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Before and after pictures contest

Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

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posted 7 months ago

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Hi All,
I love to see before and after pictures and be inspired by the amazing work that has gone into your project. So I'm starting a contest.

How can I get a free slice of pie?
Submit your own before and after pictures below. I will pick the top two that I think are the most impressive or the most unique and award a free slice of pie to each.

The Rules
You must submit within 10 days of this post.
They must be your own before and after pictures, not someone else's project.
You must share what the pictures are about. You don't need an entire page of description, but I want to see more than a couple words.

It could be a garden before and after planting, it could be a fat to healthy picture, it could be a field into a food forest, it could be an old dilapidated house to a home, it could be raw ingredients into a feast, a piece of furniture you refurbished... just about anything. Let me see what you have accomplished!

"The future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is." C.S. Lewis
"When the whole world is running towards a cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind." C.S. Lewis

Timothy Norton

master gardener

Posts: 4237

Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

1717

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posted 7 months ago

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Little bit of a story.

I grew up on this property, it was my childhood home. As I was leaving college, the house was empty and the mortgage company was going to take it if my mother couldn't keep up payments. She had moved in with her parents to take care of her mother (and eventually purchased a new house) and I was looking for a place to stay. While it isn't my fantasy Permie property being only a third of an acre, I didn't waste the opportunity. I'm incredibly blessed to have moved in. Something that always irked me is that the property was pretty much all lawn. The excuse to never do anything was "Where will the kids play?". Sorry kids, I want to play.

Before

After

There has been quite a few trees pruned/cleared, a garden installed, leveling of the backyard in stages, mulch installed all over, forsythia 'tamed', a chicken coop/run built, and much much more.

It's a wonderful life.

- Tim's Homestead Journal - Purchase a copy of Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Purchase 6 Decks of Permaculture Cards -
- Purchase 12x Decks of Permaculture Cards - Purchase a copy of the SKIP Book - Purchase 12x copies of Building a Better World in your Backyard

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Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 7 months ago

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Someone asked if they could submit more than one entry. Here is what I say.

You can submit as many sets of pictures as you want, but can only win once. It needs to be one set of pictures per post, so I can be clear about which set wins.

thomas rubino

rocket scientist

Posts: 6318

Location: latitude 47 N.W. montana zone 6A

3189

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posted 7 months ago

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Here is my 30-year-old rotten deck.
And here is the next 30+ year deck completed.

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For all your Montana Masonry Heater parts (also known as) Rocket Mass heater parts.
Visit me at
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Jay Angler

steward

Posts: 12419

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

6991

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posted 7 months ago

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I am quite tempted to post a picture of some eggs, and then the adorable ducklings/chicklets/goslings that emerg, but that would not be in the spirit of this competition, as generally it is a mother duck or chicken that's doing all the work! They would only appreciate real pie, not virtual pie.

I look forward to all of the pictures. Hmmm... there is one project I did which I think is beautiful. I have before pictures and I can easily take an after!

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Leigh Tate

author & steward

Posts: 5289

Location: Southeastern U.S. - Zone 7b

3072

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posted 7 months ago

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We bought our homestead in 2009, and it has been a work in progress ever since. We've done the improvements in stages, often years apart!

This is what the front of the house looked like when we moved in.

For several years we worked on replacing the old windows with energy efficient ones, adding insulation where we could, and installing new barnboard siding.

The last thing to deal with was this overgrown wild rose bush.

Dan dug it out and built an African keyhole garden in it's place. He also installed a rainwater collection tank.

Everything still gets kind of wild looking at times, but I'm really happy with our "after."

Blog: 5 Acres & A Dream
Books: Kikobian Books | Permies Digital Market

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Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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Here is my own example of something recently. I got a plant hanger for my window and things are growing quite well.

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Christopher Weeks

master gardener

Posts: 3271

Location: Carlton County, Minnesota, USA: 3b; Dfb; sandy loam; in the woods

1594

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posted 6 months ago

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Thanks for doing this, Matt! I usually concentrate on all the plans that aren't getting done fast enough but taking the time to point out this explicitly how the yard has changed was an amazing exercise.

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Jenny Wright

gardener

Posts: 1050

Location: Zone 6 in the Pacific Northwest

534

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posted 6 months ago

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I like sewing but I LOVE repurposing or upcycling even more. Halloween costumes are really fun for me. My oldest wanted to be Anne of Green Gables so we headed to the thrift store and I found this curtain for a dollar or less. It became the dress- I don't think the white fabric is super accurate to the character (not very serviceable) but please note that it does not have puffed sleeves!

An old pair of my husband's PJ pants that had gotten too threadbare in the bum was turned into a pinafore. (Sorry, no before picture of the PJ pants.)

The dress and pinafore are still used for dress up by younger sisters eight years later.

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Jenny Wright

gardener

Posts: 1050

Location: Zone 6 in the Pacific Northwest

534

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posted 6 months ago

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I don't have a single picture but this same daughter in the post above made a beautiful circle skirt from a bright pink damask circle table cloth found at a thrift store. It turned out super cute.

Nancy Reading

steward and tree herder

Posts: 8375

Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year

3972

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posted 6 months ago

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I found a few photos from my holding. It's difficult to take the same shots these days, since the trees now get in the way :)

This is my fruit jungle - sort of a forest garden. I started off trying to grow annual vegetables there and then gradually converted it into the jungle.

So the first picture is 'before' - when I was growing mainly potatoes there (2009) looking uphill

The next picture is 'during' - laying out the fruit garden in 2011. This was taken from slightly above a willow fedge looking towards the house. You can see cardboard mulching around the fruit trees. The shade tunnel was supposed to protect the raspberries from the birds, but when the netting tore I never replaced it and took the frame down, so we share them now.

Then one from last year 'after' - which I assure you is of the same area! This one is taken from just below the willow fedge and you can see why I call it the 'fruit jungle' - lots of raspberries, blackcurrrants, gooseberries, apples going feral and some auraucaria monkey puzzles starting to look like real trees. Also comfrey, rhubarb, lupin (nitrogen fixing and happy flowers :) ) together with nettles, docken, good king henry, scorzonera, and lots of other weeds and useful plants. I do very little here now, apart from a bit of chop and drop (particularly the nettles!) and fruit picking. I did manage to squeeze in another apples tree this year and relocate my Toona sinensis which I think found it a bit shady.

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My projects on Skye: The tree field, Growing and landracing, perennial polycultures, "Don't dream it - be it! "

Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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Just bumping this thread. 5 more days to submit your own before or after pictures. You can submit more than once, but you can only win once.

Jay Angler

steward

Posts: 12419

Location: Pacific Wet Coast

6991

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posted 6 months ago

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Here's an upcycling project:

Start with a 40 year old silk kimono that's spent way too much of its life in a box:

End up with a split-side adjustable skirt that is super awesome to wear for dress-up:

To see all the sketchy details and anxiety some steps caused, wander over to this thread:
https://permies.com/t/254470/sewing/Split-side-adjustable-skirt

As my son would say, the TLDR* version: I needed something fancy to wear to a wedding. I'm too much of a permie to buy something I'd only wear once that was completely artificial.

*too long, didn't read - us old fogies would say, "the summary version"

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Jason Tuller

Posts: 38

Location: Omaha, United States

posted 6 months ago

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An old playhouse into a bbq shack! Cut it off, drop the floor, drop the side rail and add a shelf and a smoker. Add some decorations and you have a bbq shack. Oh yeah, replace all the screws because that old treated lumber ate the original screws. Now with new life the treated lumber stays out of the landfill.

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Jez Williams

Posts: 1

posted 6 months ago

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Moved here end of 2020, it’s in East Sussex uk started a market garden business but the real intention was to get a permaculture system going so since this photo of last years rows we’ve planted many more perennials. We are lucky the water is pumped from a spring nearby so the veg is ace. Market gardening isn’t profitable unless you really go to town with marketing and get the numbers, employees etc in my opinion anyway, but we’re very happy sharing the work and produce with a core group of volunteers who come every Thursday for a few hrs and share a meal after working. Er… how do I upload pics?? Maybe it will become clear after submitting the text.. if not you’ll have to imagine!

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Jenny Wright

gardener

Posts: 1050

Location: Zone 6 in the Pacific Northwest

534

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posted 6 months ago

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I was waging war against the invasive blackberries last week when I thought, "Hey! I wonder if I can do something with this stuff?"

Yup! A little time spent on youtube and I found a great video to help me turn this...

into this...

(working on the 20' for a BB, I got about 3' in the short time I have spent on it so far)

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Ulla Bisgaard

gardener

Posts: 445

Location: Grow zone 10b. Southern California,close to the Mexican boarder

341

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posted 6 months ago

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Food forest garden. Started with the soil being just sand and clay where nothing could grow. We started with fixing the soil and then started planting. It took 7 years, but the food forest garden are finally finished.

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Live, love life holistically

Joshua States

pollinator

Posts: 186

Location: Alpine southwest USA

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posted 6 months ago

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Wow! Some really great photos here of all sorts of wonderful transformations of land, buildings, clothing, and cool stuff.
Here is my humble submittal taken from another thread on the forums. (https://permies.com/t/179207/pep-metalworking/Basic-backyard-forge)

The scrap of rebar in the center of this photo.

And tuned it into this hook.

“So I'm lightin' out for the territory, ahead of the scared and the weak and the mean spirited, because Aunt Sally is fixin’ to adopt me and civilize me, and I can't stand it. I've been there before.”

Catrina Liesch

Posts: 11

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posted 6 months ago

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Some changes in our garden

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Nancy Reading

steward and tree herder

Posts: 8375

Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland. Nearly 70 inches rain a year

3972

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posted 6 months ago

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I managed to take a photo of my tree field this week showing the same view(ish) as one of my early photos. This is a long term project: about 5 acres of overgrazed sheep paddock turned into a productive coppice woodland over the last 15 years.

Main purpose:
Firewood: now producing about half the fuel we need in sustainable rotation harvest, hopefully more in future.
Some secondary uses:
Soft fruit, top fruit, wild fruit, nuts, foraging, experimental vegetable growing areas, wildlife habitat, amenity, education.

These picture were taken from about the same spot looking down the hill and across the glen:

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How Permies works: https://permies.com/wiki/34193/permies-works-links-threads
My projects on Skye: The tree field, Growing and landracing, perennial polycultures, "Don't dream it - be it! "

Jenny Wright

gardener

Posts: 1050

Location: Zone 6 in the Pacific Northwest

534

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posted 6 months ago

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I have my own before/after yard pictures.

I think it's hilarious that these pictures are kind of the reverse of the before/after pictures you'd see on a typical lawn and garden website.

Manicured lawns <---> Seemingly wild chaotic wildness

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Donna Lynn

pollinator

Posts: 200

Location: Mid-Michigan, USA

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posted 6 months ago

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Okay, here's one from 3 or 4 years ago. I designed and built (the latter with a little help with heavy lifting from my sweetie) this deck that spans the north side ("back") of our house. Professionals installed the sliding glass door, we did the rest. We rented a Bobcat with a 24" diameter hole auger to dig the 4' deep holes below the frost line, mixed concrete in a wheelbarrow and poured the required footings, then built the frame, laid the decking, built the partial roof, added railing and the raised bed, then built the stairs and stair railings.

This had to butt up smoothly to an existing deck on the east side of the house which required some belt sanding of the top of the joist at that juncture to get it just right. Saved ten grand or more on the design and labor, and paid around five grand for all the materials if I recall correctly. It was a labor of love that spanned a few months over the spring and summer in between caregiving duties. The icing on the cake that made my heart sing was the local building inspector telling me "You did a marvelous job on this deck!"

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Marco Zolow

Posts: 42

Location: Southwestern Ohio, Zone 6b

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posted 6 months ago

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Regardless of who wins or not, it is fantastic to see all the progress that folks have been making. My pics show the garden at its beginning and then a collection of what it is like today. Sorry for the number of images.

I have to use the fence to keep from feeding the deer and bunnies. I have been feeding the robins, though. They love the wild blackberries, or any berry for that matter.

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Clay McGowen

pollinator

Posts: 296

Location: Boise, ID

152

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posted 6 months ago

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Wow so many great projects!!

I also have one of the “reverse before & after” type stories. I bought my house in 2019 and have been letting things grow ever since.
I’m blessed with an abundance of water via gravity fed irrigation canals off the Boise river.
Not only do I have 36 hours of water I can pump, but given the ditches are open, a great many “weed” seeds have been sucked through and blasted into my yard. The more the merrier!

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Suzanne Jabs

Posts: 52

Location: Willamette Valley, OR

posted 6 months ago

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This thread is so inspiring!

Here is my little homestead in the city. I bought the house in 2018 because of the huge (for this area) side yard. It was all grass and horrid stuff. When I pulled out all the vinca along the front and side, the dirt was like powder, no nutrients at all. For some reason they had added styrofoam peanuts and fiberglass insulation bits in the dirt before planting the vinca on top. So gross.

There were very few birds, no bees or butterflies, the yard was such a dead zone, but it also provided a clean slate for me to experiment and bring in lots of food plants both for me and the pollinators.

I have planted lots of natives and fruit trees/bushes. I had a new porch built on the back that was wider so I could get out the door with my laundry basket.

My front fenceline is small now but should fill out next year-a native hedge with red flowering currant, oregon grape, mock orange, snowberry, asters, and a big pacific ninebark. I can't wait!

Every year I try to master one vegetable well enough that I don't have to buy it anymore. So far I plant and can all my own tomato products, grow enough cukes to make pickles for the year, grow greens as well as pick those nutritious 'weeds', eggplant and peppers, rhubarb (my first harvest was this year-a whopping 10 lbs!), garlic out the wazoo, and this year I've grown onions successfully for the first time. It's always so exciting!

Every year I go over to the fancy neighborhood with all the big hardwoods and steal all their leaves to enrich my garden area, kill off grass, and add to my compost bin.

I love my little oasis.

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Vickey McDonald

Posts: 86

Location: Wasilla, United States

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posted 6 months ago

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This is the store we had in our little village. It started as an open air gazebo with a tree growing out through the roof. Ended as a fully enclosed gift shop with the tree still growing out through the roof. He and I did all the work to build it including him milling the lumber with an Alaska chain saw mill. The big knots in the posts are spruce trees with burls that grew on them. Store was closed about 10 years ago when some of the rules for building and the rent costs got to high. We did not own the building, but the owner had let us make the modifications to make it work for a gift shop instead of the gazebo it had been.

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Richard Gorny

pollinator

Posts: 439

Location: Poland, zone 6, CfB

170

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posted 6 months ago

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This is aerial view of our cabin. Upper picture is 2013 (Google Earth historic image), lower picture is 2022 (taken with a drone).
During this time we have added:
- herb spiral
- two kitchen gardens
- main crop garden
- three mini food forests
- apiary
- woodshed
- sauna
- summer kitchen
- Kuznetsov mass heater in the cabin
- plenty of trees
- many, many other elements, including a pond and bigger food forest out of the range of these pictures.
It has all been done while living 70 km away and visiting for 1-2 days a week, plus 1-2 weeks of holidays.

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Gert in the making

M Broussard

pollinator

Posts: 259

Location: New Zealand

307

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posted 6 months ago

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I've been working with wild clay and kiln-less open pottery firing with local prunings to make some earthenware pots. The start-up cost for kiln-based pottery is really high (have to buy clay because wild clay isn't allowed in their kiln, have to pay every time you use the studio, have to pay per square cm for firing space in the kiln), and prior to this year, I had no idea that a formal kiln wasn't required for earthenware.

It's been quite freeing attempting to make ceramics with no formal infrastructure, just as it was done for millennia. I've taken a fancy to burnished blackware in particular. Getting the clay shiny and smooth before it dries by polishing it with stones is actually quite satisfying!

I hope to get good enough to make some decorated pots, as well as a functional cooking pot.

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He whai take kore noa anō te kupu mēnā mā nga mahi a te tangata ia e kōrero / His words are nothing if his works say otherwise

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Gaurī Rasp

pollinator

Posts: 137

Location: Near Asheville North Carolina

posted 6 months ago

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I can’t take credit for this design & build of our little “mini house”, built on a frame of a standard trailer. We use it for guests, quiet time & as a great place to cure squash & sweet potatoes!
Sorry…can’t find photos of the interior but there’s a slight platform for a queen mattress, shelves & a sweet built in table. The wood is rough cut by an Amish lumber mill nearby!

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gardener, homesteader

Gaurī Rasp

pollinator

Posts: 137

Location: Near Asheville North Carolina

posted 6 months ago

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I found another photo of the build & one of the inside! I love how simple it is…

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gardener, homesteader

Wendy Webb

Posts: 31

posted 6 months ago

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What A great thread!! I love all the amazingly creative projects!
My contribution is turning an old shed into a guest house. It was just an old grainary shed, 12 x 18 ft, with a "door hole" cut out... it was filled with a variety of 'junk' when we moved to the property and we eventually built a lean-to on the side to store some more 'junk' until we could find a better place for it. That old shed probably would have stayed like that for years if it weren't for my neighbour down the road, who was tearing down his 80 yr old barn. He stopped by and asked if I had use for all the old metal siding, if I wanted to go to the trouble of removing it. I guess we'd already earned a certain reputation around here, lol. Of course I said "Yes!" and it took me about a week to unscrew each sheet, one by one. The original red paint had been blasted by sun and sand over the years to a rusty orange, but it painted beautifully and soon I had all my outbuildings, including this shed and lean-to, wrapped in shiny blue metal.
Then COVID hit, and I needed a place for visitors to quarantine when they came to pick up horses from the USA, and this shed came to mind. It seems we're usually cash poor but... um... "materials" rich when it comes to doing projects, and this was no exception. So I challenged myself to create a guest house by using what I had around the place; what I could scavenge (with permission) from a falling down 100 yr old house down the road; garage sales; secondhand stores, etc.
Almost all the wood you see inside my tiny house is over a hundred yrs old, including the shelves and the beautiful blue shiplap wall with it's original paint. It took a lot of scrubbing to get those old boards clean, but it was worth it! The kitchen counter top(s) was an original occupant of the shed (you can see it peeking out in my Original Interior pic). The pot rack is made from a metal sign holder from a local grocery store. The windows came from a condemned school. French doors leading to a bedroom in the 'lean-to' were $20 a piece at ReStore. The composting toilet is made from an old end table that was left here. The enamel sink is from the abandoned house. Most of the furniture (including the woodstove I will install next) was given to me by people who were happy to get rid of it. Plywood came from the floor of an old grainary... and so on. About the only major thing I had to buy was the fiberglass insulation in the walls and ceiling. Try as I might, I couldn't come up with a practical alternative. The little house has become so popular with friends and family that it's occupied most of the summer. They all say they have the best sleep and love the comfortable feel of the place. I think it's all the old materials it's made with... and maybe the love.

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Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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I am currently between properties, and have been sad that I couldn't do as much gardening as before. The small spot where there used to be a garden was not getting enough sun. I was going to give up, but was convicted every time I would hear people say "anyone can garden, even just a pot of basil in the windowsill of an apartment in New York...". And I figured, while I was limited by buildings and sun and septic and hills... I had more room than that. I also tend to get perfection-itis. In the past, I would have been still working on leveling the area, squaring it off to the road, and trying to make it look perfect. Not this time, I just built it and planted it. It's not perfect, but I'm ok with that these days. My only spot was a section between the driveway and the road maybe 4 feet wide where it was reasonably flat. But it was long. So I built a long skinny 32ft x 30in "raised" bed. Sunflowers, pole beans (which had poor germination this year), tomatoes and basil, and potatoes. Then I got some jerusalem artichokes and two foster girls wanted to plant some stuff, so I built another 8ft x 30in bed to hold that stuff. It's coming along well. Just finished the green bean trellis last night and figured I'd take some pictures.

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Donna Lynn

pollinator

Posts: 200

Location: Mid-Michigan, USA

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posted 6 months ago

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Wendy, LOVE LOVE LOVE your guest house conversion! A property we're looking at buying has a shed with lean-to just like yours, and this is what I want to do with it if we buy it! I'll probably try my first RMH build in it though instead of a wood stove, unless a small wood stove just happens to present itself to be adopted... Great work!

Wendy Webb

Posts: 31

posted 6 months ago

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Thanks, Donna! But I have to warn you... it's totally addictive, lol. For over a year, everywhere I went I'd be eyeballing scrap piles and clearance tables, looking for another item to build, modify and/or decorate my tiny house. I installed a 4 gal mini hot water tank yesterday, so now I have running hot water in the kitchenette.. and as soon as the woodstove is installed, I'll be turning my eyes toward a solar system to run the lights and a mini fridge.. what then?maybe an outside shower? It's the most fun I've had in years :)

Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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Hmph! You guys are all making this a very difficult decision and should stop posting so many good projects... haha! :) Just joking, keep them coming. You have a little less than a day left.

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Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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The contest is over. Unfortunately my schedule changed, so I won't have time to announce the winners until tomorrow night. Be sure to check back in and congratulate them.

Donna Lynn

pollinator

Posts: 200

Location: Mid-Michigan, USA

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posted 6 months ago

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John Hutter

Posts: 117

Location: Central Oregon Coast Range, valley side

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posted 6 months ago

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If I could only have 1 fantasy super power, it would be the druid thing where they touch the ground and cause giant vines to shoot out of it and overwhelm/entangle the problem. You could basically fly with that : )

Funny, humans do kinda sorta have that power, but you cant fly and it moves in 5 year + slow motion. it also involves dirt, so most people don't see it. Only the patient and the dirty.

But can be made instantaneous and obvious by before and after pics! awesome!

All but two of these were taken in early spring and then summer. That's not a before and after pic of what you did, that's the seasons! Classic

In any case, I especially like it when it's unrecognizable if not for the trees being worked around.

Kinda zone 1-sh. I forgot that I limbed that Oak tree until looking at these again

by the end of summer it's tomato n squash dominated, but you can just barely where's waldo

I was thinking, it'd be great if that was a raspberry and peach hedge along the fence.

I also planted some pears. Raspberries......they didn't make it, if you don't count what migrated 10 ft away and now grows a few small plants.

The peach and pear trees are still there but are putting on, a few inches per year? Nope.

F#$% it, just plant some blackberries so it's not quack grass.

And, half of the blackberries died. Talk about a tough spot, right along the fence there.

In the space between the Oak and the fence, there's 29 different species last count XD

Apparently, I stopped in the middle of building the bird house to do some digging.

Hey dumbass, multitasking is a myth when it comes to things that take more than a little focus.

You haven't put up a roof you need to walk on before. And you also have 4 hours on the those controls. Better focus XD

The oh so quick and dirty concrete stackers.....

it.....goes....up....so.....fast....time.....limited.....damnit

Many things last lifetimes or eons, but the only thing that's permanent is the ever-changing flow itself

Matt McSpadden

gardener

Posts: 2189

Location: Central Maine (Zone 5a)

894

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posted 6 months ago

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First let me say, that this was a tough decision. The winners are the submissions that I (a single opinion) liked the best. I couldn't choose everyone, because I did call this a contest.

The winners are Donna Lynn - with that huge back deck and Nancy Reading - with the pasture into forest (this one may have been the longest span of time between the before and after).

Honorable mentions - Wendy Webb - with the cabin remodel, Jason Tuller - with the playground to BBQ shack, and Jenny Wright - with the blackberry to twine.

Lastly, I think the people who read this thread are going to be the real winners. You all have inspired me so much, and I know you have inspired other people. Transformations can be fun, but also hard. There can be tons and tons of work, for only a little visible difference, but under the surface is so much awesome change. A HUGE thankyou to all who participated and who have clearly been doing a good job transforming things in your life for the better!

Now I am super curious what sports would be like if we allowed drugs and tiny ads.

Heat your home with the twigs that naturally fall of the trees in your yard

http://woodheat.net