8-16-2009 - Dome is complete!!

Despite being up until about 4:00 AM drinking beer and various vodka concoctions, today turned out to be quite a productive day. We managed to erect the geodesic dome that I have been planning for the last few months! Very exciting. As I sit an drink a gin and tonic, I marvel at the small collection of photographs that I managed to snap to document the progress.

Here is the ditch that Jason and I have been working on. Eventually, all of the dirt even with this ditch will be removed in place of raised beds. The ditch represents the foundation, which will be made of earth-rammed tires, whose exposed surfaces will be faced with stucco.


Here us the initial ring of the dome.


The first layer is up! Young Grasshopper stands at arms ... be afraid ...


Now we are starting to get somewhere. Our roommate, Matt, helps out. The kids think they are helping! :)


Now we are REALLY getting somethere! Josh stopped over for a small visit just by chance - right when we needed him to help hold some of the struts!




It's getting late, but we are almost done! This is is me, preparing to tie in the last few struts!


A dark shot of the same.


alllllll ... mooooostt .... dooooone ...


Finished!! Pretty impressive! It is 20 feet across! That will give us about 314 sq ft of growing space - not to mention growing space by hanging vegetables from above! The dome is about 12 feet tall from the very center point to the ground.


And ... here are the chickens!