We have to make our own limw putty as you can’t buy it here! So we have made half of the 3 cubic metres. We had half a bath tub ful with water and added quicklime, slaking all the time for 15mins. Then we mixed 3 parts sand 1 part lime paste in the mixer and now it is stored in the water tank for motnhs. It will be good after 3 months but the longer you leave it the better it is to work with.
Archive for March, 2008
We are making the lime putty render for the house as we can’t buy it ready made. We have a 1.5 M3 water tank that we are using to store half of it. I need to get another tank to store the other half that we still have to wait. The lime putty is better to work the longer you leave it. They say it is good after 3 months. We will leave ours until september when the rains come. It’s much better to plaster when it’s not hot and dry as you will get lots of cracks.
The way we made the lime putty was buy adding quicklime to a bath half full of water and slaked it for 15 minutes. Then we mixed 3 parts sand to 1 part lime in the mixer and continued to work the mix. Once the mix was done Igor emptied it into the water tank.
Então, estamos a fazer o rebouco de cal. O processo para fazer o rebouco e como assim; tem que por cal viva no agua e mexe para 15 minutos. Depois põe tres partes areia e um parte de cal na betadeira. Quando esta pronto pomos o rebouco no tank para storagem. O rebouco vai ser pronto em 3 meses, mas 3 meses vai ficar no verão, este no é um bom tempo para rebocar, então vamos a rebocar no fin de septembro quando a chuva vem.
E preciso para fazer 3 metros cubicos. Agora temos feito meio.
I want to share with you what we are doing at Quinta dos Melros. Quinta dos Melros is a peramculture project in central Portugal 45 mins from Coimbra. I have been here for two and a half years, observing, reflecting, designing and building a one and a half story strawbale house. There is already quite some interest with the house. It looks like Imight have a client list forming for strawbale houses…
We have planted sixty fruit and nut trees and will continue to plant trees every year. We have a growing forest garden with cherry, pear, plum, apple, huznjut and walnuts, raspberries, gooseberries, red currents, black currents and strawberries.
I also have a growing instrument collection (next on my list is a Hang!) and have the equipment for a home studio, just got to finish the studio room! We have jam sessions and music is never far away at Quinta dos Melros.
The location is in a small valley with a stream running through it. It is one hectare and we have both south facing and north facing sides of the valley with a flat area at the bottom.
Next year I hope to give permaculture design courses here once I have completed my diploma. We have woofers and volunteers coming and sharing experiences, learning and eating excellent local food a considerable amount which is grown here.
Ok gonna make another mix now….
Hello,
We have been cutting down the pines behind the house and stripping them so we can use them to make the veranda. It is really hard black granite so even with the big drill it’s hard going. We have also filled under the boxframes with stone and lime mortar.