Bales have arrived!!! It was a bit of a scramble, but we have great friends and volunteers who rolled with the adjustments.
Our hauler canceled Friday morning while Katie was already on her way to the farm in Frederic, Wisconsin. After a few “animated” calls, she parked the pickup truck er borrowed and ended up renting a 24’ U-haul and getting to the farm to haul herself. Luckily, the hauling company felt bad and found two other drivers in smaller trucks, so we had three batches of bales. Good news was our official moisture test from Braun Intertec passed with flying colors! 18% is the general threshold to avoid mold issues. All of our bales have been stored in a barn for a few months, so this wasn’t a huge risk, but they can back between 9-12%, which is great! Added bonus: drier bales are also lighter, which came in handy when throwing them up to the second floor. Each bale weighed between 35-45 pounds, so it was quite the workout! Also, 650 is a lot of bales! And they shed a bit. Luckily, Katie built in some spoilage, so we should be good. We swept up the shed straw and put it back in the uhaul, which I had to late night deliver back to Wisconsin so we could grab the pickup truck and get our other tools from the @minnesotatoollibrary yesterday. Did you know that we have a couple of tool library locations where you can check out tools? Everything from weed whips to chainsaws, cement mixers, tool belts, wheelbarrows, etc. They are awesome and you should check it out! Big shout out to @brinkwatts @sunnyrae214 @brian.christopher.thompson @bexswanson @jonocowgill @dreamofthe90sinstpaul @morganbird @james.k.bohn @wedgelive and a couple others not on IG for helping us get this project off on the right foot! Bales are now stacked, with about ⅔ in the house and ⅓ on pallets and covered in tarps in the driveway. We will moisture test them again on Monday morning to be safe, but we should be good to go! There is still time to join us for our build! We have volunteer opportunities all week for you to try your hand at straw bale construction with plenty of guidance. Sign up to join us. #UptownStrawhouse #Straw
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AuthorKatie Jones and Peter Schmitt chronicle their building adventure. Archives
January 2024
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