Having a look at this old account, and finding I left the few followers I have here in suspense perhaps. Here is where I am with my little camp on the land. I bought an 8x10 loft shed from Nantucket sheds in 2021, cost delivered and installed approx $5000.

in 2020 I hired someone to build me a platform, after watching far too many videos on DIYing such a thing. Cost approx $8000.

I really enjoy my little camp and it serves as any anytime destination to get away. This 2022 summer I caught Covid and just lay on the platform, in the tent and sat in the shed in isolation for close to a week staring at the trees and thankful for my little camp.

Every time I come I work on improving my little camp. Here it is in October 2022. Since then the shed has been raised and levelled and we spread a lot of the gravel around the shed and platform. Next spring or summer we will stain and protect the shed and platform and set up a little outdoor kitchen.

Sheds

An article on sheds says that 8 x 10 is the most common size.

Nantucket Sheds on MV thru Eden Nursery

Tom Thumb Sheds

Pine Harbor Sheds has outlets on Cape, not MV

MV High School teaches students how to build Sheds then sold at cost for people, but I don’t know how to get one

Jamaica Cottage Shop - can deliver a kit to MV

Guest House Ideas & Plans

It seems that a guest house that is not a garage and is less than 800 sq ft will be permitted on the land. So here’s some ideas for that scenerio.

Martha’s Vineyard Post and Beam

Squash Meadow Construction

South Mountain Homes

24 x 24 = 576 sq feet

A two car garage/carriage house/barn has the square footage of 576 above. Here are some houses of around that same footprint that I like.

Random pictures of small houses built over a slope

Decks

other stuff

Resources List for the Land

This is a record of several resources I’ve recently found useful for planning, maintenance and staying on the land shared with my sisters. In no particular order.

Tree/Logs/Forest Resources

Small/Tiny Houses & Sheds Sources

Small Houses, Enthusiasts & Makers on Various Platforms

I try to learn from those that are not straight cis white men, I’ve added a * to those that are women/BIPOC/LGBTQ

Some pictures of Houses I can visualize on the land

Lots of cabin/shed/tiny house builds on YouTube,

I’m a bit obsessed but I also note the [mostly bearded] white cis masculinity on display here. Certainly none of them are reflexive of the privilege that allowed for them to choose off-grid lifestyles “self-reliance” and “homesteading”

Salvage sources

Interesting Ideas, Not Necessarily Practical/Possible

How I got from Major Revisions to PhD

On May 1st, 2013, I walked onto campus with 5 copies of my PHD draft for distribution. It had taken me 20 years since starting this PhD to get to this day but it wasn’t ready.  The dept. chair said I had no choice, it had to be distributed that week; soon after he told me it was too late to have a defense that semester, but also too late to take it back and revise it. So, finally at the end of September 2013, I spent 2.5 hours defending myself and work in front of 5 dissertation committee members. I was the oldest person in the room, and also one of two people that had tenure.  I stumbled out of that room, held up by my partner and advisor, fighting back tears holding the heavy weight of incomplete/major revisions and one year to get them done or never graduate.

It took a couple of months to actually receive the 162 revisions from two committee members, which ranged from small typos to huge “the methodology chapter makes no sense”. I also carried the weight of verbal criticism at the defense which never got put into writing by one other committee member including “it is obvious you will never understand theory enough to write about it ” and “the catalog is the only good thing about this dissertation - everything else should probably be deleted”.

It was time to get to work on finishing this PhD to the best of my ability and leaving the trauma behind, ASAP, but how? I had already read all the ‘how to write your dissertation’ books (there’s a whole genre of these things) but they all ended with the defense; none provided information on how to deal with major revisions in the dissertation process. There’s several very sad stories in the comments on  post about doing major and minor amendments post defense/viva by the Thesis Whisperer.

I had already used this blog post by 𝚃𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚊 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚑-𝙱𝚘𝚣𝚊  for a revise and resubmit article I had published, it was helpful for working through this much larger task too. I sorted the revisions into small, medium and large tasks and gave each a row on a spreadsheet, I located and added the chapter/page number and marked each location with an endnote, highlighted in yellow for easy location. I had exclusively used footnotes for the text of the dissertation, so it would be easy to delete all endnotes, after the revised dissertation was accepted. Here’s the data in each of the columns of my spreadsheet

The final spreadsheet submitted with each chapter to the chair of the revision committee was winnowed down to columns 1, 2, 3, 7. However, the final draft reader took an unexpected amount of care to check each revision and had trouble correlating the spreadsheet to the text.  I should have also copied and pasted data in columns 3 and 4 into the text of the endnote for easier reader reference.  I then should have used the spreadsheet as a duplicate record of revisions including those that no longer had an endnote in the final version, because those passages were deleted or there was something that needed changing throughout the dissertation.

As discussed and debated on the Thesis Whisperer, I did hire a copyeditor; I recommend this editor. Richard did an excellent job, but like all good work, it did not come cheap, I already had a tenured position and a steady paycheck, so I could afford the cost, which was a couple thousand dollars – worth every penny.

Eventually, all the chapters got accepted, and I deposited my final dissertation and graduated in October 2014. It took 6 months before I could open the dissertation again, but I am super glad to have it now and I consult it often. You can download and read it here.

Planning for 2020 Summer Shed & Deck

As reported in previous posts, the sisters now own an acre of trees, slopes and poison ivy. I’d like to get something in place there this summer, using minimal effort, money and available resources, materials. Its going to be temporary and off grid for a little while until grid connections are available. Not exactly roughing it, as one sister, 5 goats and 3 dogs live across the road. Everything else is walking/biking distance - people are always trying to get rid of stuff that maybe I could use- but new & specific materials are mostly available only the mainland.

I think I can budget around $5K for a small off grid place to stay sometimes. The plan is for a deck on which a small tent could be set up adjacent to a shed. I have a really nice shed already, built by the same person that built this tiny house, which seems to be for sale.  In addition to the details below I’m thinking about a

Step one - poison ivy mitigation of area [ DONE! - sept 2020 ]- this will be the goats job. I watched several fun videos about goats eating up unwanted growth. There are several different fencing options. Probably going to go with goat/cattle panels ($30 ea) & T-Posts ($5 ea)- I think I can do this myself. Materials to be purchased new, but are reusable. Cost - maybe $500?

Step one & halves - install steps down to where the deck will be. I already made post about this.  and make a compost bin. Cost very minimal - I think I can do this myself, maybe from some cut down trees on the property.

Step two - build a deck & adjacent structure to support shed - the challenge here is the deep slope of the ravine. I am inspired by the decks and structures built in the forest by Elevated Spaces - Maybe costs cost $2-3,000? - Jan 2021 note - Lumber costs are very high right now, maybe significantly more expensive.

Step three - Plan and prepare a site to put a shed (much info available on the web on shed site preparation). Would like something more stable than concrete blocks. Either move an existing shed to this area or buy or build one.  in 2019 we got a quote for $1,000 for moving a shed across the road from a local contractor. New good quality sheds (or shed kits) which are up-gradable to 3 season useability would cost around $4-5,000 delivered to or built on the site. 

Step four - insulate the shed and make it a bit nicer by adding a floor and interior walls. I’m inspired by the videos on the Darbin Ovar Channel about the transformation of a shed to a studio.  Maybe these materials could cost around $700? I may be able to do this myself.

Tiny House/DIY/Sustainable Houses & White Privilege

I’ve been doing a bunch of research (procrastination from doing other research/writing) on my plans for my camp/tiny house/shed cabin. I intended that this post to record my research and ideas about decks, insulation, interesting floor ideas, composting toilets and goat fences - fun stuff like that. I’ve been watching a lot of videos on You-Tube - I’ve subscribed to a number of ‘Vloggers’ who have graciously shared how they’ve done things.

Some Examples of internet video channels I’ve enjoyed watching: Tiny House Big Living | Tiny House Nation | Exploring Alternatives | Fair Companies | Mr. Chickadee

The Resources available on the web are overwhelmingly white!

Most or all of of the videos/blogs/chats about building tiny homes, off grid houses, sustainable homes are distressingly and glaringly by and about white privileged persons, several of whom are quite vocal about being christian. I suspect that the reason many are living off grid to avoid living among diverse groups of people. Many are also homesteaders, preppers and home school their [many blonde] children. Are they also white supremacists? I worry that they are - or at least are not reflexive about their reasons to “live off grid” or “mortgage free” or “get away from it all”. I’ve tried to find black, brown and/or queer voices in these videos without success.

Watching these videos often unsettling to me, I turn them off when vloggers start talking about guns or God.

When watching these videos, I’m often thinking of the many people of color in precarious or non existent housing situations for whom a DIY/tiny/off grid house may be a good solution to their family’s needs.

I do however appreciate many women DIY’ers represented in these videos - some of whom are real inspirations, as construction is often presented as a male dominated space. I really am inspired by Darbin Ovar’s videos for example. But I think [white] women’s presence in DIY/Tiny House videos really just reflects an un-acknowledged truth that women have always built, planned and documented personal and family dwellings.

I don’t see POC represented in the available resources. Here in NYC, so much of construction is performed by POC, perhaps they are involved projects like these but I don’t see it on the web. I do see DIY constructions all over my Latinx neighborhood - for example, community garden casitas.  Of course the original tiny/sustainable/DIY homes came from indigenous, brown and black peoples in villages and towns across the world - it would be nice if those in the ‘tiny house movement’ and others at least acknowledged this.

I guess that is what I need to say before making posts about what I learned and hope to accomplish on this empty plot of land. I am happy to report that the three existing houses on this small road are populated by immigrants of color and queer people. At least one of the new houses to be built will be owned by a construction worker.

An initial land plan

This weekend the sisters met to discuss the land we purchased. Much of what we will do is in the future. But I decided that in the next year or two, I’ll

1. Use the existing felled trees to build terraced steps

Below is a diagram of how to install and stabilize the logs from this article

Here’s a blog post with other ideas for upcycling felled trees and branches

Here’s another way to use logs to make steps [1/2021 edit]

2. Build a 10 x 10 foot deck at the bottom of those stairs. - midway down the slope away from the road

3. Move an existing shed to a platform or foundation adjacent to the deck. [Jan 2021 edit - this shed is no longer available, E is looking into buying another shed]

4. In May when the first poison ivy shoots come out, build a fence around the area to allow the goats to graze this area to keep it clear of poison Ivy. [Jan 2021 edit - Ellen, Philipp, Lee and Sara spent a hot day getting this done in September]

Three Sisters Meet about Building Houses

We three sisters met to talk about house(s) to build on the lot we bought here in MV.  Zoning for land is 3 bedroom home - could possibly be changed with subdivision.

Conversations

Thoughts expressed

M might build a 2 bedroom home from her design Lots of windows, modern. 1,000 sq feet? - we still don’t know how much that might cost $2-300,00?

E might build a small dwelling with bedroom on lower level and small loft above. Likes A-frames, post and beams, old houses, DIY houses - can it be done for less than $100,000? 

S likes barns, needs storage - but she also will probably need to add an extension onto her house soon (which is across the road). Lives here and likes the idea of a garage with an apartment above.

Here are the options we discussed.

Prefabs - there’s a few builders on the island with connections to a few prefab companies.

Plans for building from scratch.

Initial expenses

auxiliary structures ideas

 2 bedroom home, and another ‘guest house’ attached by a deck - Kitchen is an issue for this.

Slow and Small Archaeology: Some Thoughts

Recently I got into a twitter-conversation with Sean Graham &  Bill Caraher about Slow Archaeology. Sean had written a blog post “Slow Archaeology?” in response to Bill’s chapter (starts on pg 21) Slow Archaeology: Technology, Efficiency, and Archaeological Work , Bill responded on his blog Preliminary Thoughts on Digital Practices in Archaeology.  I believe that Sean and Bill have been working on a few projects together of which I know nothing, I just jumped in to a twitter-convo without knowing the background.  Nor have I ever met either Bill nor Sean, we are just tweeple - who haven’t [yet] interacted in the real world. In a weak moment I suggested I might write my own blog post, and Bill tweeted some interest in such a thing. So here it is.

I don’t pretend to be a ‘digital archaeologist’ - I can’t even figure out how to link to the twitter exchange we had.  But I am an archaeologist that collects data and a librarian that digitizes and thinks more deeply than most about metadata, catalog structure, taxonomy, typology, and how to use them properly to get my research ‘out there’. I think this little exchange resonated with me because for several reasons I have been really feeling the slowness of my archaeological experiences and practices. I’ll elaborate a little below upon this.

I’ll just say that if anyone practices slow, its me. It took me twenty years to finish my PhD, although some of the delays in the last years were not entirely my fault, and it took some time to recover. I work full time, 11 months out of the year as a librarian, with very little time beyond nights, weekends and vacation time to devote to archaeology. But everyone has a work/life balance issue, and I have managed to get a lot of digging and studying of artifacts done, I’ve collected a lot of data, and false-started many drafts of chapters and articles over the past decades, and I did make tenure. While I’ve managed to give a lot of conference papers, and travel most years to archaeological digs, what I haven’t done is get a lot published. This has been weighing on me lately as start the process toward applying for promotion. The fact is, its not [always] me, its archaeology. The structure of archaeological publication is SLOW, and in my circumstance it’s really damn slow.

While archaeological publishing structures are slow, there are other systems and structures gumming up the works, including power and control and hierarchy - and I think also gender, money and status. Perhaps I just enumerated what’s wrong with the whole world, and we should just work to forward the revolution. But in the meantime, I’d like to get some of my research out the door so people can read it and I can move onto new projects!

I am not the director of a excavation project, I am a specialist. I’ve been working on digs in Jordan, Syria and Turkey since 1995. While I have been a field archaeologist at most of the sites I’ve worked upon, including digging some gnarly trenches, I have also been studying tiny things that some would consider more decorative than utilitarian, also known as “small finds”, mainly figurines, beads and pendants. I’ve been recently considering the implications and structures in place for small finds, and how they do and do not fit into how we study material culture and determine what is diagnostic to a particular culture.  I gave a talk called Discoverability of Small Things BANEA-Glasgow and I’ll give another talk titled ‘Doing’ Small Finds at TAG-Toronto.

Bokashi and Composting Together

This is an update on how we are integrating Bokashi food fermentation with regular food scrap compostable collection in our apartment and garden. In 2014 I wrote a post about making bokashi agent and fermenting food scraps at home. This is an update on that post amended with lessons learned over the past few years.

Thanks to a Compost Grant from Citizens Committee of New York, we were able to purchase and distribute 2 gallon buckets with lids to garden members. These are intended to facilitate at-home collection and transport of compostables to be added to our garden’s compost bins. These are small enough to fit in most bags, wheeled carts and bike panniers, and can potentially be simply carried by most people.

A full 2 gallon bucket probably weighs about 6-8 pounds. The advantage of using these buckets (and tight fitting lids) is to free up space in the freezer from compostables as well as facilitate handling & transport of drippy, potentially smelly food waste - which can be barriers to compost participation. A 2 gallon bucket can be brought to the kitchen counter when preparing food, and stored under the kitchen table when not in use. Once emptied in the bin, the bucket can then be used to carry finished compost home to amend the soil in tree pits, make seed starting mix, or plant a windowsill garden.

Most food waste bucket-toting garden members are simply filling them with vegan ‘green’ materials, including fruit and vegetable trimmings, tea and coffee grounds, spent cut flowers ect. However a few of us are using this buckets to collect and prepare food waste that cannot be directly added to an outdoor urban compost bin by using bokashi agent to ferment them. This includes grains (such as bread, pasta, rice), dairy (such as cheese, yogurt) and meat (such as uneaten cat food). In addition to keeping these materials out of the waste stream, the bokashi-fermented food waste serves as a compost accelerator; our piles steam through the winter registering 130-150 on the compost thermometer in the middle of the pile.

more later

Start with spent bread, broken up as neccessary

Add dairy and meat scraps directly above the bread and grains wasted. We keep ours in the freezer separately awaiting the starting of a new bucket. If no more grains, meat and dairy is to be added - make note of the date - you’ll need to count 2-3 weeks from this date to determine when it can be put in the compost bin. cover with half a cup of bokashi agent.

If smell is a concern or problem, cover with a layer of coffee grounds. We keep these separate in a ceramic crock in our kitchen.

Continue to add vegan food waste in 2-4 inch layers, covering with bokashi agent after each addition. Unlike other composting systems, this is an anaerobic process, you actually don’t want air to properly ferment your food waste. Some cover with a paper plate or bag and push down on each layer.

When full, and 2-3 weeks after adding the meat/dairy/grains bring to your outdoor compost bin and dig it into what is already there. Cover with leaves, It can be a bit smelly. Note the white bloom on top, that means its been fermented properly.

Neolithic Beads

I’ve been spending more and more time thinking about & researching Neolithic beads, pendants and other ornaments. I’ve also been thinking about how excavated Neolithic bead assemblages intersect with what I have learned during my 2 year old survey project, Lost Ornaments of New York.  Here’s a slide from a recent presentation at a recent Barcın Höyük workshop in Istanbul. In one of the earliest levels, we found many beads of different types in the doorway of a busy room in a multi-roomed structure.