The power of two
Now that the coop is nearly done,
I'll admit that there were times over the last year when I lost faith
in its eventual completion. Mom says "All ye of little faith"
around me a lot, and while Mark disagrees with her semantics (it should
be second person singular unless you live in the Deep South), he agrees
with the sentiment. Whenever I despair of farm projects, my kind
husband reminds me that he and I together can do anything --- and so far
he's always been right.
Sometimes, our teamwork
doesn't click, but usually a day spent working with Mark is pure
pleasure. We complement each other very well --- I can measure
things and hold the ladder while he does...everything else.
I guess a real pro could
have built this coop entirely by himself, but that seems pretty
tough. That's why the coop languished for most of the summer --- I
was too busy in the garden to pull my weight on the building
project. I guess I really am doing something out there even though
it feels like I'm not helping much.
The big picture of the
coop is now completed. All that's left is gutters, a rain barrel,
and filling in some holes to complete the anti-predator campaign.
Our chicks (and then ducks) are going to love it!
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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I've been curious about the Star Plate system for some time, but after watching you build it, I'm wondering if it has turned out to be more complicated than a square building.
Why did you choose to go with this system? Strength? Does it save on wood costs?
How are you feeling about it now? Would you do it again?
Kathleen --- That's a good question. We definitely do have fights now and then, although they're pretty rare --- maybe only one every month or two. Enforced proximity is a good thing because it means we work through the issues promptly, which means the problems don't fester. And since we're together so much, we work hard not to fight, each bending a little so we meet in the middle.
We do each have our own personal space on the farm, though, which also helps. We probably spend over half the day in our own space doing our own thing....