Shawn Rowell

I've been making beach glass out of the broken glass I've pulled out of the woods (old town dump site).  I've got an endless supply of broken glass and a small rock tumbler.  We also have a collection of antique bottles and railroad spikes that is getting out of hand.  We're thinking of setting up an Etsy shop.  

Anne Pratt wrote:We are on a hillside.  A plateau has been constructed where our house stands, built maybe in 1949, 1950.  The hill continues up behind us, to another plateau.  It looks like a pasture, with an elderly apple tree to one side.  We learned from a woman who grew up here that the house used to be up there.  Let me tell you, that is a serious climb in the summer, never mind the winter!  Quite steep!  Seven kids in a two-room house without indoor plumbing.

The house burned down when she was young, and our current house was built to replace it.  

When was the original house built? I bet if you go to the edge of that top plateau you could find a dump site.  If you knew which direction the house was facing it would help pinpoint. it.  Most were behind the house.  Go down about 10 feet or so.  Most trash would be chucked to be out of sight.  Be prepared to walk through/kneel on broken glass. It's not as bad as it sounds.  Most of it will be covered by dirt.  

Anne Pratt wrote:This is extremely cool!  I wish I had my own former dump!

Almost any old house has one.  My favorite one was behind a house built in 1725.  It filled an entire ravine.  Unfortunately they turned the property in to a hunt club.  

I am a collector of rusty bits and broken glass.  We live at the edge of town, Back in the day that was the dump, where I frequently forage.   I have, over the years amassed quite a collection.  I also trash pick any goodies I can find.  I decided to display some of my collection by creating, for lack of a better term, garden totems.  Curtain rods, rebar, and conduit form the upright support. Sprockets, springs, glass insulators, old lamp parts, just about anything goes.  The terracotta pots make a lovely home for my succulents.  Birds love to perch on top.

You could mount it to something sturdy and make an improvised bottle tree.

This is so cute!  I have four shovel heads in the carport.  Now I know what I'm going to do with at least one of them.

Marianne Cicala wrote:Thank you Shawn~ it certainly feels magical to us.  Where are you?  

We're in Crewe. Which river crosses your property?  Nm, I found it: the North Meherrin River.

I had no idea such a place existed so close to me!  It looks truly magical.  

Hi Gian, I'm close to Richmond (about an hour south).  We're hoping to build a rocket mass heater before winter to heat our Florida room.  If we can actually get things set in motion, I'll let you know.  I have a friend who is an all around genius and handyman.  He's working on someone's boat motor now, then he's going to paint our car.  I put a bug in his ear last year about the RMH and he was quite excited.  

There are a few Permaculture enthusiasts out here in the sticks, but not too many. I live a small town that is rather...hostile towards people who attempt to engage in Permaculture-esque activities. It sucks, but I'm here and I'm hard-headed enough not to let it hinder me too much.