Portugal Off Grid

 Instead of buying a whole greenhouse kit, I have purchased replacement foil and looks like this: Link to purchase in Dutch My plan is to build the frame part ourselves, using this example from Pinterest: And instead of using white PVC tubing, I am going to use black irrigation hose. We have miscellaneous pieces all over the land, many with holes or damage and no longer useful for irrigation. The local lumber. yard has lots of great rough cut lumber at decent prices, so building our winter greenhouse should be reasonable. The cost of mulch and organic matter for the ground will be another story, as I have yet to find a farmer who I can pay to dump a pile cheaply. The plan is to use the greenhouse for a year and then move it over and use it in that spot for a year, then repeat. Every year, the soil under the greenhouse will be enriched and the gardening area will slowly grow. I got this idea from Jim Kovaleski, a market gardener who moves back and forth from North to South every yea...

Jim Kovaleski's greenhouse theories are excellent. He moves it every year. A This is a tour of the greenhouse itself

Master U-Power Inverter Hybrid UM 3000W 24V MPPT This inverter-charger has a lot of drawbacks, but since I got mine on deep discount because it was a returned item, I'm satisfied with performance. 225.00 euros including shipping. It is very noisy and runs the fan all day long, but I'm outdoors most of the day in nice weather, so we tolerate it. 10 panels of 145 watt. I bought a total of 14 on Marktplaats used for 400 euros. Currently only using 8 of them. Made by TSMC model TS-145c1 Sticker from back is shown in image below. There are two 12v 180AH semi-traction batteries. 199 euros each, set up for 24v Cables and misc. from Amazon.nl  6mm2 Solar Charge Controller to Solar Module MC4 Solar Cable (10m) TRAMILY 4Y Branch Solar Panel Cable  PV Wire Adapter and a power strip was used for the 220v plug ins. Totals: 225,00 for the Green box     400,00 for the panels     42,00 for the cables     14,00 for the additional connectors     13,00 for...

The only highlight of the drive home was taking my yeast dough and making bread on the gas stove in the van. I have a clam-shell pan and it kicked out this English muffin like thing that was pretty tasty. Near Paris the gas shortages caused me to drive off the highway to find gas. There were huge lines everywhere and I luckily found a place with only 10 vehicles ahead of me. Since the bed was taken out to bring all the solar panels and sofa down, a brand new mattress from IKEA in Lisbon was laid in the van to sleep on. When I got home, it was installed on our master bedroom bed (which needed a new mattress as the old one was 10 years old). It was okay like this for one person and two little dogs. Didn't seem to hurt the mattress. Now we get to rebuild the van bed and reposition it because we got a new composting toilet!! woot woot.  

Just as I packed up to leave, we had gotten rain and now the lime tree was blooming. I also found a fruit on the neighbor's strawberry tree. It was delicious. I will definitely make clones of this tree in the future. It sits at our fence line and I would like one or two of my own. The blue tiles were added to the fireplace. I will cut the final ones on the next trip, but already it's such a difference.  

Once my husband was dropped off at the Lisbon airport to go back to work, I started on the kitchen. It is easier to deal with a kitchen when it's just one person. If it was the two of us, there would be more cooking, more coffee making, more tea and more snacks.  The sink, which was earlier framed with raw lumber, got a few large tiles glued to it to make a more sanitary countertop surface. Next trip I will need to do something about the gap at the back, but this is a big improvement over raw lumber. The limewash was applied over the sink area. I managed to cut my thumb down to the bone while making fresh bread with melted sheep cheese. Husband bought a new serrated bread knife. Super sharp, Damn thing went down to the bone and I spent several hours keeping pressure on it until it dried enough not to break open. This is my toilet paper and tape bandage. Seamus enjoying the sofa cushions on a clean scrubbed floor. Since I couldn't do much with my thumb all cut up, I spent a day ...