Things are starting to wrap up as we get closer to the signing date. We are starting to work on some rough blue prints of the house. it looks like we have settled on a 50 foot circle 20 feet deep. When you factor in the tires, walls, etc, the house will be approximately 1500 square feet which is about where we wanted to be. We are including a loft for our bedroom, two bedrooms for the kids (a girls room and a boys room), and possibly a guest room. The 1500 sq feet doesn’t include the size of the loft.
We are also starting to budget for the excavation, the plumbing that has to go down next, and the concrete. Once we get the paperwork signed I will start calling around for tires. We are estimating we are going to need about 1000 tires. That’s the part that is making me nervous. We are going to need a lot of people working every Saturday for at least a month to finish these walls. We are considering having a big bonfire on Saturday nights to entice people to help. Build on our house and we will feed you and throw a party for you. I think that sounds like fun!
Our garden is coming together too. The brussel sprouts came up about 3 days before we anticipated, which meant we couldn’t get the grow lamps up in time. It’s not a huge deal, it just means that they started off long and spindly, but they are recovering nicely. Our cherokee tomatoes, romas, spinach, and tomatillos have also sprouted. They will grow in their grow wells for about another two- four weeks, until they have at least 3 or more sets of leaves. Then we are moving them to larger pots. Those will be their final pots before we plant them. They will also have better soil by then too. One of the first things we are going to do in the excavation process is start the garden and dig out a small greenhouse. Last year we got our garden started way too late and didn’t have a great harvest. This year will be so much better. Also the running total we have on our garden so far is about $50. I am keeping all the receipts from everything garden related we buy so we can compare the cost of homesteading to the cost of buying food.
Right now our main concern is getting this $3000 down payment together. Currently we are about $250 off. I am really confident that we will be able to make it. It’s gonna come down to the wire, but if it didn’t it wouldn’t be fun!
My plan right now is to work my butt off. I only need to sell about $550 with my business to be able to put in the $250. I’m pretty excited about that. i have a bunch of appointments coming up before the 1st and I think I can do it! I know I can do it.
It’s still a bit surreal that all this is happening….
Good luck!