Bags Filling

First Course Fully Tamped

Mostly Untamped. Huge difference in size.

So my muscles are growing. Really. You should see my arms. Tamping is not for the faint of heart. Not having to transport dirt is such a blessing. I have been speeding up and my bags are looking good now that I'm half way through the second course. It takes fifty bags to go around the pinto bean plus four and two half bags for a buttress. I did just over thirty bags yesterday. Each bag takes 9 gallons of dirt which I have to take down into the pit. I am blogging because I needed to take the morning off. Think it's best not to drive myself to physical collapse but to let my body acclimate at its own pace.

Soaking in pits is excellent. It melts the clay and makes the dirt more uniform and just seems to be more stable to me. Plus it's very passive except for having to loosen it up a bit and mix in a bit of dry dirt because the top comes out a bit moister than necessary. I've been experimenting with how to close the bags and how to diddle. I turn the bags in inside out and then kinda push the corners in a bit so they don't protrude when I put the first bucket of dirt in. They don't really stick out much anyways but the smoother they are, the easier plastering will be. There's a drawstring on the bags so what I've been doing is firming the ends and either drawing the string shut or just folding it over and pushing it against the other bag. Don't think it needs more than that.

Covering with plastic works great. There's always moisture inside in the morning and very little cracking on the bags. VERY firm and solid.

I am looking forward to the arrival at grade level. I can only imagine how much easier it will be to fill bags that aren't three feet down!

I'm loving this. The wind doesn't get to me anymore--I can eat, sleep, cook and work in it. I'm loving the work. I'm loving the routine. I'm loving the isolation and solitude (though feel free to come break it--and I mean you, Claire!). I love looking at the pit and coming up with new ideas and seeing my house grow before my eyes. I love the quiet and the beautiful moons. Speaking of which, I love laying in a hot spring every night. I love the river every afternoon. I love the exhaustion and the insatiable hunger (I'm gonna get a burger today to try to remedy that). I'm just loving this.