This was the biggie my friends; the one that just about blew our minds away. There have been lots of half-cocked, ill-conceived projects on this half acre homestead, but this one takes the cake. Although, now that it’s all done and behind us, it was worth it. I think. Anyway, here ’tis:
After receiving a $6,000 grant from the WNC Ag/Options folks (which is supported by the Tobacco Trust Foundation) we set about updating and finishing the old shed on our homestead. This was going to be the fabulous New World Headquarters for Jackie’s …Naturally and used to grow lots of lovely microgreens.
It’s a rather ancient 11′ x 20′ building that’s made from hand cut hemlock but it will still be standing long after we’re gone. Rather than buy something shiny and new, we wanted to renovate the existing shed because we liked its rustic look and feel. Of course, that meant all the dimensions and measurements were considerably rustic as well but, whatever!
So the fun begins …
Sounds easy enough, right? The teeny-weeny problem is that you have to have your project completed by a certain date. Checks arrived in February and so the fun began! All was going according to plan until our contractor (who is a friend and therefore quoted a ridiculously low price) broke his hand. Okay, now we start the new contractor search.
There’s something about living in a rural area, particularly in the mountains. People just don’t have the drive that most city folk do. Now, don’t get insulted anyone, it’s also what makes rural people some of the nicest people on the planet. But here’s how the new contractor search went — ‘yes ma’am, I’ll be there first thing in the morning to look the job over and give you a quote.’ First thing in the morning — crickets. No contractor, no call to say there’s a delay, changed my mind, go jump off a cliff … just crickets. No problem the undaunted Happy Homesteader thinks! I’ll just call the next guy on the list. ‘Yes ma’am,’ he says, ‘I’ll be there first thing in the morning to look the job over and give you a price.’ CRICKETS. Getting a bit nervous here.
This could go on for four more paragraphs but let me spare you. We were running out of time – both on this blog and on the fast approaching deadline for the project.
Finally! One guy comes and quotes for the new tin roof, the windows and the gutters. Yay! His quote is almost what we were prepared to spend on the entire project but, gee, we’ve got to get this started because our inspection from the grant people is scheduled for August and this is July. Besides, we can put it on the credit card, right? Cha-ching! (get used to seeing that word)
Of course The Happy Homesteader was at a farmer’s market when the crew came to do the roof, windows and gutters and The Innocent Bystander had a huge crisis with a client that kept him from supervising so when the crew finished, collected cash from hubby and left and I came home -YIKES!!! They didn’t do one window or the gutters and they are lonnnnggg gone.
Enter contractor number two. A friend who truly wanted to help us out because by now The Happy Homesteader is having some serious panic attacks. The friend was going to do the electrical work so he gave us a list of supplies which we promptly went and picked up. Oops, the friend had to back away from the job so now we’re left with some supplies that are non-returnable. Anyone need some very pricey wire? We’ve got it for sale!
Enter contractor number three. A great guy who quickly and expertly did our electrical work but who charged more than our friend was going to. Cha-ching! But at least the electrical work is done! Yay!
And…. enter contractor number four. You want HOW MUCH to do the insulation, wall panels and flooring??? Seriously??? But we’ve got to get this done NOW. Cha-ching!!!!!!!
And, in the middle of all of this, we ordered a PTAC unit to provide heat and air for the fussy microgreens. This was what I had when I grew them on the coast and I liked it so now the research is on to find just the right BTU’s for this grow room. The perfect unit is found and ordered. Great. Tracking number is issued. Great. The Happy Homesteader calls the company TO MAKE SURE it’s on its way because contractor number four needs to do the cut out and frame work so it will fit in the building. Yep, Build.com assured me on two separate occasions that the PTAC unit had shipped. Nope. It was discontinued and a farce of biblical proportions ensued as we tried to get a new replacement. Our phones suddenly got directed into a maze of ‘special offers’ from which there was no escape when we tried calling. We even had our IP address blocked. Know how I know that? Cuz when we used Tor, a private browser, we were able to pull up their website. Can you believe this stuff??? Long story short, we paid more and finally got a unit thanks to Elaine at Build.com. She was the only good thing in all our dealings with that company. But….. (of course there’s a but) it was 2,200 BTU’s more than I needed but it was all that would fit in the already finished building.
Got that problem solved after two months of killing every mirogreen seed I planted by hanging shades from the ceiling that blocked the hot desert air coming out of the oversized PTAC unit from blowing on the teeny, delicate plants and now – whew – all is well and finished. And now, at long last, so is this blog post! Here’s the finished project:
