WEBVTT 00:01.680 --> 00:07.780 Good morning. It is a glorious November 5th big day for Americans today 00:08.760 --> 00:09.280 but 00:10.160 --> 00:11.380 doesn't really matter much 00:12.220 --> 00:15.560 For us up here on the mountaintop. Sun is shining. I've got 00:16.140 --> 00:16.660 probably 00:17.460 --> 00:24.160 8 to 9 kilowatts coming in right now. It's about 8 a.m. as I record this and we've got a 00:24.720 --> 00:27.880 had a pretty big snowstorm yesterday and 00:27.880 --> 00:32.900 Totally because we're in the mountains and you can actually see across the valley and my camera doesn't zoom very well 00:32.900 --> 00:37.800 But you can actually see the snow up there. That's literally where we are in the same elevation approximately and 00:39.860 --> 00:42.100 Yeah about 200 feet below us 00:42.100 --> 00:47.450 There's very little snow, but we got it and it's gonna melt pretty quick because it is so sunny and 00:48.020 --> 00:54.000 one thing I do in the mornings in the wintertime when there's snow and when we've had snow is 00:54.680 --> 00:57.800 I come out early and I I scraped the 00:58.640 --> 01:02.580 You kind of see one of my solar panels behind my firewood shack there 01:03.400 --> 01:09.620 That's facing southeast and that shack does not shade it at all in case you're wondering is I go and scrape the sun off my solar panels 01:10.120 --> 01:11.400 So that I get maximum 01:12.220 --> 01:16.700 sunlight coming in and that one I scraped off earlier the first one 01:16.700 --> 01:21.080 I do in order is I start on the southeast one then I go south and the west one actually right now 01:21.080 --> 01:24.120 It still has some ice on it, but there's not enough direct sun on it to melt it 01:24.120 --> 01:27.040 And it's not being used as much so I just worry about the first two 01:27.880 --> 01:31.960 Get the sun off there. I've probably got yeah eight nine kilowatts coming in right now with just those two panels 01:31.960 --> 01:38.300 Then I go and I knock the snow off my greenhouses and I can only reach so far, but I did that I use this tool here 01:38.300 --> 01:38.680 It's a 01:39.720 --> 01:40.040 telescoping 01:41.100 --> 01:42.320 Snow thing for a roof 01:42.320 --> 01:48.260 I just stretch it out and I go and whack the greenhouse a little bit just to make some breaks in the ice and then as the sun 01:48.260 --> 01:52.220 Starts to come up. This is gonna melt very very quick, especially when you get the sun off 01:52.220 --> 01:55.420 Yeah, I get the snow off if you don't get the snow off then the light can't get through and warm the 01:55.420 --> 02:00.200 Inside of it, which is what happens when we get direct sun and that's why this greenhouse 02:00.200 --> 02:07.660 Orientated as it is strict true south is so important is that at this time of year now call it November 1st until 02:09.600 --> 02:10.480 probably and 02:10.480 --> 02:13.100 of February this greenhouse gets 02:13.800 --> 02:20.200 Full sun all day it gets the southeast in the morning and then the southwest in the evening as it sets over behind there 02:20.720 --> 02:24.280 But I come out here and I scrape off this greenhouse as well because in the winter 02:24.280 --> 02:25.740 I move my chickens in here 02:26.380 --> 02:32.300 So they're just waking up and I just moved him in here yesterday. Oh, they're there. I just moved him in here yesterday 02:32.300 --> 02:35.500 I basically because it snowed so much yesterday 02:36.240 --> 02:42.900 They've been in this coop all summer and I mean really they've been in that coop for since April the April till now 02:43.460 --> 02:47.480 And they don't want to come out when it snows and so they're really easy to round up 02:47.480 --> 02:52.460 I just go in there and grab them two at a time and I get them in here and then they come in here 02:53.020 --> 02:57.780 It's a party that they're gonna finish off the whole greenhouse. So I 02:59.280 --> 02:59.640 Left 03:00.380 --> 03:03.560 Don't worry. I picked a lot of peppers. You're looking at that going. Oh my god 03:03.560 --> 03:08.140 I can't believe how much you left we ate I planted way more than I needed and we ate more than we could and we 03:08.140 --> 03:12.220 Processed all that we needed to so the chickens can enjoy the rest 03:12.800 --> 03:16.320 These are all sweet peppers to actually so I got all my hots 03:17.020 --> 03:19.060 So the chickens will eat those and look at this 03:19.060 --> 03:25.060 They got leftover kukes that they can munch on those these will decompose a lot quicker now because they'll freeze at night 03:25.060 --> 03:29.600 And then they'll fall in the morning and that'll make them rot quicker so the chickens can come in and eat them 03:29.600 --> 03:36.340 And so they're stoked because it is I'm not kidding you. It's probably 15 degrees Celsius in here right now 03:36.340 --> 03:38.780 It's minus three outside and 03:39.960 --> 03:41.480 And it froze last night, of course 03:41.480 --> 03:48.120 But as soon as the Sun comes out boom this greenhouse is warm and that's what's convenient about the way this greenhouse is 03:48.120 --> 03:51.760 orientated and it it wasn't intentional this way 03:51.760 --> 04:00.160 it was just all I had because of my limited topography on my property because this this greenhouse is a straight east-facing greenhouse, but 04:00.160 --> 04:03.540 It's kind of good actually because it just means that when the chickens are in here 04:04.680 --> 04:08.940 In the winter they get the first light and it warms up super quick 04:08.940 --> 04:15.200 And then they get out active the scratching for grubs and they're I bring on their compost scraps and their feed and they eat 04:15.200 --> 04:15.760 What's in there? 04:16.280 --> 04:21.960 So they they're happy this way, but you know it was just the way it had to be because of my topography 04:22.800 --> 04:27.580 As is everything here like even this greenhouse here is partially in shade for just a part of the morning 04:27.580 --> 04:32.740 And it really is only in now. So it doesn't matter so much because that greenhouse 04:32.740 --> 04:35.120 I don't use that as much in the winter as this one 04:35.620 --> 04:40.220 This one is just more a lot more hardcore. I do have winter crops in there 04:40.220 --> 04:42.860 I just finished cropping out our tomatoes the last 04:43.560 --> 04:48.740 Batch I probably harvested a hundred pounds and not kidding you and I had a few hundred pounds from here this year 04:49.200 --> 04:55.580 But I still have my cold crops in there like my carrots. I got some beets in there. I got some lettuce. I got spinach. I've got kale 04:57.540 --> 04:57.940 And 04:58.800 --> 05:05.080 Yeah, and celery and so those things are all cold tolerant and they can stay alive in that greenhouse most of the winter 05:06.680 --> 05:09.720 So yeah, that's kind of what things are looking like on the homestead today 05:10.460 --> 05:13.560 We are working a lot on the house all on the interior right now 05:13.560 --> 05:15.820 We're not really worried about the exterior though 05:16.300 --> 05:20.160 We might do that once we run it of other things to do on the interior 05:21.660 --> 05:23.720 At some point I'll do a 05:23.720 --> 05:30.640 More thorough update on the house or maybe I won't I don't know I kind of like keeping things private to some degree, but you know 05:31.680 --> 05:33.400 So I got a staircase in here now 05:33.400 --> 05:38.100 Which is huge because my entire homestead this whole thing here or the home 05:38.100 --> 05:42.660 I should say was designed around my shore path and how is the way? 05:42.760 --> 05:47.740 I'm going to walk out of the house daily to do the chores come into the go to the chickens 05:48.500 --> 05:50.460 and go to that greenhouse and 05:51.360 --> 05:54.640 Walk behind to the solar panels to scrape them off the thing now 05:54.640 --> 05:58.740 That's so cool is now that this stairwell is done. I see I have another still well to do here 05:58.740 --> 06:02.220 I don't know if we'll get it done this winter though. Unfortunately. I 06:02.220 --> 06:05.640 Might landscape something there temporarily so that in the winter I can just walk down it 06:05.640 --> 06:10.580 But this whole thing was designed around of course my topography what I had 06:10.580 --> 06:15.260 Which is somewhat challenging, but it's south to southeast facing so it's kind of ideal in a way 06:15.260 --> 06:19.880 And then that landing up behind the house is that now my chore path is all orientated around here 06:19.880 --> 06:21.580 This this is my zone 06:21.580 --> 06:26.160 One and I can walk into the greenhouse by going through a door on the deck 06:26.160 --> 06:28.960 I can walk down into the garden real quick down here 06:28.960 --> 06:31.000 I can go behind the house to scrape off the panel 06:31.000 --> 06:37.040 So now my traction from moving from this thing to this every morning is going to be eliminated. I'm going to eliminate 06:37.980 --> 06:38.940 walking about 06:39.460 --> 06:40.940 500 feet probably 06:41.480 --> 06:46.880 30 times a day so think about that time as you stock it and that's how I like to think about 06:47.620 --> 06:50.940 Homestead design is is how do you move and exist in that space? 06:51.160 --> 06:58.420 So that's kind of the thing that I'm really excited about but yeah quick update. Hope you guys are having a beautiful day and 07:00.080 --> 07:03.480 Remember whatever happens in the election doesn't really matter 07:03.480 --> 07:09.020 You got to take control of your life and be responsible for the things that you need. Have a great day