Chapter 139...Developing Our New Lot To Build A Store

We are building a store this spring and we can't wait to get going:)

I need to take you back to the beginning to get everyone up to date.  Mike and I bought this property for a great deal a few years ago.  Little by little we have worked on it but we didn't have any definite plans for it.  This year we decided to build a store on it which can later be converted to a small house if we choose to do that.

The lot we bought is two acres on a main road.  Mike and I had vision for this lot.  It was very low lying but there is a big hill, mountain, in the back of it.  We decided to call in our grader and have him dig out the back hill and push it forward to make the lot level with the road.


Randy works on the trackhoe and starts out by pushing trees down.  The power of these machines amaze me.

Moving a tree down the hill.

The lot is getting cleared.

The big logs being loaded up.

The lot is graded.

Mike and I put down 150 pounds of grass seed and we installed some gates.

Back to 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.

Getting closer to building.  It's time to install the electric to this lot.  First we have to add some heavy rock at the entrance.  We need to build up the driveway going in.  

Instead of doing the work at the lot, Mike decides to put the electric pole and wiring together at the house.  Then we load it all onto the trailer and take it to the lot:

I help him stand the electric up and hold it against the pole while Mike straps it onto the telephone pole:

Here I am pounding in the ground rod:

Mike screwing in the breaker box:

Mike installing the copper ground wire:

Getting ready for the new building.  Mike is going to put poles in the ground for our concrete man:

Mike pounding in one pole:

The lot is a lot bigger than it seems:

Now we are prepped and almost ready to build.  In one of my next chapters I will write about having the driveway reinforced for the concrete trucks to get in and pour a foundation.


I know this was short and sweet but I just wanted to get everyone up to date with our plans.

Have a great day!!!

Chapter 127...Springtime Landscaping

Off Grid...Chapter 127 This is the "clean up" year. It's time to pull our place together and that means doing some landscaping. We reserved the first batch of Leyland Cypress that came into Lowe's. We have tried many local trees from local growers up here and have lost most of them. The Leyland Cypress from Lowe's that we planted a few years ago on our last property are doing fantastic so we decided to change out our problem trees here and use them again March has been an incredibly warm month so we are getting a head start. I prepped my garden and cleaned it up. Now I just have to wait a bit longer to plant seeds. We bought fifteen 5-6 foot Leyland Cypress. They really are pretty evergreens but they get huge. We will have to keep them trimmed down. Mike starts working at the back of the house. We originally planted Hollies and two things happened. 1. The deer used them to bed down in the winter and squashed them and 2. They don't grow fast enough for us We are going to take out the hollies and move them to the side of the house and we will also find a new home for the small arborvitae. Mike digging out the old arborvitae. Next he digs out a Holly and boy are they stubborn. Two of the new Leyland Cypress are in and cut down. Mike wants them to grow into a hedge on the back of the house. Two of the hollies are moved to the side of the house. Eventually we will build a set of steps and a tiered garden on this side The back of the house is done and 6 trees are in. And all six hollies got moved. Another day, Mike and I start to work on the small garden on the side of his building. This is going to be a bear for us. It is not good dirt here. This will be our hardest area to dig...but we are determined We start to dig the holes for 4 new plants over here. The first one wasn't too bad. The others we had to use the electric chisel to help chisel and break the rock. It was a very slow and hard job to do. We also dug the holes much bigger than the trees and added new dirt with compost mixed in. Mike using the chisel to chop up the rock. And finally the trees are in by Mike's building Next on the agenda: Take out the old arborvitae that got eaten by the deer in front of the house. We have a total of 8 of these. We will replant them somewhere else. Starting to take out the arborvitae. Mike using the saws all to cut the roots. On the front left side of the house we are going to have our "close" stack of firewood. Mike digs out a level spot for the 4x4's. Working on the other side and digging out the old trees. Mike and I both take turns digging and then dumping the buckets of dirt onto the side hills of the house. Planting the Leylands on the right side. We found a new spot for six of the arborvitae. We decided to put them on the outside of Mike's building where it would be nice if they grow but won't be devastating if they get eaten.:roll eyes: Starting to plant the arborvitae. And they are in. Then we moved the wood off the patio and onto the new smaller set up. The patio is finally clean again. And the new trees to the right of the house. Yay...all the new trees are planted. Mike had 4 more small trees to plant and he put them along the back fence line. Now it's time to get some good grass to grow. We have to work on the back hill again. It gets a little better each year but with the cows trampling it, it never takes off. So we have to seed and hay it. Mike throws the seed out while I spread the hay around. Hopefully we all get some more grass in this year. Each year we also add some dirt to the angled walls by the house. They sink a little each year. I think we may be finished this year. We added dirt, put some grass seed down, and covered it with hay. The left side. And the right side. Next it's time to start working on the back yard. We have one area that we abuse by driving over it with the tractor, trailers, Jeep and 4-wheeler. We need to stay off it after we fix it. First I rake up all of the dead debris. Once I get rid of that, Mike spreads some new topsoil. Then we see and hay it. Lastly Mike waters it. Whew I will be happy if I don't see another shovel for at least another month, lol. Rocks for the gardens: That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this week's changes. Next I will start the building the shed stories. Lisa