The Rural Voice, 2006-04, Page 301
DEINES...
Zero Turn AND front mount
stand up deck!
Save TIME in mowing
and servicing!
Check it out at the Drayton
Farm Show - April 5th & 6th &
the Walkerton Home & Garden
Show - April 7th. 8th & 9th
Wally's Commercial Mower Sales
Toll Free: 1-877-213-3661
Custom Fane
Services
We have a complete line
of equipment from
Air Drills to Combines
that can provide
Fast and Efficient Service.
Custom Spraying with a Rogator.
Plus! There is still time to order seed
for your unconfirmed acres with seeds
supplied by
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We can give you an
unbeatable combination.
Phone Pete for details
519-233-3218
.16
Hill
FARMS LTD.
Varna, Ontario
26 THE RURAL VOICE
timber would have set them back.
The bales themselves. purchased
from a local farmer, cost them a mere
$600. The end result is a house
whose estimated value may be close
to double its cost.
Except for the decision to fill in
the foundation to give the house a
solid earth and clay floor, the
construction followed pretty standard
procedures up until when the walls
were erected. Martin took part in the
framing and roofing stages as much
as Silas would allow. Cathy was
working most of the time, but during
the month she had off in August, she
also divided her time between Silas
and the house.
Over the course of the summer,
the property looked less like a typical
construction site and more like an
extended family gathering. The yard
was frequently dotted with the tents
of friends and family who came,
sometimes for weeks 4t a time, to
help out. There were children
everywhere, playing in the kiddie
pool and sandbox. and adults
watched over the smaller kids and
made sure the workers had food and
water. Music blasted from the stereo
most days and in the evenings, those
who weren't too exhausted to stay up
would often gather around a campfire
to play guitars and drums.
The weekend in August when
the bales were set into place,
the property was swarming
with family and friends on hand to
help out. With Tony supervising.
from that Friday afternoon until late
Sunday, bales were stacked like large
bricks, and doors and windows were
set into place. The biggest part of the
process was cutting the bales with
circular saws and chainsaws to fit
around the framing, and tying mini -
bales to fit into spaces too small for a
full one. The walls were then shaped
with weed whackers, and the gaps
filled with handfuls of straw before
the process of encasing them in
plastic mesh and concrete began.
Straw must remain dry to prevent
the occurrence of mold and maintain
the desired insulation properties, so
tarps were nailed to the eaves and
pegged into the ground to provide a
tent -like shelter from wet weather
until the walls were ready for
"plastering".
In the weeks between the bale