Yes, its been a long time coming, but we have finally set up a "living space" for ourselves in our farm, and moved in on Wed, the 19th of August. But before I go any further, let me also qualify "living space" - its a 12'x10' tent with a small 4'x10' open verandah in front, and a 6'x10' covered-but-not-completely-sealed bathroom space at the back. The living space of 12'x10' has an inner cotton layer, an outer canvas layer, and finally covered by a common rain fly on top.
The frame for the tent, consisting of 1.25" pipes, have been set in concrete on a 9" platform. The floor of the platform was finished with random bits of marble and granite we picked up from a scrapyard. We also extended the front verandah by another 6' which we have left unpaved, with the plan of growing grass on it.
What is best about this tent (as opposed to the other smaller camping tents we have been using during our nights at the farm) is that you can walk right in - its 9' tall in the middle, and the sides slope down to 6' high walls on the sides.
At night, the tent has been warm enough, though we'll have to see how it behaves over the coming months. During the day, the eastern side gets a lot of direct sunlight, so the insides heat up quickly. We will grow some trees for this, of course, but we'll also have to figure out something as a quick-fix.
As for the furniture, we have taken the bare minimum with us to the farm - a wooden wardrobe, a couple of folding cots, and a low divan. With all of these, the four of us were able to sleep comfortably.
There is the problem of moisture collecting under the floor of the tent, presumably from condensation. We're not sure how to deal with this, and we're hoping the problem will just go away on its own :-)
Anyway, its good to finally "live" on the farm. We now hope to get on with our next immediate task of finishing the 3 rooms we set out to build, and to begin working on the farm itself.
The frame for the tent, consisting of 1.25" pipes, have been set in concrete on a 9" platform. The floor of the platform was finished with random bits of marble and granite we picked up from a scrapyard. We also extended the front verandah by another 6' which we have left unpaved, with the plan of growing grass on it.
What is best about this tent (as opposed to the other smaller camping tents we have been using during our nights at the farm) is that you can walk right in - its 9' tall in the middle, and the sides slope down to 6' high walls on the sides.
At night, the tent has been warm enough, though we'll have to see how it behaves over the coming months. During the day, the eastern side gets a lot of direct sunlight, so the insides heat up quickly. We will grow some trees for this, of course, but we'll also have to figure out something as a quick-fix.
As for the furniture, we have taken the bare minimum with us to the farm - a wooden wardrobe, a couple of folding cots, and a low divan. With all of these, the four of us were able to sleep comfortably.
There is the problem of moisture collecting under the floor of the tent, presumably from condensation. We're not sure how to deal with this, and we're hoping the problem will just go away on its own :-)
Anyway, its good to finally "live" on the farm. We now hope to get on with our next immediate task of finishing the 3 rooms we set out to build, and to begin working on the farm itself.
