But the range of possibilities open to a cook who is willing to step out of their comfort zone and explore campfire cooking is astounding Continue reading →

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Is a foundation really that important?

Posted on September 7, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

Is a foundation really that important? The answer to the question is yes! As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most important part of a building to ensure its long term survival. If the foundation crumbles, shifts or isn’t square and level, the poor building set upon the inadequate foundation is headed for a lifetime of misery. Surely you’ve seen pictures of the leaning tower of pizza. 🙂 I mean Pisa. Is a foundation really that important? It is paramount!

We’ve built 2 of our off-grid homes and are currently working on our third. Each home has had a different foundation. Let me briefly describe the first 2 and then we’ll delve into the specifics of our current foundation construction.

Finished Footing

Finished Footing

Continue reading →

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Hacking Our Way to Garden Prosperity

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Ron & Johanna Melchiore

 

In our 37 year off–grid homesteading adventure, we’ve had the tough chore of taking woodland and converting it to gardens. We’ve never had the luxury of driving into a new homestead that had cleared land with an established garden. We are establishing our third homestead and I’ll share what I’ve learned about creating a garden where one didn’t exist. Let’s hack our way to garden prosperity!

One Colossal Mistake!

Readers of my book know I made one colossal mistake when I first started my homesteading adventure. I was young and a complete novice with off–grid living, homesteading and gardening. I was in my early 20’s when I made the big transition from electronics tech to homesteader. I purchased a 120 acre woodlot in Maine that had an old overgrown potato field in the middle of it. A young forest was growing in this field with spruce, fir, poplar and alder.

Piled Up Brush and Topsoil in Maine

Piled Up Brush and Topsoil in Maine

Continue reading →

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