Pile Logistics

Every project around here seems to start by doing something else to get ready for the new project. If we had a plan for the farm that didn't change almost daily, it would be a lot easier. It seems that farming by whim has a few drawbacks. Most of the problems are caused by a pesky law of physics that says two objects can't occupy the same space at the same time. By itself this wouldn't be much of a problem. You would just build things where nothing else was located. But-- several other things have to be considered. Rather than keep you in suspense, I'll just list them:

1. Southern exposure (helps warm things in the winter)
2. Topography and it's close associate drainage
3. Aesthetics (this is used if the other constraints aren't bad enough)

So, after imagining the goat barn, chicken coop and guinea hen coop in all the available spots, it became apparent that I was going to have to move a large pile of firewood to even begin the first building.

When I located the fire wood piles I imagined every conceivable construction possibility I could and determined all of the fire wood piles were way, way out of the area that would be used for anything. I was blinded by the idea that I would be building a house before all these other more interesting possibilities occurred to us. Further, since I knew where the house was going to be, I believed the wood pile was in a great spot for easy access to the house.

Yesterday I got to pay for this bit of cleverness by once again moving a pretty good size wood pile. Now, I can start ground work for the guinea house. After that, then I can start the actual construction. We have keats (guinea hen chicks) coming in 9 days so, I will just make it if the weather holds and nothing else comes up.

My wood pile location seems to be like dowsing for future building sites. Both the goat barn and the hen house will need wood piles moved also. A less experienced farm planner would expect that with forty acres and just a few wood piles that eventually a building might get put up without moving a wood pile first. It hasn't happened yet, although I am guessing the woodshed location will be chosen so we have to move wood quite ways to get it into the shed.

Out of the yesterday's effort, we now have firewood all stacked up on pallets and ready to be burned next winter--some consolation I guess, so I am still upbeat about the guinea house and coop beating the arrival of the keats. Also, I did get some clean up done around the yard, but there is a lot of cleanup left to do. Well, before I overwhelm myself with the immediate grim details of spring cleanup, I better eat and get out there and get busy.