Tree house siding and roof

The tree house is coming along. We have the windows installed and it is time to start on the siding and the roof. The roof really holds it all together and strengthens the walls.

Here is the tree house from below showing the walls and the newly installed windows.

A view of the windows from the inside. I got these windows from a Habitat for Humanity re-sale store for about $5 each.

Working on the tree house at night. I used steel clips to attach the 2"x4"x12' boards on their sides to the top plates of the walls.

The roof frame is 2"x4"x12' boards to support the 1/2" treated plywood sheets. I have a 3' overhang over the deck on front and a 1' overhang on the back.

Most of the siding is done with the exception of some corner trim and soffit work, but it is starting to look like a functional tree house. The kids are starting to use it for play.

Drip edge is installed prior to tar paper and shingles on the roof.

You will need help to get the heavy tar paper and shingles onto the roof. We fashioned a pulley system to a tree limb above to lift the materials to the roof.

Tar paper is laid down and nailed with roofing nails in an overlapping fashion starting at the low end of the roof working your way to the top, so that water can't get under the layer below the top layer.

The same goes for shingles. Starting at the low end you overlap up to the top, so that you cover up the nails of the shingle layer below. The shingles and the tar paper have lines on them to keep everything straight and to make sure you keep the appropriate amount of overlap.

Here is where we are today. I still need to finish corner trim, do some soffit work, insulate (if we decide to), install the wood stove and finish off the inside, but for now we have a functional tree house. Hopefully we will add solar panels soon, but for now we have an extension cord supplying light at night. I hope you have as much fun as I have had.

Click here to start at the concrete footings.

Click here to go to framing the walls.

Harvesting grapes and making juice

Some grapes are very difficult and require a lot of chemical applications in order to have a decent crop. If that is what you want and you don't mind dumping lots of chemicals on your plants, you can probably grow almost any kind of grape you want. My grapes are not beautiful, but they do not have any chemicals on them.

This was our first year of good grape production. Here they are in early summer.

I have several varieties of grapes. I am certain that I have Concords (and they are a good variety for beginners) and I have others that I have taken as cuttings from friends and farmers that are great producers as well.

Our first year of really plentiful grape production. I think the vines are about 4 years old (summer 2010).

In about a half hour we have a lot of fruit. In the field we use clippers to cut clusters off. We will later remove the stems and bad fruit.

Inside, under the sink, I remove the stems and any bad fruit. Bad fruit usually floats to the top and can be easily skimmed off to discard. The remaining fruit is used to make juice.

A big metal pot is used to cook the grapes. I place the clean grapes in the pot and add enough water to cover the fruit. I then boil them, reduce to a simmer, and mash them for about 15 minutes after boiling. Some people like to use a juicer to chop up the grapes prior to boiling. This helps, but is not necessary.

The mash is filtered through a strainer to make the juice. Some people like to filter the juice through cheese cloth, which removes all large particles and most of the color. We just refrigerate the juice and drink it fresh for several days. If you want to make wine or can the juice, follow the links below.

Upon completion, there is mash left over.

We filter this many times before discarding the mash.

Pick your own website

Making wine website

How to build a tree house - walls

Here is the drawing I put together to build the walls from. Nothing fancy, but it helped me think about quantities of wood and how I would need to cut the 2x4's to allow for the sloped shed roof.

I built the walls on the ground in my driveway so that they would be square and flat. This is nearly impossible to do on rough ground. Make sure you buy your doors and windows prior to building the walls so that you can make your rough openings large enough for them. I got this solid wood door, two windows and door hardware at our local Habitat for Humanity re-sale store for $27.

We built one end wall with 7' tall 2x4's, the other end with full 8' 2x4's and sloped walls connecting in between. This allows for a shed roof with 1' of fall. Note the slope of the wall leaning against the truck. We tilted the walls up in the driveway to make sure they lined up before we carried them to the site on the back of the truck, hoisted them up one by one and nailed them together. I needed the help of two neighbors to get them to the site, and lift them up to the deck 10' off the ground. Up to this point, the deck and floor joists have all been screwed together, but the walls are just nailed together. The bottom board of each wall is treated lumber, but the vertical studs and top of the wall are not treated as they will be protected by a roof and siding eventually. Up to this point all floor joists, posts and deck boards have been treated lumber.

By having the windows and doors to measure, you can be sure to make your openings the correct width, so that they can be easily installed up in the tree house.

Here are the walls installed up on the deck. It is starting to look like a tree house.

Here you can see the tree house that is approximately 8' x 8' on the 8' x 12' deck so that there is a 4' x 8' deck outside the front door. The angled boards on the inside are used to make sure the walls are square and vertical. They will not be needed when the roof joists and siding are on the outside.

Click here for roofing when we get it done.

Click here to go back to supports and deck.

How to build a tree house - supports

The next step is to install the 6" x 6" x 10' posts to build the upper levels on. You may need some help with this step as these posts can be very heavy. I used recycled posts that had already been in the ground as a retaining wall for 15 years so I did not want to direct bury them. This ought to keep them solid for at least another 20 years as they should not have direct contact with moisture and they can completely dry out after every rain. I screwed a heavy-duty plastic base on each post that has a hole for the rebar to go through in the middle. This elevates the post off of the concrete to further extend the life of the wood post. Some people choose to bury their posts in the ground with concrete around the posts. I did not want to lose the extra 3' of height and wanted to avoid the posts being in contact with constant moisture in the ground.

If you look closely you can see the plastic bases on top of the concrete footing. I used the future deck boards to hold the posts vertical as they were going up.

We built scaffolding levels as we worked our way up so that we had a safe place to work from. We used the future deck boards so that we were not having to buy extra lumber.

It took us two levels of scaffolding to get up to our 10' high deck level that the tree house will sit on.

The permanent floor joists are bolted in place with 10" x 3/8" bolts. Consult with your local hardware store to see what kind of finish is needed for the bolts with the kind of treated wood you have in your state. For ACQ wood you need galvanized bolts, washers and nuts.

As we build the deck level and the posts become more solidly locked together, the support boards below are removed and used for the upper deck.

The deck is almost finished and the upper deck is bolted to the tree in two locations for stability. We decided to build a lower level because it was such a cool space below the deck.

The deck is complete with 2' cantilever at each end for a total deck space of 8' x 12' Notice how we decided to add diagonal 2x4x10's to make sure the upper deck was solid as a rock. It was pretty safe before the diagonals, but I wanted to make sure that nothing would move once the house portion was added on top of the deck. The diagonals made a huge difference.

Quite a view from up here! 10' is really high. This represents about two weekends of work.

Click here for framing the walls.

Click here to return to the beginning.

How to build a tree house - concrete

OK, what does a tree house have to do with sustainability? I am considering this to be a laboratory to teach my kids, ages 6-9, about solar power and energy use. If things go well, it will also be a house heated by wood and cooled by shade and wind. I hope it is a place where they will learn about solar panels, batteries, inverters and how much energy lights and fans use.

We dug the footing piers as close to safe frost depth as possible and about 12" wide. In central Missouri this is 36" deep. I used a post hole digger (shown above).

I tried my best to dig the piers 7'-6" on center so that 6"x6"x10' support posts with 8' boards around the outside would create an 8' x 8' square. This makes for an easy deck level with no cutting of lumber later. The stakes and string are used to measure things closely, keep things square and level the footing piers. Remenber A squared + B squared = C squared? Or a rectangle that is 3' x 4' x 5' will always form a 90 degree angle. This will help keep things square.

Using a level, I verified that the string line was level all the way around. Because the ground is not level, I could measure the same distance down from the string to the top of the concrete piers and make sure that all concrete is the same height.

Where the ground was lower, I used Sonotube to elevate the footing form to the height of the holes that were flush with the ground. A plastic tub and bags of concrete were used to mix the concrete in the woods.

We mixed the concrete by adding water from our hose until it was thoroughly wet, but not runny.

One of the pier footings flush with the ground, troweled smooth and a rebar set in the center. A hole drilled in the posts will secure them to the footing later. This is 18" rebar that is 1/2" thick (9" in the concrete and 9" above ground).

All the concrete poured to the top of the forms and/or flush with the ground as measured from the level string line down to the concrete uniformly.

Another view of the concrete in relation to the Oak tree. Our tree house is stand alone from the tree, but later on we will attach the deck level to the tree.

Next step is the support frame and deck (click here).

Make your own Tomato Baskets

My daughter picking tomatoes. Summer 08.

Tomato baskets are an important tool for any garden. We use tomato baskets for lots of vegetables, including cucumbers, beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillos or even just young seedlings in our orchard that need to be protected until they are a little larger. These are made from 4' tall, 2" x 4"pattern, fence fabric that is cut into 3-4' sections that are then rolled into cylinders. You can buy the 14 gauge, galvanized, welded wire fence fabric in 50' or 100' sections. If you buy a 50' section, you can make about 14 tomato baskets. I expect my tomato baskets to last about 10 years each. If you go with a thicker steel (heavier gauge wire) they will last longer, but they are much harder to cut and bend into baskets, and the fence fabric costs a lot more. With 14 gauge wire you can easily cut them with a simple wire cutter or pliers that have a cutting area above the handle.

The stubs where the fence fabric is cut (to make 3-4' sections) are bent over to attach the two ends to make a cylinder.

The bottom is then cut off so that there are 4" prongs that will stick into the ground to stabilize the basket anchored into the ground.

These prongs stick into the soil to hold the basket in place.

Young beans and okra growing up with the support of tomato baskets to pretect them from critters as well as support them as they get taller. They also provide the structure for vining peas, beans and cucumbers to climb.

A young Pecan tree with a tomato basket protecting it from deer rubbing in the winter.

I also place these around young Blueberry and other berry bushes until they are large enough not to be trampled by kids or dogs. Tomato baskets are a very important part of gardening at our house.

In the off season these stack well for storage.

Grow your own Food!

Edible Plants we Grow: Click on the links below for content!

Fruit Trees and Plant Propogation

Fruit Trees and Berries

Pruning Blackberries

Vegetable Gardens

Summer Garden

Nut Trees

Herbs

Indoor Tropicals

Other Edible Plants

Starting from Seeds

Composting

Pruning Trees: More on this later.

Pruning grapes: More on this later.

Food Preservation and Storage

Click on the topics below for content.

Solar Dehydrators

Root Cellars

Wine Making

Wild fermentation

Wild fermentation vegies

Canning: More on this later.

Sustainable Ideas and Projects

Click on the links below for content!

Concept Plan for a Sustainable Home

DIY Hoop House

Solar dehydrators

Tomato Cages

Water Storage and Irrigation: More on this later.

Home Heating: More on this later.

Root Cellars

Tree House Just for fun!

Indoor seed starting!

I love February. I just pulled out my handy Clyde's Garden Planner and lined up the average last Spring frost date for central Missouri and it tells me that I need to start my Cabbage and Cauliflower seeds (and soon my Broccoli) indoors. I don't really like Cabbage or Cauliflower, but it is exciting to think about Spring, and my wife likes them.

HOW TO START SEEDS INDOORS VIDEO!

I am in the process of building a seed starting room/greenhouse under a part of my house that was left unfinished when we bought it. I had hoped to have it done in time to start my seeds there this spring as it is all set up with grow lights and heat pads that can be placed under trays, but we have had a ridiculously cold winter and I have been waiting for a day with temperatures above 45 degrees for 24 hours so that I can caulk my new windows. Usually we will have a spell of weather in late January or early February where we get a couple of days in the 50's or 60's, but this has been about the coldest Winter I can remember. Last winter I covered the walls with 6 mil plastic sheets to get a jump on Spring, but the plastic ripped all to shreds and so I am in the process of going with a more permanent solution. I bought some 4' x 5' double pain windows from the local Habitat for Humanity re-sale shop for $10 each. They allow light for the entire east side of the room. I also purchased a nice used double hung window ($10) to go next to the door so that if the room gets too hot in late Spring I can open a window for ventilation. This space has exterior walls from my house on two sides and a finished roof overhead so there is convective heat coming to it from 3 sides. If I can finish the new exterior walls it ought never freeze even without a heater. It is not ideal with only east sunlight, but supplemented with grow lights I can get a 2-3 month head start on Spring and even without grow lights I would get a good 30 day jump on Spring.

A view of my seed starting room (under construction) from outside.

Enough about my works in progress and back to starting seeds. I am going to utilize a west facing window in our bathroom for our seed growing. I like to use a combination of Perlite and peat moss. This is usually the composition of pre-mixed seed starting soil mixtures that you can also use. The Perlite provides a little bit of air for the developing roots without drying them out, and the acidity of the peat moss inhibits root rot problems. If you choose to go with a compost soil you create, it really should be baked in the oven at 180 degrees for about 30 minutes to kill all the harmful pathogens. This can be stinky work, so do it on a day when you can open windows, if possible, and not when company is coming over. If you are a beginner, just buy some Perlite and peat moss. This will get you going.
If you are re-using pots, it is a good idea to soak the old ones in a bath of water and chlorine, dunking them several times to make sure all surfaces are clean. I used to think this stuff was ridiculous, but having lost a lot of seeds to various fungal deaths (root rot), I can say from experience, it is worth it to either start with new pots and soil or sterilize the re-used products. When I first saw a greenhouse operation that looked like an operating room, I thought, "how silly, seeds don't have a sterile environment in nature." What I have learned is that when growing seeds indoors we don't give plants the natural sterilants of direct sunshine and wind drying that give them a better shot in nature. Also, in nature, most seeds don't survive and I want to have all mine survive. Another trick to preventing fungal problems with delicate seeds is to provide a fan in the room (not directly on the plants) to circulate the air. This will make the seedlings stronger and help dry out the soil surface where fungal problems usually occur. If you have ever had a healthy seed germinate then suddenly fall over and die, that is probably a fungal problem.

2"x2" pots

I usually fill the pots almost all the way to the top, allowing for a dusting of soil over the seeds after they are placed. I then place two seeds per pot, believing that if one is more vigorous I can either pinch off the weaker plant or separate them at a later date when they are more durable to handle. Some people like to grow tens, if not hundreds, in trays and then after germination transplant them into individual pots. This is very tedious, so if you have the space, I think the two per pot method works for most gardeners. Some well organized people will soak their larger seeds overnight before planting. I never know when I will be planting seeds that much in advance and it only makes your seeds germinate a couple of days earlier so I don't think it is necessary.

Good luck!